Name: "Mi Pueblo - San Ysidro Pilot Village" - This project has as its goal to make San Ysidro one of three “pilot” villages to highlight models for smart growth and planning in urbanized areas.
Location: San Ysidro, California
Date of construction: 2003-2006
Type of building: neighborhood redevelopment / urban planning
Project budget: To be determined
Total square footage:
Residential affordability (i.e. what incomes served): varies

Project Narrative:

The Mi Pueblo application is unique and distinct it starts with a partnership of organizations including: Casa Familiar, the San Ysidro Business Improvement District, and LandGrant Development. Our organizations have different interests, constituencies and goals, yet we all share a fundamental interest in improving and redeveloping the community.

Then, we combined the ongoing redevelopment and planning efforts of each of our organizations in three distinct geographical locations in the community to coordinate through "Pilot Projects" as integrated effort to improve the community. These areas include and connect the historic core of San Ysidro with exciting efforts throughout the community to rehabilitate and improve the old while adding wonderful, new developments. Every effort has been made to integrate both City of San Diego (District Eight Council Office) projects: the proposed San Ysidro Library and the new San Ysidro Fire Station. The design highlights of our efforts as summarized as follows:

Community Access Ways

The collaboration of projects takes advantage of the widely used community access ways, both vehicular and pedestrian. The Mi Pueblo Pilot Village encompasses the historic core of San Ysidro, through the main commercial corridor, accessed by San Ysidro Boulevard, Via de San Ysidro, Park Avenue, Interstate 5 and Interstate 805. The main pedestrian pathways connect this area to the proposed 25,000 square foot San Ysidro Library and future residential development at Las Americas. The Pilot Village project area directly connects into the San Ysidro Community (linear) Park, which consists of park space, two Casa Familiar Recreation Centers (including 4 computer centers, a fitness center, a recreation and civic center and performance theatre), a City of San Diego Senior Center, and the current 4,000 square foot San Ysidro Library.

Pathways of KnowledgeThe unifying form and design element is the weaving and integration of the "Pathways of Knowledge" into each Pilot Project. This element was identified in our preliminary proposal as a complimentary project. What began as an effort to create a community connection through access ways resulted in becoming the main "Village" element which is reflected in all of the projects. Moving beyond each project, the Mi Pueblo Pilot Village extends a network of existing alleys, currently utilized as informal pedestrian and landscape corridors for the community, while strengthening their function in providing accessibility and circulation, these alleys, both existing and proposed, will strategically interconnect the community, the Pilot projects as well as the trolley. Casa Familiar will lead the efforts of designing and assuring the continuation of the pathway from project to project. This element is designed to promote mobility and accessibility and to highlight curiosity, knowledge and creativity with a network of pathways that lead to the new San Ysidro Library. With the development of each project, this element will become extremely visible adding to the overall community connectivity. The "Pathways of Knowledge" will connect the surrounding community, and invite visitors and locals into its commercial, park and public spaces to experience its dynamic character.

The Fellow is involved with directing outreach at the community level and along with Andrea Skorepa, CEO of Casa Familiar, Michael Freedman, Community Development Coordinator for Casa Familiar, and Teddy Cruz, Principal at Estudio Teddy Cruz, are the authors of this proposal.

Support is currently being formed with the resident community of San Ysidro, the City of San Diego District 8 Council Office, the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, the business community, with hopes of continuously growing support from other agencies and organizations.

Affordable Housing Solutions

On top of the goals set by this application, Mi Pueblo challenges local affordable housing efforts. The Mi Pueblo - Affordable Housing Overlay Zone is a proposal to develop a tool for the specific development of AFFORDABLE HOUSING. The creation of this overlay zone was conceptualized with replicability in mind. The three important replicable points to note for this overlay zone are the following:

• To develop a process which integrates a know implementation tool, the use of overlay zones, to create a tool which begins to address the "state of emergency" with respect to affordable housing development.
• To promote an individual "citizenry" involvement in providing affordable housing through creating an allowable implementation tool for developing small, well designed units in more urban neighborhoods.
• To assist the City of San Diego in addressing non-conforming uses (for example, converted garages into living spaces with no permits) and having a solution on hand which will allow for safe, well designed, community integrated units. It is our idea that through four or five model units, they can include some level of pre-processing through the City Development Services Department which will speed up entitlement processing. It is understood that site issues will need to be dealt with on a project specific basis.

This tool can be replicated in San Diego’s older urbanized communities that will allow for communities to focus the area of development they choose and provide their own design values.