San Diego, CA
Homelessness along the San Diego River hits its highest total yet
An estimated 423 homeless people are now living along the San Diego River, putting them at increased risk of drowning as well as creating new challenges for outreach workers, first responders and surrounding wildlife.
The most recent tally from the San Diego River Park Foundation was the nonprofit’s highest count in years. The increase was largely found in the city of San Diego — Santee’s population actually went down — and officials are hopeful that boosted outreach throughout the county will ultimately reduce totals everywhere.
“These funds and these resources, these things are working,” Kendall Burdett, a riverbed outreach worker with People Assisting the Homeless, said Thursday at a downtown press conference. “They work tediously, and sometimes we fall behind, but we catch up and we keep going.”
Multiple homeless people have drowned in recent years. At least three were swept away during January’s historic storm, and while local researchers are exploring the creation of a flood warning system, that project is far from a done deal.
The rising number of encampments comes as several cities have passed camping bans that increased penalties for sleeping outside. Sarah Hutmacher, the foundation’s chief operating officer, said she knew of individuals who’d chosen to live by waterways in an effort to avoid police on the street.
But homelessness overall has also grown countywide every month for more than two straight years. People may move to the riverbed only after long periods spent elsewhere, and officials said this population had, on average, been homeless a decade.
Rivers can simultaneously offer isolation from the outside world and a more stable community. Hand-built structures sometimes include brick floors, wooden walls and bookshelves, and outreach workers can face more hurdles in convincing those residents to move.
As a result, leaders are using a $17 million grant from the state to expand the number of service organizations working in the area. Outreach ramped up months ago in Santee, which has seen its riverbed numbers drop to an estimated 78 people since the spring.
Similar work began more recently in San Diego. That city’s waterway population surged earlier this year to nearly 340, and one plot of land near Sea World, below Interstate 5, appears to have dozens of people living in a makeshift village. Burdett, the outreach worker, said at least 10 of those residents had already been connected with rent subsidy programs and should soon be able to get housing.
Officials reported that 180 people had agreed to leave local riverbeds since January. Of those, more than 150 were now in some form of short-term housing, which can include traditional shelters. Twenty-two made it permanent housing and one was reunited with family.
“On all fronts, we are making progress,” county Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said Thursday.
The population estimates were based on a census taken Sept. 26 through 29 and include people found living in vehicles. The count does not include Mission Trails.
A person was fatally struck by a train in the Cardiff neighborhood of Encinitas early Wednesday afternoon, a sheriff’s official said.
The collision was reported just after 1 p.m. in the area of Chesterfield Drive at San Elijo Avenue, Lt. Joe Berry said.
The Sheriff’s Office’s Railroad Enforcement Unit is investigating the incident.
Chesterfield was briefly closed between San Elijo and Coast Highway 101 as first responders worked, but the road has since reopened.
In a post on social media platform X, the North County Transit District warned people to expect significant delays for Coaster service. Tracks were closed between Solana Beach and Encinitas stations, it said, and a Breeze bus bridge would be available for passengers between those stations.
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SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Attendance at Balboa Park’s museums are down 34% on average since paid parking went into effect inside San Diego’s urban park, according to data released Tuesday by the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership.
In the analysis released Tuesday, the partnership found that between January and March of this year, attendance is down by that average of 34% compared to the previous year, with some institutions dropping by 60% over the same period.
“We’ve appreciated the city’s recent willingness to listen and take initial steps in response to community concerns,” Balboa Park Cultural Partnership Executive Director Peter Comiskey said. “However, the latest data make clear that those changes are not reversing the decline in visitation, and the impacts on our institutions are becoming more serious. We are urging additional action by our regional leaders before potentially irreversible damages take hold, and jobs and beloved programs or even organizations are lost.”
The report comes out as Mayor Todd Gloria’s draft budget for fiscal year 2027 proposes slashing arts funding by more than $11 million as a way to grapple with a structural deficit of more than $118 million.
