Editor: Way back in the Sixties, then-Mayor Frank Curran – before he was sent to prison for his involvement in the Yellow Cab scandal – proposed building a floating airport for San Diego off the southern tip of Point Loma. Well, the idea has resurfaced but this time off the shore of Ocean Beach. Is OB ready for its own airport? Hell, we can’t even deal with a marshmellow fight! Then we’d really need new public restrooms at the lifeguard tower.
by Jebediah Reed / The Infrastructurist / October 22n, 2009
San Diego desperately needs a new airport. It has needed one for years. The existing facility, San Diego International, is crowded onto a puny 675 acre parcel. That’s a lovely size for a horse farm, but it’s infinitesimal for an airport serving a metropolitan area of 3 million people. All of San Diego shares a single runway–the busiest in the country and also one of the most dangerous.
So freaking build a new airport already, you say. To their credit, the fine people of southern Southern California have expressed a desire to do just that. They’ve had commissions and referendums and so forth. But the problem boils down to the fact there’s nowhere to put a new airport, except for a local Marine base. But San Diegans voted overwhelmingly in 2006 not to build an new airport on the Marine land, both because they didn’t want to see the military depart and because of noise concerns.
In the midst of this pickle, along comes a fellow named Adam Englund. He’s a local lawyer who studied international law at Cambridge and has long nurtured a fascination with the idea of floating cities. He’s got an idea–a $20 billion business plan, even.
It’s so incredibly simple, says Englund. We live next to all this open, watery space. Let’s put the airport… in the ocean. (Editor: right off Ocean Beach.)
For the remainder of this article, go here.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting concept and I’d love it if no more jets flew over my house but, aren’t there a good amount of days each year where there is a marine layer off of our coast? I’d have to wonder how often this proposed port would be socked in and therefore rendered useless.
what a croc! we really don’t need a new airport. there are, however a whole bunch of land scammers, “developers” and politricians (sic!) who’d love to have us taxpayers line their pockets by saying yes to a new airport.
I’m with Doug. Why do we need another airport? But one thing I’ve learned about SD developers is that once they got their mind set on it, it happens whether or not the taxpayers want it or not (re: Petco Park).
Here’s my suggestions:
What about revamping that little airport in Otay Mesa? – Wait, that would render much of the new homes there useless.
Okay, what about keeping the Chargers in Mission Valley (and just remodeling/rebuilding the Q) and use that piece of land in Escondido? – Wait, that would piss off the higher tax bracket in the Poway/Penasquitos/Valley Center corrider.
I’m out… Any other suggestions?
well, they can’t remodel qualcomm without dealing with all the gas/oil that’s seeped into the soil under the stadium from those holding tanks up on the hill. (no wonder they banned smoking in the park!) i think the San Diego Chargers will be history; unless the local politicians can find a way to make the City employees’ unions give up pay (& pensions) for a couple of years…when that doesn’t happen, ol’ Chris Reed of the Union-Tribune will be bleating about how the City lost football because of the unions.
Let’s build an off shore stadium for the chargers too since they deserve it.
I can’t imagine how they are going to secure a floating airport, sounds like a nightmare.
Abby – how did your party go? anybody from OB Rag show up?