Well-Known Businesses Being Turned Into High-Rise Housing

It seems that everywhere you look these days, they're building a high-rise housing unit. Everywhere.

David Garrick, a writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, recently wrote an article about businesses now being turned into high-rise housing:

"The landscape of San Diego is being transformed by a new trend: Tall apartment buildings are replacing what were once well-recognized businesses like Fry’s in Serra Mesa, Perry’s Cafe near Old Town and a Rite Aid in Hillcrest.

City officials say the trend is being spurred by aggressive zoning changes in neighborhoods across the city that have come with recent community plan updates, which have rezoned many commercial properties as sites for dense housing.

Developers say another factor is falling demand for commercial space because of online shopping and other trends, which has made residential projects relatively more profitable for property owners and developers.

And they say San Diego is particularly appealing because local rules usually let them build without a lengthy public approval process."

What's in it for everyone?

• Developers - MONEY

  
  

• County of San Diego - MONEY

  
  

• Residents - HEARTACHE

Questions to ponder—

• If the County works for the taxpayers, then why are they ignoring them and adding to density?

  
  

• How does one stop the building frenzy before all our towns and communities are completely ravaged and the landscape turned into something unrecognizable?

  
  

• How do these high-rise buildings add to a neighborhood's character?

You can read the article in its entirety here. That is, if you can stomach it.

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