SAN DIEGO — Karla Dagdag and her daughter walk along a dirt and rock trail toward the Paradise Hills skate park, the path kicking up on their shoes. The nearby playground is sandy with rusty swings and climbing bars and paint-peeled picnic tables, including one with graffiti on it.
Their local park, which has had few upgrades in recent years, has room for improvement, Dagdag says: more trees for shade, seating and benches, and a less rocky path that doesn’t leave her shoes and clothes so dirty.
“I do walk around here sometimes, and I feel like it's really hot because there's not enough shade,” she said, adding she sometimes goes to a different park so she can walk on pavement instead.
About 30 miles north, a newer park in Pacific Highlands Ranch, built three years ago as part of a $40 million investment by the city,hosts updated playground equipment, more accessible turf padding, a soccer field, two dog parks, a skate plaza and a cycling track.
Cristina Rotenburg enjoys the park and would hardly change anything about it: it’s clean, safe and even offers musical elements in the playground for her three kids.
“I feel like the only thing that could be different is just more shade, but I feel even silly complaining because I feel very fortunate.”
At a glance, the parks could not be much more different, but they do share something important in common:
Both parks were paid for in part with the same fees the city charges for new developments to offset any negative impacts of building. However, over the years, one community has collected vastly more money through those same impact fees than the other.
For example, roughly $30 million in development fees helped pay for just the park and recreation center in Pacific Highlands Ranch, which has raised $199 million through the fees, collected since 1998. Meanwhile, the whole community that includes the Paradise Hills park has collected just $1.8 million from the same fees since its fund started in 1988.
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