Why participate in the infrastructure prioritization process?

Infrastructure is not just the buildings, roads and spaces surrounding us—it is the essential fabric that connects us to opportunity. Our city's infrastructure - roads, sidewalks, parks, libraries, fire stations, water facilities and more - shapes the health, safety, economic vibrancy, environmental well-being and overall quality of life in our neighborhoods.

Because of this, equitable infrastructure investment is essential to achieving equal opportunity for employment, health, education, recreation and more for all San Diegans. The City wants your input to help prioritize infrastructure investment and ensure infrastructure goes where it will best meet community members' needs and improve their lives.

How can you shape infrastructure in your community?

The San Diego City Council adopted updates to policies 800-14 and 000-32 in 2022 to ensure infrastructure is constructed that best meets people’s needs and improves their lives.

Community participation is essential to achieving these goals. City staff and partner organizations will regularly engage community members across the city through surveys, workshops, and mobile engagements. This will help us learn about infrastructure priorities and equitably prioritize projects. It will help guide the annual Capital Improvements Program (CIP) budget and the Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook.

Both are the City’s road map for public infrastructure investment.

Infrastructure will be prioritized in communities to address the following:

• Infrastructure deficiencies.
• Areas with the greatest needs.
• Areas that service the most people and are experiencing the most growth.

How will your project idea go through the infrastructure prioritization process?

1. Any community member - through various methods - submits a project idea to City Planning. These ideas are then grouped by type and sent to the responsible department. (e.g., Park improvements go to the Parks and Recreation Department.)
2. Departments use ideas to prepare a five-year infrastructure plan based on factors such as operational feasibility, legal requirements, Council input, alignment with existing plans and policies, community input, and prioritization factors in Council Policy 800-14, such as equity, sustainability, and public safety.
3. Plans are incorporated into the Citywide Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook, which summarizes the funding needs for the projects in each department plan. Once the Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook is adopted, the City will post a public report detailing each community’s priorities and which projects were included in the plan. 

For more information about the CIP, visit the CIP webpage and refer to A Citizen’s Guide to Infrastructure by the City of San Diego. To learn more about how the CIP budget is developed, visit the CIP budget webpage.

Share your priorities for your community at an upcoming engagement!

The City and partner organizations host various engagement events to gather community input on infrastructure prioritization. You can check this webpage for updates on future engagement opportunities in your community. Can’t make it to an engagement event? No problem; we welcome you to share your ideas when most convenient for you!

Engagement Timeline

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Help shape the future of your community!

To facilitate learning about Infrastructure Prioritization,
easily sharable materials have been developed and are linked below.