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Neighborhood Historic Preservation Coalition
Our Strong, United Voice
May/June 2025
 Photo by Mylo Kaye
The Neighborhood Historic Preservation Coalition (NHPC) has been meeting regularly in a focused effort to counter the ongoing threats to San Diego’s historic neighborhoods. Convening virtually, member organizations are actively collaborating and coordinating public responses to the City’s Preservation and Progress initiative, whose stated goal is to streamline new construction.
The coalition’s dozen organizations and groups, including SOHO, share a strong commitment to protecting community character, advocating for thoughtful planning, and demonstrating how historic preservation and affordable housing can work hand in hand—particularly through adaptive reuse and sustainable development practices. And not by gutting our preservation ordinance.
Working together, NHPC members benefit from the diverse and wide-ranging expertise and experiences of one another. This team effort strengthens our collective advocacy, reinvigorating grassroots preservation across the city.
Originally formed in 2008 in response to the City of San Diego’s General Plan update that put more than half of Uptown’s historic resources at risk, NHPC quickly grew to encompass older neighborhoods citywide, recognizing the need for a united front. As anti-preservation and pro-overdevelopment interests continue to escalate their attacks under the guise of housing reform, the coalition is more active and determined than ever.
In January, 2024, the coalition rebanded in response to the City’s Preservation and Progress initiative that coincides with massive attacks against San Diego’s historic neighborhoods and the ongoing onslaught from anti-environmental, anti-preservation, pro-development interests under the pretense of increasing affordable housing.
While NHPC fully supports the need for more affordable housing, especially for the growing population of unhoused and housing-insecure San Diegans, we believe this crisis can and must be met without sacrificing our city's historic fabric. Revitalizing old buildings and preserving historic communities is a sustainable and affordable path forward.
Back in 2004, SOHO called for the creation of neighborhood-based preservation groups, which led to the successful formation of Mission Hills Heritage, La Playa Heritage, and others. Building on that momentum, in 2006, we offered detailed guidelines and support to encourage even more community involvement, and several more groups sprang into being. Today, we are once again reaching out to invite still more preservationists to join us.
Is your neighborhood group preservation-minded and active in one of San Diego’s historic communities? If so, we invite you to join the Neighborhood Historic Preservation Coalition (NHPC) and become part of this influential, growing alliance. Together, we are stronger, more effective, and better equipped to protect our city's rich heritage.
To learn more or to get involved, please email us.
Current NHPC members
- Golden Hill & South Park Historical Society
- Heart of Bankers Hill
- Heart of Kensington
- Historic Kensington
- La Jolla Historical Society
- La Playa Heritage
- Mission Hills Heritage
- North Park Historical Society
- Ocean Beach Historical Society
- San Diego LGBTQ Historic Sites Project
- Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO)
- Talmadge Historical Society
- University Heights Historical Society
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