Barrio Logan is a neighborhood in south central

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of East Village and Logan Heights to the north, Shelltown and

Southcrest Southcrest is an urban community in the southeastern section of San Diego, California. It is bordered by Mountain View to the north and east, Interstate 5 and the neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights to the west, and Shelltown t ...

to the east,

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...

to the southwest, and National City to the southeast.

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

forms the northeastern boundary. The Barrio Logan Community Plan Area comprises approximately 1,000 acres, of which slightly more than half is under the jurisdiction of the

Port of San Diego The Port of San Diego is a seaport in San Diego, California. It is located on San Diego Bay in southwestern San Diego County, and is a self-supporting district established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In addition to por ...

or the

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rather than the city of San Diego. The community is subject to the California Coastal Act. Though located near the city's central core, it has long been considered part of

Southeast San Diego Southeast San Diego refers to the southeastern portion of San Diego, including the neighborhoods south of State Route 94 ( Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway) and east of downtown San Diego (but excluding South San Diego). Southeast San Diego has ...

by many locals, being directly southeast of

downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...

, and with previous historical records labeling it as part of "Western Southeast San Diego."

History

When the Spanish first entered the region, they found a Kumeyaay rancheria at the mouth of

Chollas Creek Chollas Creek, also referred to as Las Chollas Creek, is an urban creek in San Diego County, California, United States, that is long. The Chollas Creek's four branches begin in the cities of Lemon Grove, California, Lemon Grove and La Mesa, Ca ...

. In 1871,

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

John A. Logan wrote legislation to provide federal land grants and subsidies for a transcontinental railroad ending in San Diego. A street laid in 1881 was named Logan Heights after him, and the name came to be applied to the general area. Plans for a railroad never successfully materialized, and the area was predominantly residential by the turn of the century, becoming one of San Diego's oldest communities. Its transformation began in 1910 with the influx of refugees from the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, who soon became the majority ethnic group. For this reason, the southern part of the original Logan Heights neighborhood came to be called Barrio Logan. (''

Barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'' is a Spanish word for "neighborhood".) From the early 1900s, Barrio Logan also became home to San Diego's tuna industry, particularly Pacific Tuna Canning Company and

Van Camp Seafood Company A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or p ...

(which is now Chicken of the Sea), providing employment to Italian, Mexican, Japanese, and Portuguese workers. The bayside served as residence for the local Issei Japanese community at Fish Camp (a community of four "camps" or キャンプ of

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on Stilts (architecture), stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they als ...

s) before the community was demolished in WWII. The area was originally residential with access to the beach at

. During World War II this beach access was lost due to the expansion of

Naval Station San Diego Naval Base San Diego is a United States Navy base in San Diego, California. It is the world's second largest surface ship naval base. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the United States Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships ...

and other military facilities on the waterfront. The neighborhood continued to degrade during the 1950s and 1960s due to rezoning that permitted industrial uses, the construction of

through the heart of the community in 1963, and the construction of the

San Diego–Coronado Bridge The San Diego–Coronado Bridge, commonly referred to as the Coronado Bridge, is a prestressed concrete/steel girder bridge, girder fixed-link bridge crossing over San Diego Bay, linking San Diego with Coronado, California. It is signed as part ...

in 1969, which covered much of the community with a concrete "roof" supported by gray concrete pillars. The city council promised to build a community park under the bridge approaches, and a site was approved in June 1969. However, when construction began in April 1970 at the designated site, the community learned that the work was intended to create a state building instead of a park, and a nonviolent community uprising began. Students and others occupied the site and forced a halt to the construction. The occupation of the site lasted twelve days. Residents planted landscaping, and a local artist,

Salvador Torres Salvador Roberto Torres (born July 3, 1936) is a Chicano artist and muralist and an early exponent of the Chicano art movement. He was one of the creators of Chicano Park, and led the movement to create its freeway-pillar murals. The community contains many industrial areas, primarily shipbuilding and maritime uses, as well as many residences. In 2013 the neighborhood planning group drew up, and the City Council approved, a revised community plan which would have created a "buffer zone" of a commercial area separating residential uses from industrial uses. However, the ship-building industry, which objected to the buffer zone, organized and led a petition drive to overturn the plan via citywide vote. In June 2014 the voters rejected the community plan. A revised plan is in the draft stage as of 2015. Since 2015, during the same time as

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

is occurring less than two miles away, there has been Chicano-Con. In 2017, the State of California designated Barrio Logan as a cultural district, recognizing the cultural significance of Chicano history in California.

Chicano Park

Barrio Logan, in

, is referred to as ''el ombligo'' or navel, the center of the world. Barrio Logan is the home of

Chicano Park Chicano Park is a park located beneath the San Diego–Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan, San Diego, Barrio Logan, a predominantly Chicano or Mexican American and Mexico, Mexican-migrant community in central San Diego, California. The park is ho ...

, a

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

-themed public park created in large part by the local residents. It is located at the site of a 1970s demonstration, land takeover, and cultural renaissance for the Mexican-American community. It features more than 60 colorful murals painted on the concrete support piers for the

and

. It was designated an official historic site by the San Diego Historical Site Board in 1980 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Economy

Barrio Logan is home to Naval Base San Diego, also known as 32nd Street Naval Station, as well as the NASSCO shipyard and other military-related facilities. The neighborhood is also home to artist studios and galleries and hosts periodic Art Crawl. The painting of murals in Chicano Park had been discussed as part of the total park development since 1967. Sew Loka is a small business in Barrio Logan that creates fashionable clothing. For the first time, she hosted a fashion show she showcased to celebrate the “slow fashion” movement, which espouses a sustainable and ethical approach to fashion.

Governance

Barrio Logan is part of City Council District 8 represented by Councilman

Vivian Moreno Vivian Moreno (born 1982) is an American politician serving as a member of the San Diego City Council since 2018, representing District 8. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a candidate for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in th ...

. The Barrio Logan Community Planning Group was established in October 2014 when City Council gave approval at the recommendation of representative Alvarez. The Barrio Logan Community Planning Area was granted status as a redevelopment area,Redevelopment Project Area webpage
but the state of California abolished all redevelopment areas in 2012.

Transportation

The area is served by the

San Diego Trolley The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system serving San Diego County, California. The trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The trolley operates as a critical componen ...

at Barrio Logan station.

References

{{Neighborhoods of San Diego Neighborhoods in San Diego Urban communities in San Diego Mexican-American culture in San Diego San Diego Bay Chicano and Mexican neighborhoods in California