For the purposes of historic preservation, the history of San Diego, including its architecture, infrastructure and economy, has never been formally centralized. The City has completed numerous community-based historic contexts and surveys of the built environment; however, the historical information is fragmented and incomplete. The development of a Citywide Historic Context Statement will provide a more robust picture of San Diego’s history and topics for further study, inform future survey and context work, centralize historical information, and support the City’s efforts to identify and protect significant historical and cultural resources worthy of preservation as well as properties that lack significance and are therefore well-suited to redevelopment. Additionally, the project will fill the contextual vacuum that is currently filled by property owners and applicants on a property-by-property basis, which is inefficient, ineffective and burdensome.

Strategic Plan Priority Areas of Focus

This initiative focuses on the following priority areas of the Strategic Plan: