A new report from a San Diego housing research nonprofit argues that La Jolla and Pacific Beach are sitting on some of the city's best schools and cleanest air, yet have barely grown in population over the past quarter century while the rest of San Diego boomed. The findings reframe the decades-long fight over coastal building heights as something bigger than ocean views: access to opportunity that most San Diegans currently drive in for, rather than live near.
The report was published in August by the San Diego Fair Housing Lab, an independent nonprofit led by Executive Director Wesley Morgan, according to The Coast News. As reported by Axios, Morgan told the outlet that building more coastal housing makes sense based on data about what actually draws people to the coast in the first place.
Schools, Air Quality Rank Among the State's Best
According to the report, 21 census tracts across Pacific Beach and La Jolla fall into the top two tiers under California's state metrics for schools, economic opportunity and pollution, compared with 55% of San Diego's census tracts overall. The report also found those neighborhoods have lower pollution levels than 90% of California census tracts. On schools specifically, 11 of 13 Pacific Beach census tracts and 7 of 8 La Jolla tracts scored above average, per the same account.
Those high-performing schools don't just serve local families. The report found that more than 300 students who live outside Mission Bay High's attendance boundaries still attend the school, drawn in by its performance. Morgan said the goal of highlighting these numbers is to open coastal schools and clean air to more San Diegans, many of whom already drive to the coast every day for work and school, per the Axios report.
Population Flatlines While the Rest of the City Grows
Despite that appeal, Pacific Beach and La Jolla saw little increase in population over the last 25 years even as San Diego's citywide population rose 18.5%, the report notes. The two coastal neighborhoods did add housing units during that period, but the report found those additions did not offset homes used seasonally or left unoccupied. Morgan said seasonal or unoccupied homes make up about half of all vacant homes in Pacific Beach and La Jolla, compared with about a quarter of vacant homes citywide.
The affordability gap underlying those vacancy numbers is stark. Median home prices in La Jolla now sit at roughly $2.3 million to $2.4 million and Pacific Beach at about $1.6 million, according to Redfin, compared with a citywide San Diego baseline near $965,000. In La Jolla, single-family homes alone average more than $3.5 million.
A Voter-Approved Height Cap Stands in the Way
Any push to add density along the coast runs straight into Proposition D, the 1972 citywide ballot measure that created a Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone capping buildings at 30 feet for most land west of Interstate 5, per the City of San Diego. That cap has proven durable in court. The San Diego City Council officially repealed Measure C in August after state courts ruled the city failed to conduct adequate environmental impact studies before asking voters to lift the 30-foot limit in the Midway District, according to KPBS.
State lawmakers have tried a different route and also come up short. Assembly Bill 2560, introduced in 2024 by San Diego Assemblymember David Alvarez, attempted to strip the coastal zone's exemption from California's Housing Density Bonus Law before stalling in committee amid concerns over California Coastal Act supremacy, according to LegiScan records. Notably, the Fair Housing Lab's own report does not estimate how many homes or at what prices any specific rule change would produce, and it leaves zoning and height decisions to the city rather than prescribing a fix, Morgan told Axios.
State Mandates and a Countywide Shortfall
The debate over coastal density sits inside a much larger state obligation. San Diego is legally required to accommodate 108,036 new housing units across income tiers under California's 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation, which runs through 2029, per the City of San Diego. Separately, California Assembly Bill 686 requires local governments to affirmatively further fair housing in their general plans by actively working to open high-opportunity neighborhoods to affordable housing, according to the Terner Center for Housing Innovation.
The stakes extend well beyond La Jolla and Pacific Beach. Nearly 130,000 low-income renter households across San Diego County lack access to affordable housing, even as local, state and federal funding fell nearly 10% in the most recent fiscal year, Hoodline previously reported. Institutional players are already moving on their own coastal sites: UC San Diego has announced plans to break ground this year on its Pepper Canyon East development, adding 6,000 high-density student beds near the trolley line with rents targeted 20% below market rate.
Advocates Split Over What Counts As Progress
Not everyone agrees that simply permitting more coastal units solves the underlying problem. Karen Ventimiglia, a representative of Neighbors for a Better California, which supports more coastal housing, said more construction does not necessarily make the coast more affordable. Her group wants housing policies judged by whether they actually create homes within reach of people currently priced out, rather than by permitted unit counts alone.
“For us, access means more than increasing the legal capacity to build,” Ventimiglia said. “It also means giving working people and families a realistic chance to live in the communities where they work.” That tension, between opening up legal capacity and actually delivering affordability, is likely to shape how the Fair Housing Lab's findings land with San Diego's planning commission and city council as they weigh the coastal zone's future.
