Neighborhoods, City of San Diego
© McCormack's Guides
Downtown
San Diego and its adjoining
neighborhoods blend and complement each other in ways that seem traditional
big-city American but really are not. www.mccormacks.com
The result
combines work, play and residential life in a package that people who want the
Urban Experience will often find pleasing. If you want the elbow-room of the
suburbs, look elsewhere.
The
downtown is dotted with high-rise office and condo complexes and hundreds of
apartment buildings and in recent years has seen a boom in high-rise condos.
Thousands of jobs. Stores large and small, the Horton Plaza (Macys, Nordstrom,
etc.), government buildings. In business hours, full of the bustle of a big and
prosperous city. Large convention center.
Shopping,
restaurants, movies, a new ball park for the Padres (opened in 2004), plays,
musicals, opera, special amusements, such as bay cruises, Seaport Village,
historic ships. The bay is a beautiful backdrop to the downtown. Many tourists.
Many hotels.
Trolleys,
buses, commuter trains, cabs. Thousands of cars and trucks. One-way streets.
Freeways whose entrances seem to defy detection.
A downtown
with the problems of a big-city downtown. It has its homeless, its derelicts
and its prostitutes. In some sections, the buildings are rundown. Traffic is
often heavy. Sirens fill the air many times during an average day. www.mccormacks.com
But not to
overdo this aspect, the City of San Diego is low in crime and in some years,
the downtown and its environs will get away with zero homicides or fewer than
five.
Planes
approaching San Diego International Airport fly over some of the downtown
neighborhoods. A noisy background for some.
At the
east outskirts of the downtown the unusual intervenes: Balboa Park, home to the
San Diego zoo.
At 1,173
acres, loaded with activities and amusements, museums and playing fields,
Balboa Park encourages its neighboring residents to do the extra when it comes
to living well.
Without
the park, San Diego at this point might be sliding off into faded housing, much
of it built as streetcar suburbs in the early 1900s. www.mccormacks.com
With the
park, you have that rarity in American big cities, a downtown bordered by
stable, middle-class neighborhoods where residents grow the roses, keep the
cottages and bungalows in good repair, patronize local restaurants, cafes and
shops.
Safe
enough to walk the dog at night (but always be wary). Neighborhoods with social
anchors: churches, synagogues, temples, schools, families that go back several
generations (but also many single people.)
Northwest
of the park is Old Town, the first neighborhood in San Diego, a major tourist
attraction. Nearby is the giant University of California Medical Center. On the
southern border of Balboa Park is San Diego City College. The west side has a
Little Italy, noted for its restaurants.
In little
and big ways, all enrich the downtown-Balboa region.
The
terrain in many of these neighborhoods runs to hills, mesas and arroyos,
breaking out mini-neighborhoods and giving them a sense of identity (which the
city encourages). In the high-rise streets north of the downtown, the hills
give many apartment dwellers great views of the Bay. www.mccormacks.com
Finally,
the airport. Many people would love to stick it someplace else. But here it is,
right on the edge of the downtown, noisy but very convenient and a booster to
the downtown economy.
The minus
aspects: parking, traffic, plane noise, freeways. But again if city living is
your thing, you might find this part of San Diego pleasing.
Here are
some of the bigger neighborhoods:
• City
Centre. Downtown.
The 2000 census counted 23,577 residents and 11,010 housing units, about 97
percent of them rentals or condos.
All the amenities of the city at your feet. Baseball park seats 42,000. Six apartment-condo towers, 22
to 39 stories, recently erected or under construction. Another biggie, a
23-story office building. New library in discussion (seemingly forever). More
condos, apartments, offices, shops coming to this section, part of plan (East
Village) to give downtown a boost.
• Old Town-Uptown. North of the downtown, east of Interstate 5 and west of
Highway 163. Northern boundary marked by San Diego River and Interstate 8. Old
Town has the historic buildings but only 898 residents. www.mccormacks.com
Uptown is
where the people are, 39,381 living in 21,664 residential units, 30 percent
single homes, 70 percent apartments or condos. Many nice homes in this section,
some with knockout views. In part, a prestige neighborhood. UC San Diego
Medical Center. Buses and trolleys to the downtown. Good commute.
• Hillcrest. Near downtown campus of UC San
Diego. Favorite neighborhood of gays but also many families. One of San Diego's
first suburbs. Many homes built after 1920. Renters outnumber homeowners about
ten to one. Annual CityFest. Village Hillcrest shopping center. Many
restaurants, stores.
• North
Park-South Park. The
neighborhoods on the east side of Balboa Park. Cottages, bungalows and single
homes. Loads of charm and tender loving care. Fresh paint, flower gardens,
topiary, mature trees and shrubs. The kind of neighborhoods where people gather
at the coffee shops on weekends and read the papers.
• Golden
Hill. Just south
of Balboa Park and north of Logan Heights. In transition, moving to upscale
quaint, house by house. Coffee shops, restaurants, stores. Borders community
college. Flight path to airport. If you want to see the bellies of big jets,
this is the place. Hop and skip to downtown. Close to freeways. The 2000 census
counted 20,833 residents. Renters and condo dwellers outnumber homeowners
3-to-1.
• Logan
Heights, Barrio
Logan. South of
downtown, south of Balboa Park. Approximately where Highway 15 meets Interstate
5. City in 2000 counted 5,398 residents in Barrio Logan. Some of the oldest and
most affordable housing in the city, although prices are being pushed up.
Streets terraced down sides of low mesas. Row housing with porches. Mix of
care. Short bus ride to downtown. Renters outnumber homeowners. Young people
and many young families. Necessary housing; lower rents and prices draw
immigrants and other people starting out. Close to Balboa Park and community
college. Two parks, rec center, police station. See also Mid City to see how
Logan Heights fits in with neighborhoods to its east. www.mccormacks.com
• Crime. Varies by neighborhood. In 2004,
Balboa Park, zero homicides; Barrio Logan, zero; Logan Heights, three; North
Park, two; South Park, zero. See Crime.
• In
planning in the downtown: more high-rise condos around a central plaza with a
fountain and shops. City guesses that about 27,000 people live in downtown. It
wants to double this over next 20 years.
• The
opening of the ball park has brought in more high-class restaurants,
particularly in the nearby Gaslight District.
• Downtown
San Diego sets up an ice rink every winter near the Horton Plaza.
• Horns
from trains bother some. Tracks along the waterfront. City is installing gates
and warning lights that will allow train engineers to lay off the horns. www.mccormacks.com
