San Diegans are paying more for food, housing, medical care, and daycare while unemployment ticks up. They’re also witnessing immigration raids at workplaces and schools, the deployment of troops to U.S. streets, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence that threaten job stability.
Amid these realities, KPBS asked residents a simple question: Do you still have hope?
For Mayeli Ho, a 22-year-old college student studying fashion merchandising, the world feels both uncertain and chaotic.
“On a broader scale, like society level, I think I do not have hope because we are so divided,” she said.
Ho’s career ambitions in photography, styling and fashion feel increasingly fragile. Recently, Vogue featured AI-generated models, which she fears could displace her chosen path.
“This does not make me feel hopeful at all for my career,” she said.
Still, Ho said she refuses to give up. Her past struggles give her confidence she can find a way forward.
“I do have hope… I believe everything does happen for a reason,” she said. ”And you kind of just have to trust and hope that everything will work itself out.”
Others see cause for optimism in politics and the economy. Victor Lopez, 26, a small business owner and former head of the local Lincoln Club, said he’s energized by recent developments under the Trump administration.
“I'm actually hopeful because I feel like there's a surge of momentum in the air,” Lopez said. “Businesses are starting to see the money movement right now. I think there was a slowdown in the economy the last couple of years. And now there's more patriotism. I think people feel like they can speak more freely.”
Still, Lopez acknowledges shortcomings on tariffs, the economy and immigration.
“As a Latino myself, I know that there is a growing amount of people that would like to see a fair process of addressing some of the people that are here in this country illegally… filling up a certain part of the workforce that is not necessarily going to be filled by anybody else,” he said.
For Ellen Nash, optimism comes from her spiritual upbringing and from history. Nash chairs the San Diego chapter of the Black American Political Association of California and is the daughter of a pastor.
“The 400 plus years of history that shows if you hold on to hope and faith that you will win at the end,” Nash said. “I may not see what the win looks like, but I know what history tells me.”
Unlike past eras, however, Nash doesn’t believe a single leader will emerge to guide the way forward. Instead, she sees collective responsibility.
“Hope, the evidence that we now are going to create for the next generation, is based on all of us and how we respond in this time, from a boycott to having a community gathering in your home to creating these self-care spaces,” she said.
Next, experts will weigh in on where to find hope and why it matters. But they caution: hope must be paired with action to bring about change.
