San Diego Ballpark Neighborhood Revitalization

In 1998, city of San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved a historic memorandum of understanding for a new Major League ballpark and a major redevelopment effort that has transformed one of the city’s most blighted areas—East Village—into one of downtown’s fastest-growing and most popular neighborhoods. “This major redevelopment project has totally transformed the entire character of a formerly troubled neighborhood,” states Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) president Nancy Graham. “Now, roughly 3 million people per year visit this part of downtown San Diego and it has come alive with residential, retail, and commercial development. An exciting and vibrant energy exists on the streets today that hadn’t been there before.” The public/private partnership that created this neighborhood offers a model of how public investment can catalyze large-scale private redevelopment efforts.