Original article: Urban Land Institute
There is perhaps no better way to understand the evolution of a neighborhood, design of a building or experience some of the region’s most exciting projects than a first-hand experience. In April, we hosted
a mobile project tour that explored the changing face of suburbs in North County. Developers and public officials graciously pulled back the curtain on the projects and policies that are changing the face of historic downtown Vista and North City in San Marcos.
Nearly 70 people toured Vista’s historic downtown core, then hopped on the NCTD Sprinter to Cal. State San Marcos and walked to North City. Later, we gathered at the Belching Beaver for a networking happy hour. The tour highlighted how compact, high-density, mixed-use development is reshaping the way we live.
Lev Gershman, Managing Partner with Tideline Partners, said, “We believe North County is positioned to grow and outperform the broader MSA. A strong value proposition in housing and access to employment
are driving population and economic growth. We are particularly focused on delivering housing, community-centric retail and access to green space in walkable mixed-use downtown cores like the ones in Vista and San Marcos. The future is urban suburban!”
Kevin Ham, Director of Economic Development for the City of Vista, noted, “The City of Vista has been working for many years on all aspects of revitalizing our downtown, including capital improvements, community input, a retail recruitment strategy, integration of housing, a new Opportunity Zone and investor outreach. These efforts have combined to have a tremendous positive impact on this revitalization of the downtown. If you haven’t been to downtown Vista in a while, you have to stop by and see all there is to offer.”
