VOSD Podcast: State Of The City Preview

By Nate John, the Voice of San Diego

January 6, 2023

At the beginning of each year, the eyes of San Diego public affairs nerds, newscasters and surely some normal people turn to San Diego’s mayor for the State of the City address.

Slated for Jan. 11, 2023, Mayor Todd Gloria has to speak to the entire city and tell us what’s up.

The aim of this address has varied over recent administrations. Some mayors, like former mayor Jerry Sanders, used videos to illustrate the promise of new parks and stadiums yet unrealized. Former mayor Kevin Faulconer made big announcements for upcoming initiatives.

This will be Gloria’s first such address with a crowd, since the first two were closed to the public due to pandemic restrictions. (His actual, first-ever State of the City address was as interim mayor after the resignation of Bob Filner.)

So what’s to come: A big announcement? The revival of #sexystreets? A list of #gettingitdone accomplishments? Expectation setting for a rocky year ahead?

This week on the VOSD Podcast, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña look back at State of the City addresses past and make predictions for the next. Of course, among the key issues is homelessness.

Is homelessness a housing issue? A big question — and an argument many make as the region, and much of the country, grapples with housing crises. On the pod this week, Lewis reviewed data from various U.S. cities to assess what, if anything, could be a persistent and clear correlation with homelessness.

The cost of housing was the biggest correlation to homelessness according to the numbers laid out in this week’s show. Further, as San Diego has ramped up its job market in the last 20 years — especially for high-paying tech jobs — housing costs have swelled, pushing homes out of reach for many.

Plus: Universal transitional kindergarten has landed — and it’s changing education in San Diego. Our hosts discussed what some parents have experienced in this new era of education and how UTK boosted school enrollment at San Diego Unified, which has been slumping for years.

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