Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, announced that he had secured the funding at a press conference last month. He said the money would fund a children\u2019s play area, picnic facilities and new lighting and artwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal was to make sure that places like this community had access to the outdoors through parks and many other investments,\u201d Alvarez said of the bond measure. \u201cAnd because the voters said yes, we actually have the funding to make this thing happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774362250_154_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The planned site of Grove Park in the Otay Mesa-Nestor neighborhood of San Diego, California sits empty on Feb. 20, 2025. San Diego lawmakers recently secured funding for the park from California\u2019s 2024 climate bond measure.<\/p>\n
In general, San Diegans have pretty good access to parks. More than 80% of residents can walk to a park in less than 10 minutes according to the Trust for Public Land<\/a>, a national environmental nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n But Nestor is one of the areas where access is more limited.<\/p>\n A lot of what\u2019s considered a park in Nestor is just open space, according to city planning documents<\/a>. The city says the neighborhood is short about 10 acres of parkland based on how many people live here.<\/p>\n In 2024, Nestor and its surrounding neighborhoods had a median household income of around $80,000. That\u2019s compared to San Diego\u2019s overall median income of more than $100,000.<\/p>\n Around three quarters of residents<\/a> in these neighborhoods identify as Hispanic, according to 2024 estimates by the San Diego Association of Governments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a blue-collar neighborhood,\u201d Velasquez said. \u201cWe have a lot of retirees, a lot of former-military service folks and also young families.\u201d<\/p>\n City officials have been drawing up plans for Grove Neighborhood Park since at least 2018.<\/p>\n The challenge has been finding the funds to build it, said Mike Grzenia, who serves as vice chair of a local community group that advises the city parks department.<\/p>\n In 2021, the city started pushing money into planning and permit approvals for the park. But Grzenia said that momentum quickly came to a standstill amid the city\u2019s ongoing budget challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city kind of ran low on money,\u201d Grzenia said.<\/p>\n Mike Grzenia, who serves on the Otay Mesa Community Recreation Group, stands for a portrait at the planned site of Grove Park in Nestor neighborhood of San Diego, California on Feb. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n Velasquez said the park project is an example of the broader challenges that Nestor and the surrounding neighborhoods have faced when it comes to getting local officials to invest in its infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly within these last 15 years have we been seeing some improvement with that, but there\u2019s still a long way to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where the state\u2019s $10 billion climate bond comes in.<\/p>\n The bond sets aside money for all kinds of environmental priorities, including repairing dams, pruning overgrown forests and restoring coastal wetlands. That includes building more public parks, which help to cool urban neighborhoods and offer other environmental and health benefits.<\/p>\n Nestor does rank among the parts of San Diego that are more vulnerable to heat waves, according to NASA researchers<\/a> who mapped out heat exposure across the city in 2021.<\/p>\n The researchers found that Nestor and surrounding neighborhoods were more at risk because residents have higher rates of heart disease and diabetes. Those conditions can make it more dangerous to be in extreme heat.<\/p>\n This money comes from a bond measure, which means that the state is actually just borrowing the money. Taxpayers will have to pay it back with interest over the next 40 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n But in the meantime, some of that money is starting to flow to places where the effects of climate change are happening right now.<\/p>\n The planned site of Grove Park in the Otay Mesa-Nestor neighborhood of San Diego, California sits empty on Feb. 20, 2025. San Diego lawmakers recently secured funding for the park from California\u2019s 2024 climate bond measure.<\/p>\n Grzenia is excited that the park is one step closer to construction.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling really good about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would have been nice to see money coming directly from the city to fund this, but it’s really nice that Assemblymember Alvarez had the forethought to appropriate some money for this park.\u201d<\/p>\n Velasquez is a little more cautious. He thinks many residents will feel more confident once they start seeing dirt being moved.<\/p>\n![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774362251_466_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774362252_756_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n