Letters to the Editor : Downtown Doubts

This month marks the midway point of the 1980s. San Diegans entered this decade with glowing enthusiasm that downtown urban blight would be replaced by gleaming buildings that would house the affluent and bring about the rejuvenation of quality businesses. This would be accomplished by the Centre City Development Corp. and the Gaslamp Quarter Assn.

The driving force behind it was Mayor Pete Wilson, whom I accused of trying to turn San Diego into America’s Riviera with no room for the poor and, eventually, the middle class.

Certain progress has been made: the poor are gone because their resident hotels have crumbled to the wrecker’s ball; in their place rise the Horton Plaza shopping center and a high-rise condominium on the corner of F and Front streets. Seaport Village and the adjacent Hotel Inter-Continental with its marina give our waterfront a Rivieran appearance. But construction of a convention center is in abeyance, holding up further waterfront construction.

The Gaslamp Quarter is, at best, on hold. San Diegans simply do not feel safe in that area. Gaslamp boosters say that this will all change with the opening of Horton Plaza, scheduled for August. But will it?

Who is going to come downtown to shop when their needs are met by shopping centers near their homes? Crowded downtown streets and the high cost of parking space act as further deterrents. Like most Californians, San Diegans drive their own cars; they will not take the bus or trolley on a shopping trip. Thus, the question is: Can the Horton Plaza center survive on tourist business alone?

What presents San Diegans with the most dismal outlook for the forthcoming year is the lack of leadership in city government. Gone is the driving force of Pete Wilson. In his place San Diego has elected a mayor who was and is under indictment for various felonies. Mayor Hedgecock has managed to split the City Council in half; three council members vote with him, four against, with Councilman Jones left in limbo. For all intents and purposes, should this stand-off continue, San Diegans will be bereft of a city government.

EDWIN O. LEARNARD

San Diego