Some of the park’s larger institutions predict more than $10 million lost in revenue from the lowered attendance alone, and jobs and program losses are a real threat, Comiskey said.
Visitors to Balboa Park were asked to pay to park their vehicles in city lots starting in January, breaking a tradition of more than 100 years of the city’s crown jewel being free for those in private vehicles.
San Diego residents are now able to purchase a monthly, quarterly or annual parking pass at a discounted rate by visiting sandiego.thepermitportal.com/. Residents can pay $30 for a monthly parking pass, $60 for a quarterly pass or $150 for an annual one. Non-residents can pay $40, $120 or $300 for the same levels.
The fiscal year 2026 budget passed last summer anticipated $15.5 million in parking revenue from Balboa Park. That number assumed $12.5 million in fee parking in Balboa Park and at least $3 million from zoo parking.
A revised figure presented to the City Council in November instead found the non-zoo parking might bring in just $2.9 million, or a decrease of $9.6 million from initial estimates.
The city originally planned to begin charging for parking in October, but delays prevented that and three months of revenue from happening. Expected parking rates have dropped as well.
The parking passes come under three pricing tiers, Levels 1, 2, and 3, based on demand and proximity:
— Level 1 lots, located in the core of the Central Mesa area, would be subject to the highest rate — $16 per day and $10 for up to four hours for nonresidents and $8 per day and $5 for up to four hours for city residents. These include Space Theater, Casa de Balboa, Alcazar, Organ Pavilion, Bea Evenson, Palisades and South Carousel;
— Level 2 lots would be priced at $10 per day for nonresidents and $5 per day for residents. These include Pepper Grove, Federal, Upper Inspiration Point and Marston Point;
— Level 3 lots would also be priced at $10 per day with the first three hours free, with a resident rate of $5 per day with the first three hours free. This includes the lower Inspiration Point lot.
The Office of the Independent Budget Analyst estimated revenues in this fiscal year from the non-zoo parking would be close to $4 million, still well short of plans.
The zoo, which operates on an independent lease from the city, will allow members to continue to park for free. For non-members and non-residents, general parking is $16 per vehicle, per day, $44 daily for oversized vehicles per day. City of San Diego resident rates are half that.
Revenues from the parking fees paid within the park must be spent on Balboa Park. The funds can support ongoing maintenance, infrastructure, and visitor amenities and may include road repaving, lighting upgrades, sign improvements and landscaping.
Gloria backed off some of the parking fees in February, citing overwhelming negative feedback.
City residents who have verified their address will again be able to park for free in the Pepper Grove, Federal, Upper Inspiration Point, Lower Inspiration Point, Marston Point, Palisades and Bea Evenson lots.
“Good governing also means listening. I’ve heard from residents and from members of the City Council about how this program is affecting San Diegans who love Balboa Park as much as I do,” Gloria said.
“That feedback matters, and it’s why I am eliminating parking fees for city residents in select lots in the park. This change will reduce revenue, and I have received a commitment from the City Council president as well as other council members to identify other service-level reductions in order to keep the budget balanced.”
Verified San Diego residents will still be charged to park in premium lots such as the Space Theater, Casa de Balboa, Alcazar, Organ Pavilion and South Carousel lots. The cost is $5 for up to four hours or $8 for a full day. Enforcement will now end at 6 p.m., instead of 8 p.m.
More than 3,000 San Diegans have registered to be verified for the resident free parking program, and the city has collected nearly $700,000 for operations and maintenance in Balboa Park.
Despite these changes, Comiskey and the cultural partnership said more must be done before summer, busy season for the park and the museums and cultural institutions within.
“The data show we are at a critical moment,” Comiskey said. “As we approach the summer tourism season, we need a clear, region-wide recovery solution that restores accessibility, rebuilds public trust, and sends a strong `welcome back’ message to residents and visitors alike.”
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
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