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A Stronger Motive Than Profit—The Public Good
January/February 2026
Across San Diego, we are witnessing a troubling transformation. In the rush to build faster, taller, and with fewer rules, City Hall and state policymakers have adopted the language of crisis to justify nearly anything in the name of affordable housing. But beneath the rhetoric of urgency lies a powerful, older motive—profit.
This mentality has become the defining feature of our time. Historic buildings are dismissed as “obstacles.” Neighborhoods are being stripped of their character and collective history. The checks and balances that once ensured thoughtful growth are being dismantled in the name of “streamlining.” In this environment, anyone who calls for balance or accountability is cast as the enemy of progress.
But preservationists are not the problem. We are among the voices speaking up for what truly matters: the public good. The corporate YIMBY movement is the problem. Often cloaked in the language of an urgent housing need, it has begun to erode not only our city’s historic fabric but also the very idea that growth should serve the people who live here.
SOHO, and the larger preservation community we represent, have long stood for responsible development that respects both history and people. Our motivation has always been different: we are guided by a stronger motive—the public good.
Our architectural heritage is not a barrier to progress but an essential element of a thriving, evolving, and enduring city.
For more than 50 years, SOHO has worked successfully with numerous developers, architects, and planners to find solutions that meet modern needs while honoring our shared heritage. We’ve collaborated many times on creative and productive ways forward on projects that meet people’s needs while preserving historic resources. We know that progress and preservation are not opposites; they are partners when guided by principle and vision.
SOHO rejects the notion that San Diego’s future should be dictated by those who view the city only as a marketplace. Growth should never come at the expense of community, culture, or integrity. Our city’s story is written in its buildings, its neighborhoods, and its open spaces, and San Diego deserves protection from those who would erase it.
The real challenge isn’t preservation; it’s the lack of imagination when profit is the only goal.
Developers, investors, and their political allies are motivated not by people’s well-being, or sustainable planning, but by short-term profit. The city’s identity, its character, its livability are being treated as expendable collateral in a race to build faster and denser, regardless of the damage left behind.
When the City moves to weaken preservation protections, as it is doing now with its Preservation and Progress initiative or to silence or dismiss public participation in the name of so called efficiency, it undermines the democratic process and devalues the people’s voice. It also diminishes the role of our Historical Resources Board and the very standards that for decades have kept San Diego’s built heritage vibrant and unique.
Preservation is not anti-development; it is pro-community and pro-stewardship. It calls for thoughtful growth that respects what came before and considers what will remain long after. Preservation asks hard questions that others too easily dismiss: What are we losing? Who benefits? Who gets left behind?
SOHO’s commitment is steadfast, and you can count on this. We are driven by a sense of duty—to the public, to history, and to the generations yet to come.
Preservation is, and always has been, an act of civic love and ethical public service that benefits all people.
San Diego deserves leaders and policies guided by motives for the public good. That is the measure of a great city, and that is the standard SOHO will continue to defend.
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