Downtown San Diego is one of the most beautiful metropolitan centers in the world. It sits on the gorgeous Pacific bay and has a mesmerizing skyline that is second to none. In addition, it is adjacent to the world famous 1,400 acre Balboa Park.
There is really no city in the world that can compare, especially when you add the fact that we have one of the best climates in the world year round with an average temperature of 71 degrees. As incredible as downtown San Diego is now, it did not always used to be this way. In fact, it was less than three decades ago when it was considered to be a very undesirable area.
In the early 1980s downtown San Diego was very different than it is today. It had a small core business district, some mediocre hotels and just a few simple tourist attractions. There were many rundown bars, tattoo parlors and other types of undesirable businesses that kept local law enforcement very busy. It was not a place where people would go to dine and shop, which was a shame, considering its incredibly beautiful location. But things started changing in the early 1980s when the construction began for the Horton Plaza mall.
Horton Plaza mall was the first significant development in downtown San Diego in many years. The 6.5 block Horton Plaza opened in 1985 and was an instant success with 25,000,000 visitors in its first year. It continues to be a success today, being one of the city’s most popular and busiest malls. It attracts local and foreign visitors year round and has won dozens of awards in design, architecture and urban development.
It is fun to mosey along the corridors of the plaza, while you are caressed by the bay breezes and while you watch people from all over the world shop and speak in their native tongue. Downtown is truly one of our city’s most precious gems.
The next significant development in downtown San Diego was the construction of the new convention center. The 1.7 million square foot building was completed in 1989 and had 354 events with 1.1 million visitors in its first year of operation. The convention center was so successful that it was expanded in 2001 to 2.6 million square feet. The San Diego Convention Center continues to be one of the most sought after and successful convention centers in the world, with plans to do another expansion in the near future.
While the construction of the new convention center and Horton Plaza was under way, the Gaslamp District in downtown was also being revitalized. This was the old center of town that was originally developed in the late 1800s. Since its original debut it eventually became very dilapidated over the years. This special section of downtown has many historic structures that have been slowly renovated over the years. One by one these beautiful buildings have been brought back to their original glory. Today this area is a vital and very vibrant part of downtown and is visited by millions of tourists each year, who enjoy the excellent reputation of its fine dining, shopping and entertainment.
In addition to the Gaslamp District, Horton Plaza and the convention center, the rest of downtown was slowly revitalized. Businesses started to pop up throughout the area in the late 1980s and early 1990s and then came the real estate boom in the late 1990s, with major construction in downtown. Most of the new buildings that were built were new luxury condominiums and for many years the construction for the new condos could not keep up with the demand. Of course, the building started slowing down in 2007 and by the end of 2008 it had stopped due to the turn in the economy. But through it all, downtown San Diego has grown up to become an incredibly beautiful metropolis.
Downtown San Diego is now a world-class major metropolitan center attracting millions of tourists and conventioneers each year. In addition to attracting visitors, it is now home to over 30,000 residents and that number continues to grow. In fact, the number of residents is projected to significantly increase over the next two decades. Downtown San Diego is one of the cleanest, safest and most beautiful cities in the world. Most people who visit it usually comment that they want to come and live here, have a second home or retire here in San Diego. We should all be very proud and appreciative of our magnificent downtown!
Trent St. Louis is a licensed Real Estate Agent
and a member of the National, California and
San Diego Association of Realtors. He can be reached at trent@tns.net or at his office in Hillcrest, The Metropolitan Group. DRE#01273643
