PORTSIDE NEIGHBORHOODS NEED MORE HELP FASTER

Outside my doorstep in Logan Heights, there is a stamp in the cement left by the construction company that made the sidewalk, dated 1910. It makes me think of all of the rich history that these now cracked sidewalks and potholed streets have seen over the years. The roots from the lone tree on the block have pushed through the sidewalk. It’s a sign of nature’s resilience in the face of environmental struggle — not unlike the longtime residents of this beautiful community.

Predominantly a Chicanx community, the portside neighborhoods of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and Sherman Heights in San Diego are home to around 53,000 residents. While these communities are culturally rich, they are economically disadvantaged. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, as presented by the city of San Diego, the median income of these communities is around $42,000, compared to the city’s median of $83,000. On top of that, much of the region is subjected to immense environmental pollution from portside commerce, a large portion being attributed to commercial harbor crafts. Alongside the historic San Diego harbor lie commercial buildings and industrial facilities, which all contribute to the adverse environmental effects that these communities suffer from. These effects are displayed through the lived experiences of lifelong residents such as Maritza Garcia, an environmental activist who was raised alongside harmful pollutants that affected the well-being of her mother and friends. While there is hard work being done to combat these pollutants, government officials and others must do more, and do it on a quicker time table, in order to prevent more pollution from affecting the health of the people in these communities.

Data collected by the state of California also corroborates the fact that these portside communities face high asthma rates and poor air quality. The portside communities are in the highest percentiles of environmental pollution in the state, according to the methodology adopted by CalEnviroScreen. By comparison, the affluent and mostly White community of Coronado just across the bridge is among the lowest percentiles in the county of San Diego, indicating that there are much smaller amounts of pollutants there. How did this happen?

Land use in Logan Heights is mixed between residential and industrial uses, and green spaces are low in numbers. Additionally, there are 13 miles of major freeways, including Interstate 5 and Interstate 15, in the portside community. The harbor being so close to these communities is correlated with the air quality, which further burdens the already environmentally impacted communities.

While this has been happening for decades now, officials are finally taking steps to remedy the aforementioned environmental issues plaguing the portside communities. The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District developed a community emissions reduction plan in July 2021, which outlines 11 major goals to lower the burden of environmental pollutants in the portside communities. Some of these goals include establishing a greater tree canopy, creating more green spaces and reducing mobile emission levels, both on and off-road. Specifically, it calls for medium and heavy duty trucks servicing the portside communities to be free of fossil fuel by 2030, five years ahead of state mandates, and the creation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support this goal. The plan additionally requires the development of cancer risk reduction assessments in relation to the amount of toxic air contaminants, which will be used in order to further reduce fuel emission reduction goals.

Residents in the San Diego communities of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and Sherman Heights have been suffering for too long. They are victims and survivors of climate catastrophe.

Meanwhile, their affluent neighbors in Coronado have been able to thrive, away from the freeways and harbor commerce affecting other neighborhoods.

Yet the people of the portside neighborhoods like mine stand resilient.

It’s great that officials are finally reacting to the public health needs of these portside neighborhoods; however, the pace of progress is abhorrent. Change is needed as soon as possible, and should have been enacted decades earlier.

Prioritizing the health of this culturally rich community, whose residents have helped build this great city to be the place it is today, should be of utmost importance. Having a community emissions reduction plan in writing is a great first step, but it’s not enough.

The San Diego communities of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and Sherman Heights have been suffering for too long.