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SOHO President's Message
By David W. Goldberg
January/February 2024
 Photo by Sandé Lollis |
At the beginning of each new year, I like to reflect on the recent and not so recent past, and think about what the future may hold. 2023 was definitely a year for the record books. It was one of the most challenging for the preservation movement that I can recall, and that’s saying something!
Probably the biggest change I’ve seen in preservation over the years is the expanded scope. When SOHO was founded in 1969, the goal was saving the Sherman-Gilbert House, a three-story redwood Victorian built in 1887. For much of the next ten years after that landmark success, SOHO mostly focused on saving individual Victorians. This started changing in the mid-1970s, when the group championed the creation of the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District, and in the late-1970s, when SOHO fought to save historic buildings downtown that were threatened with demolition by the Horton Plaza shopping mall development.
Since then, the scope has further broadened to include historic resources throughout San Diego County, important 20th-century architecture movements, and cultural and archeological resources. Another significant change: Historic pre-World War II neighborhoods, mostly south of Interstate 8, weren’t on real estate developers’ radar. They primarily focused on undeveloped land beyond central San Diego. Not anymore. Two things that haven’t changed, however, are the imperative to continually advocate for historic preservation and to refute misinformation.
Over the last couple of years, as you’re probably aware, a flurry of legislation at the state and local level is targeting the high cost of housing in California. Without question, the spiraling cost of housing is a serious problem, but the legislative thrust is on the production of market rate housing, not badly needed affordable housing. Moreover, without modification or amendment this legislation poses a serious threat to decades of progress made in protecting and preserving historic resources.
Fortunately, SOHO and other preservation groups were successful in inserting protections for historic resources in SB 9, the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, and in having the even more controversial SB 10 removed from the city’s Housing Action Package 2.0. That said, the battle is far from over.
In the coming months, the San Diego City Council will take up the Independent Budget Analyst Report, “Response to Request for Analysis of Potential and Designated Historical Resource Review,” which I discussed in my last column. Although the report acknowledges the importance of historic preservation, many of the analyst’s recommendations run counter to proven, widely accepted preservation practices. If that weren’t enough, other flaws include the lack of “proof” from any quantitative or qualitative studies, the exclusion of relevant data, and the failure to address likely detrimental impacts.
Put another way, inadequate analysis that’s heavily reliant on unsubstantiated talking points will not result in good policy.
To everyone who responded to SOHO “Action Alerts” during 2023 with calls, emails, and letters to local decision makers, or by attending Planning Commission and City Council meetings in person or via Zoom, you have my deepest gratitude. Your efforts made all the difference in mitigating damage that would have occurred if recent housing legislation had been enacted as proposed. To those on the sidelines, I encourage you to write short, one- or two-sentence emails using links provided in the “Action Alerts.” These statements, brief or long, make a big impact at City Hall and strengthen our message.
There is much work to be done, and together we’ll continue to monitor, protect, and defend our irreplaceable historic and cultural heritage.
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