Overflow crowd weighs in on a new plan for Balboa Park
Howard Blackson explaining the situation as he saw it during the forum; left to right at the front of the room: FSDA’s moderator Mike Stepner, Andy Kopp, Vicki Estrada, Howard Blackson, and FSDA President Roger Showley
By Roger Showley
President, Friends of San Diego Architecture
More than 50 San Diegans attended a special forum Sept. 19 on the city’s Balboa Park master plan update project with some favoring new or long-delayed improvements and others asking for reform in the funding and governance of the park.
The two-hour session was sponsored by the Friends of San Diego Architecture as one of its monthly public lectures held at the San Diego History Center in the park.
Keynote speakers were Vicki Estrada, author of the present 1989 master plan, and Howard Blackson, a member of the official Balboa Park Committee.
“You don’t have to start from scratch,” said Estrada, a landscape architect. “There’s a lot that’s been done (since 1989) and that doesn’t need be redone (in the new plan).”
She identified five new projects as her highest priorities:
- Complete the rehabilitation of the Palisades area, which encompasses the Starlight Bowl, San Diego Automotive Museum and other institutions, and convert parking spaces to park space (with replacement parking built elsewhere).
- Build already approved garages — such as the San Diego Zoo’s Promenade underground garage along Park Boulevard and underground parking adjacent to the Spreckels Organ Pavilion — and upgrade the park’s existing shuttle system.
- Build a 1,200-foot pedestrian bridge connecting Golden Hill Park at 26th and A streets on the east side of the park to Inspiration Point on Park Boulevard at Presidents Way to improve non-car access from eastern neighborhoods.
- Restore Florida Canyon to its natural state and close Florida Drive.
- Replace the 20th and B Street city operations yard with recreational and other park uses.
Blackson said the park’s main problem is its lack of a guaranteed source of income, unlike Mission Bay Park that benefits from millions of dollars in lease revenue.
“We have a champagne taste on a beer budget,” he said.
He introduced political consultant Andy Kopp, author of a potential 2028 ballot measure that would raise $1 billion from a city parcel tax. Half would be devoted to a long backlog of deferred maintenance projects and the other half to new projects, such as a Golden Hill bridge and the San Diego Museum of Art’s West Wing replacement.
In a lively question-and-answer period, attendees offered their own ideas for improvements. They included better access for the elderly, shared parking with nearby City College, and reliance on autonomous vehicles and other transportation systems of the future.
Attendees received a checklist of nearly 30 projects to gauge interest in projects in the existing master plan and some new ones, as well as indicate funding sources they approve.
The checklist, Balboa Park Master Plan Update Project Priority Checklist September 2026, can be filled out on online at https://tinyurl.com/fsda-balboapark-checklist26. The results will be tallied and forwarded to the city and its consulting planners.
A video of the forum, Balboa Park Master Plan Update – A Community Forum, can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/fsda-balboaparkforum-video.
Balboa Park Master Plan Update – A Community Forum
Balboa Park: The California Tower as seen from the Alcazar Garden on February 21, 2026 (Robert Broms)
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, 10:00 AM
San Diego History Center
Casa de Balboa, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park
The city of San Diego Planning Department has embarked on an update to the 1989 Balboa Park Master Plan. This forum is a chance for the public to weigh in on what they consider the top priorities to include in the new plan. A survey, in the form of a Community Priorities Checklist, will be used to to rank the proposed projects. The results of the forum and survey will be shared with the city. The survey can be completed and submitted online by visiting the webpage here:
Balboa Park Master Plan Update Project Priority Checklist September 2026; or by using the QR code:
Keynoting the forum will be Vicki Estrada, whose firm prepared the 1989 plan and follow-up specific plans, and Howard Blackson, an urban planner and member of the official Balboa Park Committee. A special guest of Blackson will be public policy strategist Andy Kopp, who will describe an idea for a ballot measure that would create a dedicated funding source for Balboa Park. FSDA’s Roger Showley and Mike Stepner will moderate the forum.
Vicki Estrada received her bachelor of science in landscape architecture at CalPoly San Luis Obispo. She is president and founder of Estrada Land Planning. Besides the Balboa Park plans, she has worked on a wide variety of planning projects and served on various boards, including the local chapter of Lambda Alpha International, Media Arts Center and the San Diego Foundation’s Opening the Outdoors action team. She is also a board member of the Balboa Park Committee of 100. Her responsibilities include running the office, land planning, urban design and landscape architecture for a variety of projects including community planning, master planned communities, infill, parks and streetscapes for public and private entities.
Howard Blackson received his bachelor of arts in geography at the University of Texas at Austin and master in urban design at University of Westminster in London. He has been a lecturer at UC San Diego, Woodbury School of Architecture and the NewSchool of Architecture & Design. He has consulted on public and private projects throughout the U.S. and around the world and worked for several firms in San Diego and elsewhere. He currently is principal and director of planning at PlaceMakers.
Andy Kopp is the founder and Executive Director of
PlatformUS, based in San Diego, CA. He is U.S. Navy veteran, a former Defense Intelligence Community professional, and current public policy and strategy expert with more than two decades of experience interpreting and developing strategic and operational plans for government and civilian sector organizations.
El Prado, Plaza de Panama, and California Tower are seen circa 1989 in “Balboa Park at Dusk” (Ned Paynter)
Check out our videos: If you missed one of our lectures, you now have a chance to review the complete list here.
