A. Introduction

The University Center / Sixth College Neighborhoods Planning Study is intended to guide development of the core of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus. The study addresses significant changes that have occurred or are planned for the University Center and Sixth College neighborhoods since completion of the previous study in 1992-an increase in the development program for new buildings to 1.32 times the 1992 study level, the location of a permanent home for Sixth College, and the introduction of Light Rail Transit (LRT) rail lines with a station in Pepper Canyon. Note that two neighborhoods are addressed in this document.

The study builds on the concepts outlined in the 1989 UCSD Master Plan Study, the 1989 University Center Design Guidelines, and the 1992 University Center/Fifth College Neighborhoods Planning Study and Design Guidelines, which together establish and confirm University Center as the urban core and heart of the campus. Developing University Center as a vital mixed-use downtown neighborhood connected to Sixth College was the starting point of this study. A Planning Advisory Committee (PAC)- representing the full range of campus groups who use, reside, and have a stake in this important area of campus-guided the planning process.

B. Vision and Principles

University Center and Sixth College are envisioned as communities in which living and learning are overlapping experiences, shaped by interactions among people and places. These neighborhoods are imagined as analogous to a city downtown-a central place of day and nighttime activity. Here, the university's central services are sited compactly along with public amenities (such as Town Square and Pepper Bowl), with access to public transit and linked by a network of pedestrian-oriented walks, streets, plazas, courtyards, and public spaces. The idea is to promote a landscape of social exchange while enabling people to fulfill a variety of needs. The following principles are based on the goals and objectives set by the Planning Advisory Committee.

The principles of the University Center / Sixth College neighborhoods Planning Study are to:

I. Strengthen the neighborhoods as the campus crossroads and center of campus life through development that meets the growing need for on-campus retail, housing, academic expansion, and entertainment.

II. Provide well-defined access points to the neighborhoods via transit, shuttle buses, and private vehicles, with clear links to the Central Pedestrian Core.

III. Create an attractive and comfortable "walkable" environment that brings people and activity together.

IV. Optimize development sites with the appropriate density and development guidelines to generate activity and create compact, pedestrian-scale urban neighborhoods.

V. Integrate Pepper Canyon into the daily life of the neighborhoods.

VI. Make the neighborhoods a model of sustainable development.

C. Key Recommendations

The development plan and design standards and guidelines for the University Center and Sixth College Neighborhoods are described in detail in the chapters of this report. The following are key recommendations of the plan-the big gestures that contribute to the vision and constitute the major enhancements to the neighborhoods and campus. The plan will:

1. Extend the Central Pedestrian Core of campus from Library Walk to Sixth College and the future Light Rail Transit station, between Rupertus Way and Lyman Lane.

2. Join Sixth College and University Center via development sites that bridge the east and west sides of Pepper Canyon.

3. Integrate the Light Rail Transit (LRT) corridor, station, and shuttle bus access into the campus open space system, locating stations at the gateways within walking distance of Price Center and other key destinations.

4. Integrate housing, retail, academic uses, and parking into each neighborhood.

5. Concentrate retail uses along the grid of streets and pedestrian paths between Town Square and the gateways.

6. Complete the development program for Sixth College to realize its mission of fostering social and academic experiences within the curriculum of culture, art, and technology.

7. Locate the Sixth College provost at the hub of residential life.

8. Create new building sites and usable open space by partially filling Pepper Canyon.

9. Define Warren Field as an active recreational open space.

10. Create a physical environment that supports social interaction.