Why doesn’t the Marine Corps Air Station along the 15, relocate to have the land developed? (San Diego: oceanfront, 2015)

[Bruin1983]

Everytime i’m heading down to San Diego from the 15, I pass by these air base with so much open space, that it seems a waste not to develop. It’s in the middle of urban S.D. County so it looks very out of place. The proximity to La Jolla and Downtown are great reasons to develop dense housing. The potential for a walkable community is astonishing.

This benefits everyone looking to rent/own in San Diego by keeping the housing market stable.

Camp Pendleton should be developed on aswell, it’s very selfish and greedy for the military to hog valuable land that isn’t even used most of the times. If you want to undeveloped coastal land, then head up north.

[kettlepot]

Assuming this is a real question and not a troll post:

Camp Pendleton provides a needed break between San Diego and complete Los Angelization. It's the last natural coastal habitat between south of Tijuana and northern Ventura County.

Camp Pendleton and MCAS Miramar, along with 32nd Street Naval Base and the Submarine Base, are part of the military apparatus that provides many higher paying jobs in San Diego. The Navy needs Marine bases in proximity to the port.

[silverkris]

Another big issue with converting an old military air base to a residential area - doing the environmental remediation or clean up. That's not going to be quick, cheap or easy.

[oddstray]

And if the military ever even hints at vacating Miramar base, the San Diego powers-that--be will swoop in and build their new commercial airport there. So much for additional housing to ease that crisis.

[volosong]

Long, long before the hordes of people "invaded" California . . . San Diego was a quiet, serene, and small community. Then, the nation's need to defend itself and the world from invading armies during the 20th century world wide conflicts necessitated an oceanfront area of land where the military could practice amphibious landing and warfare without interfering with civilian lives.

San Diego was the perfect location. One of the best harbors on the west coast. A small population. Plenty of open land. There was nothing in and north of Mission Valley in those days. It was only after World War II, that the nation discovered the moderate climate and natural beauty of San Diego. Soon after the war, G.I.s who were stationed at, or passed through San Diego went home, married their high school sweethearts, and moved to San Diego, (and SoCal). The boom was on!

For many years during and after the war, San Diego was closely identified with the military and specifically the Navy and Marine Corps. They were the largest employer in the county, (and may still be). That close identity is quickly dissolving, but the roots are there still, easy to see.

I have seen lots of changes. The Navy boot camp I attended is gone, replaced by commercial development and housing. The Navy athletic fields where I often played pick-up games of football and worked out in the gym is long gone, replaced by the Convention Center and commercial marinas. Probably many other Navy facilities are no more, but those two readily come to mind.

Camp Pendleton is one of the most important, if not the most important, amphibious base in the Marine Corps inventory and is desperately needed to train and maintain the proficiency of the Corps who defend our nation. Besides, it does give a "breath of fresh air" in the unending urban jungle that stretches from Tijuana to Ventura. Don't enough people live in SoCal already?

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p.s. By their nature, airports require a lot of open land around them. Especially military aircraft. At times, they tend to fall out of the sky. I'd rather they crash in open country and hills rather than on a suburban development.

I do not know the current mission of Miramar. At one time, it hosted the Naval Fighter Weapons School, (Top Gun). But I understand that mission has moved to another base, (Fallon, Nevada?). Some of the remaining missions could be transferred to North Island, but NI is small. Maybe Lemoore? (edit to add: a quick internet search shows Miramar is a Marine airbase now.)

I agree that if Miramar closes, they should close Lindberg Field and transfer SAN operations to Miramar. Lindberg Field has been long recognized as one of the most difficult and dangerous airports on which to land a commercial jet airship.

[NYSD1995]

in 2006 the city voted to repurpose Miramar to a commercial airport. It failed.

Long story short, San Diegans don't want to redevelop Miramar.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Another big issue with converting an old military air base to a residential area - doing the environmental remediation or clean up. That's not going to be quick, cheap or easy.

Like the signs seen at Shepard Canyon Trail in Tierrasanta say (image link below), if you see an artillery shells do not touch.

https://i1.wp.com/hikingsdcounty.com...onDSC_6397.jpg

Apart from the air station itself, I wonder what the city would do with the open area North the the 52/Mission Trails. This is where the jets practice flying over, on a map the area appears to be even bigger than Mission Trails Park which is huge itself. There is no development until you get to Scripps Ranch.

[Bruin1983]

Originally Posted by volosong

Long, long before the hordes of people "invaded" California . . . San Diego was a quiet, serene, and small community. .

Thank you for the post. Very informative and filled with history. However I still believe there’s plenty of room (land) for more population growth in San Diego. But yes I do now see the significance of the military base.

[tstieber]

I'm happy to see Miramar and Pendleton provide open space buffers within otherwise urban SD. If that were all heavily developed, then our traffic there would be an absolute nightmare. There is still plenty of land for development and redevelopment, as there is still mass housing bring built in Eastlake, and there are huge plans for mass housing near Sorrento Valley and Mira Mesa. We'll also continue to densify existing urban neighborhoods like Bankers Hill, East Village, Little Italy, and downtown.

Lindbergh Field was once thought to be close to capacity until airplanes became lighter and allowed smaller planned to fly longer distances, so our Airport has been able to increase capacity and add international non-stop flights that previously couldn't land here. The airport is investing massive amounts into new and upgraded terminals so seems here to stay.

In addition, the growth of nearby Tijuana airport, which has other International non-stop flights to South America and China, along with more regional flights coming to Carlsbad, will be able to accommodate even more passengers for some time to come.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

San Diego has too many people already. We don't want to be LA.