The Botanical building at Balboa Park on Sept. 10, 2025. / Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego

To help kick off 2026, our hosts broke down the biggest stories we’re watching.

It seemed as if there was only one issue San Diegans were talking about this week: Balboa Park parking fees. The new fees went into effect this week and the program was followed by many problems.

San Diego city councilmembers who voted for the fee asked the mayor to suspend the program, but Mayor Todd Gloria refused. This dispute unfolded in a series of memos and the podcast crew explained on the show why it matters.

RV parking in San Diego is still a hot topic. People who live in their RVs says the city isn’t doing enough to offer them safe places to park but the city disagrees. Voice of San Diego revealed that between July and September last year, the city issued more than 1,000 citations and referred 245 people to H Barracks, the city’s safe parking lot. Only 59 people agreed to go to the safe parking lot.

Finally, the Supreme Court of California refused to weigh in on lifting the Midway neighborhood’s height limit. Host Scott Lewis explains what this means for a major redevelopment project and what’s next.

Send me a note if you have any feedback at matt.skraby@voiceofsandiego.org.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | PodLink

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