Critics assail Bry’s use of ‘There goes the neighborhood’

For generations, debates over housing have had racial undertones, most notably when it came to exclusionary zoning that effectively kept low-income residents out of certain neighborhoods.

This year, land-use politics in San Diego increasingly have been framed in terms of race.

Shortly before the March 3 primary, the campaign over a proposal aimed at restricting development in the county’s rural areas was jolted when opponents claimed Measure A amounted to “institutionalized racism.” Supporters of the ballot measure, which was narrowly defeated, adamantly disputed the claim, saying the proposal would help the region’s transportation system and environment, and keep development out of highrisk fire areas.

Last week, mayoral candidate Barbara Bry was assailed by critics over her campaign’s use of the phase “There goes the neighborhood” in an email castigating her opponent, Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-san Diego, for backing state legislation aimed at expediting the development and opening the door to increased housing density in more neighborhoods.

Most everyone agrees San Diego and California have an affordable housing shortage. But there are sharp divisions over whether focusing heavily on widespread density increases is the best way to address it. The language in the email heightened what

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was already an intense debate.

Over the years, that phrase has clearly meant people moving into an area in which they may not have been deemed worthy by existing residents — sometimes because of race, ethnicity or economic status.

The first hit on a search on Google for “There goes the neighborhood meaning” mentions something negative happening to a community, “such as someone undesirable moving in.”

But Google just “There goes the neighborhood” and the first thing that pops up is something entirely different: a New York-based podcast by that name that discusses gentrification, the process of bringing in more upscale development that sometimes forces out lowerincome residents.

That’s where Bry said the term in her email came from — the “There Goes the Neighborhood” podcast hosted by Kai Wright, who Bry pointed out is Black. However, she did not mention the podcast in the email.

Bry, a San Diego City Council member and a Democrat, said she is fighting to protect all singlefamily neighborhoods from a density incursion. When single-family zoning is brought up, people often think of predominantly White, upscale suburbs.

That’s understandable — there are a lot of them. People who live there generally don’t want more development and often have the political strength to keep it out.

But Bry mentioned lower-income, more diverse single-family neighborhoods such as those in Emerald Hills, whose residents could be negatively affected if developers are encouraged to buy up lots and combine them after an upzoning.

She rejected the claim the phrase was used for racial signaling.

“We believe the legislation ... would result in gentrification,” Bry said, adding that, “I believe we can solve our housing shortage without eliminating singlefamily zoning.”

Bry said she has supported increasing housing density in major transit corridors, creating plans to specifically address high housing costs for renters and homeowners, rezoning some commercial properties for housing and allowing granny flats as secondary units on single-family zoned lots.

For his part, Gloria, a former San Diego City Council member, has said legislation he supports would streamline the process and allow for larger projects but does not mandate the end of single-family housing. He said the legislation continues to allow local government to have the final say in how development occurs.

Some of his Democratic and progressive supporters expressed their outrage on social media at Bry for her campaign’s use of that phrase. But the person who went on at length to explain the racial context and origins of the phrase was Ryan Clumpner, a former Republican now independent political consultant who also supports Gloria.

“‘There goes the neighborhood.’ Let’s be really clear about where this phrase comes from and why @bry4sd thinks it’s so effective. It’s a racist expression

of white resentment towards housing integration,” wrote Clumpner, vice chair of the San Diego Housing Commission.

He posted a timeline chart and noted it showed the expression “originated during the civil rights movement and exploded in popularity immediately following the Fair Housing Act of 1968.”

It is unknown how many San Diegans have listened to a podcast about development issues in New York City. But it seems certain people clearly are more familiar with the historical meaning of the phrase. Bry suggested the expression has taken on an anti-gentrification meaning.

“I’m saying this is the new context of this phrase,” she said.

She was defended on Twitter by Geneviéve Joneswright, an attorney and social justice activist who supports Bry. Jones-wright referred to the podcast, said Bry opposes gentrification and “is willing to act in order to stop it.”

“Can we stop this madness?” she added. “Vote for who you will vote for but stop trying to paint @bry4sd as a racist with ill intentions towards (people of color) and poor people. The conversation around this topic must be multilayered as the issue itself is.”

This isn’t the first time the Bry campaign’s choice of words have brought her the wrath of critics.

“They’re coming for our

homes,” she said in a fundraising email in June 2019 that again criticized Gloria and a bill he supported to give the state more influence over local land-use decisions.

Will Rodriguez-kennedy, head of the San Diego County Democratic Party, at the time accused her on Twitter of “fearmongering w/ hyperbolic coded language that reinforces every ism possible.”

Bry said she was referring to developers and speculators.

Rodriguez-kennedy, who supports Gloria, wasn’t buying it then or now.

“Sidestepping whether or not ‘There goes the neighborhood’ and ‘They are coming for our homes’ are racial dog whistles (they are), ... It doesn’t change that Bry has a checkered record on race,” he said in a post last week.

Clumpner noted Bry has voted for affordable housing projects in lower-income areas south of Interstate 8, but not for one in a ZIP code area adjacent to her La Jolla-centric district that has among the lowest number of affordable units in the region.

It doesn’t seem like the podcast explanation will be the end of this argument.