downtown migrations, san diego

it’s definitely an incredible luxury to live in the city of san diego at any point in one’s life, and i’m elated to call it my home town.  the city and surrounding suburbs have experienced rapid expansion and development of all kinds.  the face of san diego has changed drastically over the last 20 year period, as hundreds of thousands more realize its plentiful niceties.  southern california’s lifestyle and beauty seem hallmarked by the city of los angeles. but where the hustle and bustle of high density living was the day to day of everyone in los angeles, san diego offered the more laid back option.

the beautification project of downtown san diego started in the 1980’s with several additions.   horton plaza–a multi-level, high capacity shopping facility–was the first major addition to downtown in 1985.  a few years later, father joe carroll opens the st. vincent de paul village. the run-down, and red light environment of downtown begins its transformation to a more contemporary, and creative magnet.

petco park is the most recent gift to the downtown crowd (completed 2004):

since i left san diego in 2003–and even before that–i never spent much time downtown. from the north city west suburbs, everything we needed was between us and it. after living close to downtown los angeles for a couple years, downtown san diego looks more and more like an oasis and the suburbs the arid desert. i spent the early hours of sunday morning (well, early for MY sunday) wandering downtown south of market street:

same streets, same san diego laid back lifestyle, with new landmarks. coffee and breakfast shops buzzed with energized crowds, traffic controllers directed cars around a parade route, trolley’s clanged, and taylor took pictures:

( more later… )