12th & Imperial Trolley Stop: a Separation of Two Worlds

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Over time, the public transportation system in San Diego improved drastically. Dating back to 1886, the first San Diego Street Car Company opened up in the San Diego county. The service began with passengers entering an open air street car which was drawn by two mules.

 

One of the city’s more popular forms of transportation today is the San Diego public Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) trolley. There are multiple trolley stops all throughout San Diego county which each have their own individual trolley line. There are a total of three trolley lines (blue, orange, green) which each lead to a different part of the county.

 

All three lines only have one meeting point, the 12th & Imperial transit center.

 

The 12th & Imperial Transit Center was built in 1981 and was later rebuilt in 2013. Located in San Diego’s East Village, it is the only place that the three lines meet. There are also bus stops there. Such as 4, 11, 901, 929. Many people rely on it everyday to go to work, school, etc.

 

This trolley stop is also a border between two neighborhoods, Downtown San Diego and Barrio Logan. These two neighborhoods both have a rich and deep history. Although, these two communities are so close to each other, they have very different cultures. Our project is going highlights these cultural differences.

 

Downtown San Diego is a popular part of the city. With over more than 4,000 businesses and nine districts, 30,000 residents and many events and attractions, such as Comic-Con San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter, many would say Downtown is the heart of San Diego.

 

South of 12th & Imperial, is the neighborhood known as Barrio Logan. Barrio Logan has a very rich history starting with the relocation of many refugees of the Mexican Revolution and continuing until the creation of Chicano Park.

 

Logan’s history is extremely different than that of downtown and our project sees these two places only separated by a trolley line as two different worlds.