The same conflict between industrial and mixed-use space that exists in L.A. also exists in San Diego. The debate about where to draw those lines is taking place against a backdrop of economic development issues also involving line drawing: the potential impact of immigration reform and a federal guest-worker program for Mexico, and the site selection process now under way for a new international airport.
   The leading candidates for the airport are a site about an hour from central San Diego, between Campo and Boulevard and another site more than 100 miles (161 km.) away, referred to as the Imperial County Desert site. Six other sites are also under consideration, including five different military sites scattered among Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Naval Air Station North Island. However, the military sites would require a joint or shared use scenario.
   Cost projections at the civilian sites range from $16.7 billion for the Campo proposal to $17.4 billion for the Imperial proposal. But while public comment and official deliberation takes place, one thing is certain: A new airport must happen. That's because the current 661-acre (268-hectare) facility is the only major commercial service airport in the nation with only one runway. The current facility, SDIA or Lindbergh Field, was able to squeeze in 209,000 arrivals and departures in 2004, but with projections saying that the threshold of 260,000 would be reached sometime between 2015 and 2022, the time to find a new place for them to land is now. Once the San Diego Regional Airport Authority identifies a potential site, the proposal will be put before San Diego County voters as a ballot measure in November 2006.

Johnson & Johnson's recent expansion in La Jolla is equally lauded for creating jobs and limiting its impact on the environment.

   Whether the airport goes onto a military parcel or not, military-related business development still carries the San Diego economy on its back. But so do the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. Among the recent projects in the area were a new facility in San Diego from hospital equipment maker Artes Medical Inc., a new headquarters for di Orthopedics in Vista and a 186,000-sq.-ft. (17,279-sq.-m.) expansion in La Jolla by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D (J&JPRD).
   The J&JPRD La Jolla Drug facility is one of J&JPRD's nine sites throughout the U.S. and Europe, including headquarters in Raritan, N.J., and facilities in Titusville, N.J.; Spring House, Pa.; Beerse, Belgium; Val de Reuil, France; Toledo, Spain; Schaffhausen, Switzerland; and Saunderton, U.K. The facility as at the center of J&JPRD's drug discovery plans, and in 2004 doubled its physical space, expanding to accommodate up to 600 scientists and support staff. The facility is recognized as a Johnson & Johnson Center of Excellence for genomics.
   Part of the expansion was the installation of a combined heat and power cogeneration system, which provides 15 million kilowatt-hours per year of electricity plus 360,000 therms of heat and 1,600,000 ton-hrs. per year of chilled water, providing more than 90 percent of the facility's electric power and much of its heating and cooling needs. In fact, the complex could go off the grid if necessary — not so far-fetched a notion in this energy-challenged region.
   Besides helping the facility achieve LEED certified status, the cogeneration plant keeps 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air every year, and saves the company more than $1 million in electricity and natural gas expenses. Helping fund it was a refund incentive from the San Diego Regional Energy Office for self-generation of up to 5 megawatts. The program expires at the end of 2007.
   Appropriately for a state where the foreign-born population has now exceeded 25 percent, alliance and outreach are at the heart of a new family of projects announced by the University of California-San Diego in November 2005 as the "UCSD Partnership with Mexico." The program's first four initiatives include a proposal for a $20-million program combining "hands-on" support for business activities with advanced research and non-degree executive education.

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   The UCSD Extension already promotes a "Crossborder Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative" dedicated to exploring how the Baja California-San Diego region can become more globally competitive in key science and technology sectors.
   "This initiative should strengthen the biotech industry in San Diego by building complementary assets such as production facilities in Baja," said the university's release.
   Other planks to the plan include an air quality improvement program and a focus on examining a restructuring of the Mexican economy, which most Mexican policymakers say is necessary to increase Mexico's competitiveness.
   "Economic restructuring in Mexico can have a profoundly beneficial effect on the American economy as well," said Christopher Woodruff, an economist and director of UCSD's Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.
   So can traffic restructuring. A 2005 study of the impact of border wait times on the binational economy, performed by Caltrans and regional planning organization SANDAG, found that the average wait time of 45 minutes has a productivity impact of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion per year. The study, drawn from 3,600 crossings at three stations, concluded that adding 15 minutes would subtract another $1 billion in productivity. That does not account for the leisure and retail revenues gone missing because of trips not made due to the congestion.