It’s Not Historic Neighborhoods that Are Causing San Diego’s Housing Limitations
By Bruce D Coons, Barry Hager and Geoffrey Hueter / Op-Ed San Diego U-T / April 1, 2026
San Diegans face housing affordability challenges. But if policy solutions are going to work, they must be based on evidence rather than assumptions.
San Diego’s biggest affordable housing program isn’t on paper — it’s already built. Our older and historic homes are doing more for affordability than any subsidy program in the city.
A new independent analysis released recently by PlaceEconomics, “The Urban Vitality Blueprint: A Data-Driven Analysis of Equity, Affordability, and Vitality in San Diego’s Historic Districts,” examines the role that historic districts and older neighborhoods play in housing, affordability and sustainability across San Diego. The findings challenge several widely repeated claims in the city’s current policy debate.
Historic districts are often portrayed as low-density neighborhoods that limit housing growth. In reality, the opposite is true. Here are a few key facts from the report:

By Mark Joseph Stern /
By Kate Callen and Paul Krueger
By Lori Weisberg and Alexandra Mendoza / 
Congrats to Mandy Havlik, Andrew Hollingworth, Angela Vedder, Dee Brown, Cori Salcido, who were elected to 3 year seats on the Peninsula Community Planning Board and Eric Law and Robert Jackson who were elected to 1 year seats.
Mandy Havlik currently serves as the First Vice Chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB). She is a proud spouse of a disabled Navy Combat Veteran, a mother of two, and an indigenous woman who is a registered member of the Timiskaming First Nation in Canada. Most recently, Mandy ran for City Council in District 2 in 2022 and is preparing to run again in 2026.
Spicer’s ADU Mega-Projects Caused the City to Crackdown and Enact Some Reforms
by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde /
Evan Anderson, who was the driver that struck and killed Tracy Condon, a woman experiencing homelessness while she sat on a curb in Ocean Beach has pleaded guilty to hit and run and possession of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.
Three OBceans were just elected in March to the OB Planning Board.
Tracy Dezenzo
Famous Bar Survived Prohibition, Developers — and Now This




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