Why this matters
Community members have long sought more parks and green space projects in Barrio Logan, a neighborhood historically exposed to industrial pollution. Cuts to federal grants jeopardize pending projects.
Imagined, negotiated, designed, permitted and funded. All the pieces were in place for this decades-awaited park in Barrio Logan – but now it’s delayed indefinitely.
Boston Avenue Linear Park, slated to be built on a 3.5 acre strip of land along its namesake avenue just south of Interstate 5, would bring green space to a community intersected by highways and portside industry.
Plans include an amphitheater, a splash pad, playground and a picnic area, an exercise station and pathway, basketball and pickleball courts and a dog park.
“We’re calling it a park that you see typically north of the (Interstate) 8,” Garcia said. “Wealthier communities get this without any effort.”
But in March the Trump administration blocked access to billions of federal dollars slated for climate resiliency and environmental justice projects backed by the Environmental Protection Agency under Biden. The block affected a $20 million grant awarded last year to the San Diego Foundation and the Environmental Health Coalition for various projects. The money would have funded programs aimed at improving air quality in homes, bringing electric buses into Barrio Logan, providing an electric shuttle to Chicano Park and other cultural and workforce initiatives.
The groups said they had state and local funding lined up to pay for the Boston Avenue park, expected to cost $10 million. But now that the federal money isn’t coming, that money for the park must go toward other projects, indefinitely delaying the park project.
The groups are looking for ways to fill the budget gap left empty by the freeze.
The grant to the San Diego Foundation and the EHC is one of 400 that is slated for cancellation, according to Democrats on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, who published a database online listing the grants impacted.
On Monday, a judge ruled the EPA has to unfreeze the funds until it can legally terminate them, but the EPA has begun that process, the Washington Post reported.
In response to an inewsource inquiry about the cuts, the EPA spokesperson, who did not respond to a request to identify themselves, issued the following statement:
“As with any change in Administration, the EPA has been reviewing all of its grant programs and awarded grants to ensure each is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and to understand how those programs align with Administration priorities.”
Taking a tone that has become common from Trump administration agencies, the unnamed spokesperson also added an attack on the Biden administration for imposing its “radical agenda of wasteful DEI” and environmental justice programs on the EPA.
“It’s been a little difficult to keep that brave face for my community but still ensuring that we’re not going to give up hope on this,” said Maritza Garcia, an EHC member who has been a part of ongoing efforts to make the park a reality.
Her community has long lived in a pattern of getting hopes up only to be met with “false promises,” she said.
“It’s a project that the community has been envisioning for generations.”
Also in March, the EPA, led by Lee Zeldin, announced it would terminate the environmental justice and DEI arms in its own agency.
In the last few years Garcia says they finally cleared some major hurdles, like arriving to develop a productive relationship with the city of San Diego and Caltrans as well as agreeing on a design. Caltrans also agreed to relinquish the land for the future Boston Avenue Linear Park to the city.
Barrio Logan is situated in a California-designated Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhood because of its exposure to pollution from the local port, rail, freight and industry and has some of the highest rates of asthma in the region.
The park project is one of several other programs the EHC aimed at improving quality of life by decreasing pollution and equipping the community with resources to become more climate resilient. The EHC also involved the community in discussions that led to the park’s design.
Amy Castañeda, a policy director at the EHC, says the group has already had to cut programs and reduce its own staff and work hours.
Despite the setbacks, both Garcia and Castañeda say they have been engaging partners as well as seeking private donors to carry out the projects. The EHC is also asking the California Strategic Growth Council to consider allocating funds from Prop 4, a state climate bond, to make up for the lost funds.
“We’re hopeful. We know we have some amazing champions here locally in the state,” Castañeda said.
Garcia says when she was a kid, she would cross the pedestrian bridge over the interstate, stumbling down the stairs and running past the field of ivy on her way to catch the bus. Back then “it wasn’t as pleasing” or accessible, and there weren’t lights, which made it “sketchy” at night. Now there are lights and a pedestrian bridge connecting the neighborhoods along the interstate. The improvements were all hard fought by the community, she said.
She looks forward to bringing her own kids to the park one day and watching them play.
“The community itself is really resilient and not giving up on this.”
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
