Dear Neighbor, 

Housing costs are one of the biggest challenges facing San Diegans and cities across the country are looking for real solutions. That’s why I traveled to Washington, D.C., to represent San Diego at a national housing conference and meet with federal partners about how we can build more homes and lower costs. 

At the conference, San Diego was highlighted as a national leader in housing innovation for the work we have done to cut red tape, modernize our zoning, streamline permitting and make it easier to build more homes near transit and jobs.  
 
But local action alone is not enough. That’s why, as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I’m continuing to advocate for a national housing agenda that supports cities doing the work to build more homes, lower costs, and expand opportunity. 

Congress has now passed the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, the biggest housing bill in roughly 30 years. I urge the president to sign it into law.

The 21st Century Road to Housing Act will help communities build more homes, lower housing costs, support veterans trying to access housing, and crack down on large firms buying up single-family homes. Mayors across America strongly support this bill because we see the housing crisis up close every day, and we know families cannot afford more delay. 

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor. 

New Chicano Park Boulevard signs have been installed in Barrio Logan, completing a community-led effort to rename the street and honor the neighborhood’s history, cultural pride and deep connection to Chicano Park. 

This change came from residents, artists, advocates, founding families, the Chicano Park Steering Committee, the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group and the Barrio Logan Association. 

The renaming follows the City’s broader effort to remove references to Cesar Chavez from City programs, facilities and public assets while continuing to honor farmworker-rights activism and the Chicano movement. The City coordinated with Caltrans so freeway signage could be updated at the same time. 

Fixing roads is one of the top issues I hear about from San Diegans, and our City crews have reached an important milestone: more than 30 lane miles of street resurfacing completed this fiscal year through our in-house Mill-and-Pave Program — a new record for the City of San Diego. This is in addition to contracted paving and slurry seal jobs. 

Councilmember Henry Foster and our Transportation Department joined me on 51st Street in Emerald Hills, one of the most deteriorated road segments in the city, to mark this milestone. The street had a Pavement Condition Index score of just 3.56 out of 100 and had not received major pavement work in decades. 

By investing in our own in-house paving crews, we can fix some of San Diego’s worst streets faster and more cost-effectively than relying only on outside contractors. It helps us stretch taxpayer dollars further, respond more flexibly to neighborhood needs and deliver the visible improvements San Diegans deserve.  

Every San Diegan deserves the chance to live in a safe, stable home in a neighborhood where they can thrive. Navajo Family Apartments in San Carlos will create 44 new affordable homes for individuals and families, including homes reserved for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. 

San Carlos offers the kinds of neighborhood resources that help families succeed — strong schools, parks, libraries, transit, jobs, shopping and access to places like Mission Trails Regional Park. Building affordable homes in neighborhoods like this gives more San Diegans the opportunity to put down roots in communities with stability, opportunity and a good quality of life. 

The City supported Navajo Family Apartments through our Affordable Housing Permit Now program and a $3.1 million Bridge to Home loan, helping move this project from plans to construction. 

We’re also recommending the next round of Bridge to Home funding to support 430 more affordable homes in Hillcrest and City Heights, because lowering housing costs means building more homes in every kind of neighborhood. My working-class parents were able to buy a home in San Diego more than 30 years ago. For too many hardworking families, that story is not possible today — but it can be. It needs to be. 

A remote work meetup brought hundreds of people to Law Street Beach in Pacific Beach, where laptops, beach chairs and even surfboards became makeshift offices for a morning on the sand. 

The event was organized by Scott Muirhead, whose original beach desk photo turned into a larger gathering earlier this year. After that meetup drew a much bigger crowd than expected, Scott worked with the City of San Diego to obtain the permit, plan for the event, and include a beach cleanup afterward. 

Our City teams went out to meet Scott and attendees and see the beach-office energy in action. It was fun, creative and very San Diego — and it showed how events in our public spaces can be done the right way: safely, responsibly and with respect for the beach we all share. 

San Diego is moving fully to the City’s new gray trash bins, replacing the older black bins as part of our effort to modernize trash service. 

Beginning July 1, the City will no longer collect trash from the older model black bins. 

The new gray bins are more durable, easier to identify and include clear sorting reminders on the lid to help residents know what goes where. They also help the City provide more accurate service, make repairs or replacements more efficiently, and ensure customers are billed based on their selected trash service package. 

Virtually all City-serviced households have already received their new gray bins and do not need to take any action. Customers who still need a gray bin, need a different size or want to update their service can visit the portal at WastePortal.sandiego.gov. 

Reminder: the City isn’t tossing the old black bins, we’re recycling them by cleaning, disassembling, and grinding down the plastic so it can be made into new products. 

Recent fires in San Diego are an important reminder that fire season is now year-round— and being ready is a shared responsibility. 

San Diego Fire-Rescue is prepared to respond, but residents can help protect their families, neighborhoods and first responders by signing up for emergency alerts, preparing a Go Kit, knowing evacuation routes and clearing dry brush and other flammable materials around their homes. 

Learn more and get the full Ready, Set, Go! wildfire preparedness resources here. 

The City is currently delivering new light blue recycling bins to households eligible for City-provided trash and recycling service. The updated bins are more durable, easier to identify, and equipped with scannable tags to improve service reliability and accountability. 

Deliveries will take place on regular collection days and continue citywide over several months, with some households receiving their bins later this year. Crews will also remove older dark blue bins, which will be recycled and repurposed. Residents can expect notifications ahead of their delivery and can look up their estimated timeline online. 

After customers receive their new light blue recycling bins, the City will collect only from those new bins. Until then, the City will continue servicing old containers to avoid disruption in customer service. Collection of recycling materials will remain bi-weekly.

And an update on black trash bins: Starting July 1, 2026, the City will no longer collect trash from black bins. This applies only to black bins at this time. You must have a City-provided gray bin to receive service. Homeowners: confirm at http://sandiego.gov/trash. Renters: contact your landlord/property manager.

Downtown’s Civic Center Plaza is getting a vibrant refresh with Plaza Central — a new series of pop-up events bringing food, music, and art to the heart of the city. The activations are free and open to the public every Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering a lively preview of the area’s long-term revitalization. 

 
Learn more about Plaza Central events.