The role that craft breweries have played in the revitalization of distressed urban neighborhoods has received a significant amount of attention in both the popular media and academic literature. Indeed, it is a topic I have addressed several times in previous blog entries (for example see here and here). The relationship between craft breweries and neighborhood revitalization is a complicated one. In some neighborhoods, the introduction of a craft brewery may be the catalyst for revitalization of the neighborhood, while in others craft breweries arrive after the revitalization process is already underway. An example of the former includes the Ohio City neighborhood in Cleveland, OH, while the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte, NC provides an example of the latter. Some see the revitalization of a distressed neighborhood as a positive development, while others view it through a negative lens. The latter group point to the displacement of incumbent residents and businesses who can no longer afford the higher rents that inevitably come with a revitalized neighborhood. – the term gentrification is often used to describe such a process. Gentrification can be defined as the “a demographic and economic shift that displaces established working-class communities and communities of color in favor of wealthier newcomers and real estate development companies.”

No large American city is exempt from gentrification. This includes the city of San Diego, CA where approximately 30% of census tracts have undergone gentrification since 2000. Late last year I had the opportunity to visit Barrio Logan, a San Diego neighborhood where gentrification has been an issue of ongoing debate.

Barrio Logan is a community of approximately 4,800 people in south central San Diego. Just over 70% of the population are Hispanic. Indeed the neighborhood has been predominantly Hispanic since the early 20th century when refugees from the Mexican Revolution settled there.  The neighborhood is bordered by United States Naval Base San Diego to the southeast, Interstate 5 (built in 1963) to the northeast, and the San Diego Unified Port District and bay to the southwest. A central focus of the neighborhood is Chicano Park, which has been described as “the geographic and emotional heart of Barrio Logan” and “one of San Diego’s most culturally significant landmarks.” Established in 1970, the park is located beneath Interstate 5 and the on-ramps for the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. With over 80 murals, the park has the largest collection of outdoor murals in the world. The murals focus on Chicano culture, “ranging from Mesoamerican influences to local San Diego Chicano struggles”. In 2022, Time Out listed Barrio Logan in its top ten list of the world’s coolest neighborhoods.

On my recent visit there, I had the opportunity to participate in a group walking tour of the Barrio Logan neighborhood. Our tour guide was David Favela, owner of one of the neighborhood’s breweries, Border X Brewing. We started our tour at Border X, where David provided us with a history of both the brewery and its relationship to the neighborhood.

Since its opening in 2013, the brewery has served as a community gathering spot, a neighborhood Third Place if you will. In a recent interview David also noted that “We’re serving the community that exists today. We’re not waiting for a new community to displace them.” The last statement is a nod to gentrification, a topic that is discussed in more detail below.

After sampling four different beers at Border X, David took us through a transect of the neighborhood, at the conclusion of which we arrived at Mujeres Brew House. Mujeres is owned by David’s wife Carmen Velasco-Favela and her business partner Esthela Davila. It is a brewery with an interesting origin story. In 2019, a survey revealed that 60% of Border X’s customers were female. This gave Velasco-Favela, who was then BorderX’s marketing director, the idea to start a women’s brew club. The brew club functioned primarily as an educational forum, with guest speakers covering every conceivable topic from the history of beer to how the stuff is made. The speakers’ series proved highly successful and soon the idea of opening a female-owned brewery was mooted by Velasco-Favela. When a vacant building became available in the neighborhood, the idea quickly evolved to become a reality. On July 1, 2020 Mujeres Brew House opened its doors.

Many of the beers at both Border X and Mujeres Brew House are inspired by David and Carmen’s Hispanic heritage. For example, at Border X we sampled their Blood Saison. This particular beer, whose ingredients include the leaves of the hibiscus, is inspired by Agua de Jamaica, a hibiscus iced tea. At Mujeres, the La Jefita Tamarindo Hefeweizen includes fresh tamarind pulp which is imported from Mexico. Both David and Carmen are running breweries which brew great beer and appear to be contributing to the vibrancy of the Barrio Logan neighborhood. More formal recognition of David’s efforts came in 2020 when he was a semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award in the Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer category. The objective of the awards is to “is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.”. Although he never won, being a semi-finalist was a recognition of the what David has achieved at Border X.

One of the issues that I raised with David during our tour was that of gentrification. Rather than experiencing gentrification, David suggested that the neighborhood had actually underwent a process he called ‘gentefication’. According to one definition, “Gentefication happens when college-educated, upwardly mobile Latinos invest in neighborhoods they’ve grown up in.” In short, the difference between gentrification and gentefication is that in the former it is outsiders with no ties to the neighborhood who invest, while in the latter it is people with ties to the neighborhood (and in some cases current residents) who invest. The word gentefication is derived from “la gente” (“the people” in Spanish), suggesting “grassroots, Latino-led redevelopment of the community.”

While gentefication has undoubtedly occurred in Barrio Logan, so has gentrification. And indeed, both may be having a similar impact. In a paper published in 2021, Emanuel Delgado and Kate Swanson suggest that both processes (not just gentrification) have contributed to increased rents, making it difficult for some longer-term residents and businesses to remain in the neighborhood. They cite the cases of Mesheeka and the Chicano Art Gallery, two local galleries, closed due to escalating rents. Local residents such as Maritza Garcia, who works with the Environmental Health Coalition, are fighting back against further gentrification. The city appears to be listening. The 2023 Community Plan for the neighborhood “seeks to limit the displacement of residents”. Policies identified in the Plan to facilitate this include working with development applicants to provide very-low and low income affordable housing, promoting homebuyer assistance programs for moderate-income buyers, and encouraging compliance with State and local affordability requirements to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing. But residents are not depending upon the City to address gentrification. The Barrio Logan Community Land Trust Committee has been established to purchase land, with the objective of using it in a way that is beneficial to the community. Community Land Trusts are recognized as one of a number of best practices when it comes to fighting gentrification. I have visited Barrio Logan twice in recent years. As an outsider, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the state of play with regards to the changes which have taken place in the neighborhood in recent years. All I will say is that I enjoy visiting Barrio Logan, and find it a vibrant and friendly neighborhood. And, of course, it has two wonderful breweries.

Further Reading:

Delgado, Emanuel and Kate Swanson. 2021. Gentefication in the barrio: Displacement and urban change in Southern California. Journal of Urban Affairs, Volume 43, Number 7, pp. 925-940.

Rosen, Martin and James Fisher. 2001. Chicano Park and the Chicano Park Murals: Barrio Logan, City of San Diego, California. The Public Historian , Volume 23, Number 4, pp. 91-111.