Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006 | The citizens of San Diego lost the battle when it came to NTC. We were supposed to get a park and public spaces, now it looks like the developers are getting a parking lot and more hotels. Despite the fact that the city commissioned a report, and that report recommended one developer for NTC, the day before the vote, the City Council changed horses and went with McMillan.
The citizens of San Diego look to be losing the battle when it comes to the Navy’s Broadway Pier project. Sure, we are promised public spaces and a park (not to mention some “linear parks”), but in the end, we will probably end up with more parking lots and hotel rooms for Manchester.
So when we talk about airports, lets talk about what will happen to Lindbergh Field. This matters, or should matter, to the citizens of San Diego. Are we talking about permanently shutting down Lindbergh Field? If so, what becomes of that land? If the citizens are going to get the land, and we are going to build a grand Balboa/Central Park type public space, then, okay, let’s move the airport. But if we are going to build a new stadium for the Chargers, or we are going to give the land to some developers to build hotels and condos and parking lots, then my response is no, let’s keep Lindbergh Field where it is. I’m not sure how the citizens of San Diego benefit from a new airport (I’m no economist), but I’ve seen how San Diegans lose when it comes to land deals in San Diego. Somehow the cart got put before the horse, and we are supposed to vote on whether or not we want an airport at Miramar. What is really going on here?