Sustainable Development Priorities for Communities of Concern in Southeast San Diego: Transportation, Parks, Groceries, and Equitable Access to Resources

With the support of the Sage Project and in partnership with the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition, student researchers conducted survey research to help construct a Community Benefits Initiative. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the equitable and sustainable development priorities of communities of concern in Southeast San Diego, which itself was broken down into multiple subregions. The survey questions were formulated after the construct of sustainability was conceptualized according to its attributes: transportation, parks, groceries, and equitable access to resources. Then, the research team broke into sampling groups, each tasked with collecting responses from a specific geographic region or subregion according to their own sampling method. Finally, the results were cleaned, coded, and recoded. While there were some discrepancies between communities, sociodemographic results indicated that the sample was for the most part representative of the target population. Results from the transportation section of the survey demonstrated the heavy reliance on cars as a form of transportation, and the negative appraisals of walking, biking, and public transportation. Public transportation was seen as inaccessible, and other infrastructure such as sidewalks and roads were seen as inadequate. Local parks were predominantly viewed positively, but significant complaints regarded safety and cleanliness. Results concerning grocery stores focused on the lack of options, the lack of health food stores, poor quality of produce, and the high cost of groceries. Finally, participants indicated a lack of easy access to childcare and community centers, among other community resources.