San Diego's Martial Metropolis

As San Diego military presence grew throughout the decades, so too did its economic dependence on defense budgets, a position that allowed the armed forces to exercise mounting influence over the city's growth, politics and civic identity.

That relationship branded San Diego as a "martial metropolis" -- a personality it continues to carry today -- and the military's financial impact helped germinate a burgeoning West Coast city. As such, it became a major city devoid of the traditional pains of urbanization -- the pollution of heavy industry, dense housing, and labor struggles -- that others had to bear.

But a significant identity crisis has literally been lurking on the city's front porch as the extent of San Diego's relationship with the military is tested by two important projects that will shape the city's identity and growth. San Diego has lacked the marks of other urban giants -- an international airport and a symbolic waterfront -- and the city's leaders are standing by as the military dictates the decisions over both points.

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