ENCANTO, Calif. — A designated Black Arts and Culture District in San Diego's Encanto neighborhood has seen a dramatic decline in Black-owned businesses over the decades.
Within a 2-mile radius of what is now known as the Black Arts and Culture District, there used to be more than 200 Black-owned businesses. Today, a local nonprofit has counted just over 30 in the area.
The Black Arts and Culture District was designated in 2022, covering nine blocks along Imperial Avenue in Encanto.
Daneyel Walker's business, The Mental Bar, sits right in the heart of the district.
"It just makes me feel very proud to know that me and my husband took this stance and we've been here three years and we're not going anywhere," Walker said.
She says in a time where Black-owned businesses in the area are few and far between, it's not just about making sales — it's about creating space to inspire the next generation.
"There was a little girl, actually, just yesterday. I came in, and her father was like I brought her in here so that she can see that we own businesses," Walker said.
A business directory from the 1960s shows multiple businesses on each page, ranging from grocery stores to dentists and doctors. You name it, it was there.
"Now here we are, fast forward to 2025 where it has dwindled tremendously," said Sheri Jones, co-founder of Black San Diego, a nonprofit that supports and provides resources to Black-owned businesses.
"Now it's just trying to not really recreate what happened in the 60s but really kind of create the landscape for 2025," Jones said.
Jones believes part of the decline in the area is because people are constantly coming and leaving the city, along with businesses not knowing the best ways to connect with the community.
"When we started talking to these businesses that were shutting down, it became because they didn't have the market reach; nobody knew where they were," Jones said.
But Jones won't let that continue to be the excuse. Black San Diego has started a new directory with a list of Black-owned businesses in San Diego County, with the hope of making it easier for people to find them.
"When you come to a town like San Diego, where there's not a lot of community, we pretty much have to build the community, and so having these businesses in the nine blocks is just really important for us," Jones said.
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