San Diego released the first full rewrite of the Mid-City Communities Plan in 28 years on Monday, laying out a blueprint that could create capacity for 30,000 additional homes across City Heights, the Eastern Area, Kensington-Talmadge and Normal Heights over the next 30 years. City planners spent two years shaping the draft and are now asking residents to review it, submit comments and sign up for updates before feedback closes on October 2.
The draft is the first comprehensive update to the Mid-City plan since 1998, according to NBC 7 San Diego, which reported that the process drew more than 100 community engagement events and over 3,000 participants who generated more than 9,300 comments. Mayor Todd Gloria said the plan reflects that “San Diego needs more homes people can afford,” per the outlet's report, while also supporting parks, safer streets, better transportation and public facilities as new housing arrives.
Where the New Density Would Go
The draft allows higher housing density near major corridors including El Cajon Boulevard, Fairmount Avenue, Federal Boulevard and University Avenue, while permitting moderate-density development near Adams Avenue, Euclid Avenue and College Grove Drive, the station's report notes. Planning director Heidi VonBlum said the first draft resulted from years of collaboration with community members, local businesses and community organizations, according to the same account. The plan also aims to preserve what officials describe as the unique character of Mid-City's neighborhoods by including opportunities for townhomes, cottages and other smaller-scale housing types alongside the taller corridor buildings.
Mid-City itself is a sprawling swath of the city. Per a City of San Diego Planning Department presentation from March, the planning area spans 8,052 acres and is home to 135,172 residents, 53,279 homes and 21,000 jobs spread across 24,500 parcels — roughly 10% of the city's entire population. That scale is a big part of why officials are framing this as one of the largest single-area rezoning efforts in San Diego's recent history.
Parks, Libraries and Streets Get a Rework Too
Housing growth in the draft is paired with infrastructure, transit and public facilities updates. City News Service reported that the plan includes 24 pocket parks, nine neighborhood and mini-parks, and eight trailhead parks, along with expanded habitat preservation and open-space connections. The draft also features a possible new Oak Park library and a Kensington-Normal Heights library, plus wider sidewalks, shade trees, improved lighting, upgraded bus routes and bicycle infrastructure.
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said Mid-City's future should be shaped by the people who live, work and raise their families there, according to the NBC 7 report. San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera's comment underscores the emphasis city officials have placed on public participation, and staff say they will gather feedback and prepare a second draft later this year, with additional community engagement activities planned in the meantime.
How the Plan Fits the City's Bigger Housing Push
The Mid-City update is structured around Blueprint SD, the General Plan amendment San Diego adopted in 2024 to concentrate housing density near transit and commercial corridors while streamlining environmental review, according to the Inside San Diego news outlet. The effort also ties into California's 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation, which legally mandates that San Diego accommodate capacity for 108,036 new housing units between 2021 and 2029, per the City of San Diego. Community plan updates like this one are the city's primary tool for meeting that state-enforced target.
The Mid-City effort follows a similar pattern to Clairemont's plan overhaul, which Mayor Gloria signed earlier this year to pave the way for thousands of new homes elsewhere in the city. Planning for Mid-City has been in motion for years: San Diego received a $4.8 million Regional Early Action Planning grant in October 2023, with $650,000 of that earmarked specifically for preparing and conducting outreach on the Mid-City Communities Plan Update, as Hoodline reported when the funding was announced in its coverage of the REAP grant. Hoodline also covered the plan's initial public kickoff back in December 2023, when the city first sought input after 25 years without an update.
Transit, Parking and Affordable Housing Already Underway
Some of the infrastructure the draft envisions is already taking shape. SANDAG planning documents from this year describe a 2.2-mile State Route 15 bike corridor linking City Heights, Normal Heights, Kensington and Talmadge to Mission Valley, with construction on its Central Avenue Bikeway segment beginning in 2026. And in January, city crews began installing new paid parking meters along Adams Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard in Normal Heights, City Heights and Kensington, a rollout Hoodline detailed in its report on the new Mid-City parking meters.
Affordable housing has also been advancing on parallel tracks. In May 2025, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a 224-unit affordable housing development on surplus county land at 5202 University Avenue in City Heights, setting aside units for low-income families and seniors, as Hoodline reported at the time. City officials now say the Mid-City draft plan seeks more housing choices, safer ways to get around, cleaner air, parks, libraries and public spaces as the broader vision moves forward.
What Happens Next
The current draft is only the first step in a longer process. City staff are presenting it this fall to five local advisory bodies, including the Mid-City Working Group and four recognized community planning groups: the City Heights Area Planning Committee, Eastern Area Communities Planning Committee, Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group and Normal Heights Community Planning Group, according to the City of San Diego. Public comments submitted before the October 2 deadline will feed into a second draft expected in winter 2026, before the plan is anticipated to go before the San Diego City Council in spring 2027.
