Are there walkable neighborhoods that are close to downtown, and NOT

[Mcnasty1228]

Also, I think there are some interesting buildings downtown. I dont know if that means historical, But I know i worked in a building with the oldest escalator west of the Mississippi!!

There are tons of delis, small markets, as well as your big grocery stores that were mentioned earlier.

I drive to the store if Im doing a big shop, but other than that I hardly ever drive for my every day things. I walk to Little Italy, east village, the harbor, gaslamp, petco, ect. 15 minutes and I can walk to anything I really need. And I guess there are tourist but like others said, they aren't out taking pictures all the time. I see more homeless than tourists! But thats a whole different issue.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by Mcnasty1228

Also, I think there are some interesting buildings downtown. I dont know if that means historical, But I know i worked in a building with the oldest escalator west of the Mississippi!!

There are tons of delis, small markets, as well as your big grocery stores that were mentioned earlier.

I drive to the store if Im doing a big shop, but other than that I hardly ever drive for my every day things. I walk to Little Italy, east village, the harbor, gaslamp, petco, ect. 15 minutes and I can walk to anything I really need. And I guess there are tourist but like others said, they aren't out taking pictures all the time. I see more homeless than tourists! But thats a whole different issue.

Walking from Little Italy to East Village or even Petco isn't exactly down the block. Somebody who lives in Little Italy won't be walking to do grocery shopping at Horton Plaza or Albertsons. Or they'd need to do it every day and carry one bag or two.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

Walking from Little Italy to East Village or even Petco isn't exactly down the block. Somebody who lives in Little Italy won't be walking to do grocery shopping at Horton Plaza or Albertsons. Or they'd need to do it every day and carry one bag or two.

The same is going to be true in any of the "walkable" areas, unless you choose to live within a block or so of the major grocery stores. It's 1.3 miles from Little Italy to the Ralphs downtown. It's 1.0 miles from Mission Hills to the Vons on Washington. (In both cases, the nearest major grocery store.)

[hitman619]

Move to Portland Oregon!

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by oddstray

The same is going to be true in any of the "walkable" areas, unless you choose to live within a block or so of the major grocery stores. It's 1.3 miles from Little Italy to the Ralphs downtown. It's 1.0 miles from Mission Hills to the Vons on Washington. (In both cases, the nearest major grocery store.)

Exactly! As if you'll find full service grocery stores every few blocks in the downtown areas of Boston, SF, Seattle, Philly, Chicago, etc.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by oddstray

The same is going to be true in any of the "walkable" areas, unless you choose to live within a block or so of the major grocery stores. It's 1.3 miles from Little Italy to the Ralphs downtown. It's 1.0 miles from Mission Hills to the Vons on Washington. (In both cases, the nearest major grocery store.)

I don't think you've ever walked from Little Italy to Ralphs and back carrying 4-5 Grocery bags. And it's obvious you've never walked or taken a bike to Vons from Little Italy. You realize there are some huge hills you have to go up and down to get over there. You can find alternative routes, but that'll make your walk a lot further.

This is why sometimes people post BS and never actually did it. I lived in these areas and walked everywhere. I didn't have a car. I also had a kid and a stroller. Try and walk from Little Italy up Reynard, to Goldfinch, and so on and up that hill and it's not a fun walk. It sure won't be so much fun if you have to carry 4-5 bags back.

Ralphs isn't as bad a walk as it's pretty much flat. But again, when you need to carry 4-5 bags, it's not fun. You usually try to avoid that. And honestly, if you live in Little Italy and don't work in Mission Hills or Hillcrest or downtown, those grocery stores are going to be out of your way and you'd probably do most of your grocery shopping at the farmers market and a few local stores. It's not the same and you won't have as much choice for non fruits and veggies, but you do what you must.

Seattle and San Fran have Whole Foods and bunch of other places. It might not be close, but the truth is, the OP wanted Grocery stores close by, so most of these places people listed don't fit that bill. Nobody is going walk to do their grocery shopping at Ralphs or Vons if they lived in Little Italy. Do that a couple of times carrying a few heavy bags and they'd quickly find alternatives.

[Pedro2000]

This is why sometimes people get bad advice from kool aid drinking people. "Yeah you have everything in this area" if you look at google maps and some stats, but if you actually had to live and do all those things, you would say something entirely different. And then throwing out comparisons to other cities is just stupid. It's like "well so such and such is worse..." How's that help?

I've walked all over San Diego. I've ridden my bike from Oceanside to PB. I took the coaster up to Oceanside and walked back to San Diego once because a former co-worker bet me I wouldn't. They were going to be me I wouldn't walk to Los Angeles from San Diego, but they backed away after the Oceanside walk. I used to ride my bike from San Jose up to San Fran and back many days. I used to ride my bike 20+ miles every day to/from work when I worked up in the Bay Area. And so it goes...

Anyway, so my point is, I have no issues walking, hiking, biking, etc. But carrying a bunch of grocery bags from Ralphs or Jimbos downtown or Vons/Albertsons up in Mission Hills to Little Italy isn't going to be something you want to do that often. Which means you probably won't be grocery shopping that often. You might find everything at the farmers market and italian delis and so on. Or you might wind up renting one of those ToGO cars to do your grocery shopping once ever few weeks. But the reality is, don't tell some person who has no clue about San Diego that they could walk to/from Little Italy to do grocery shopping. It's just so far from the truth it's not funny. Nobody is walking with 5 Grocery bags up some huge hills to Mission Hills.

But some people would lead newbies to believe, "hey you could live in Little Italy and be close to grocery stores." No, you're really not that close enough to actually walk and do grocery shopping. Unless you plan on walking with 1 bag everyday and it's along the way home from work.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

This is why sometimes people get bad advice from kool aid drinking people. "Yeah you have everything in this area" if you look at google maps and some stats, but if you actually had to live and do all those things, you would say something entirely different. And then throwing out comparisons to other cities is just stupid. It's like "well so such and such is worse..." How's that help?

I've walked all over San Diego. I've ridden my bike from Oceanside to PB. I took the coaster up to Oceanside and walked back to San Diego once because a former co-worker bet me I wouldn't. They were going to be me I wouldn't walk to Los Angeles from San Diego, but they backed away after the Oceanside walk. I used to ride my bike from San Jose up to San Fran and back many days. I used to ride my bike 20+ miles every day to/from work when I worked up in the Bay Area. And so it goes...

Anyway, so my point is, I have no issues walking, hiking, biking, etc. But carrying a bunch of grocery bags from Ralphs or Jimbos downtown or Vons/Albertsons up in Mission Hills to Little Italy isn't going to be something you want to do that often. Which means you probably won't be grocery shopping that often. You might find everything at the farmers market and italian delis and so on. Or you might wind up renting one of those ToGO cars to do your grocery shopping once ever few weeks. But the reality is, don't tell some person who has no clue about San Diego that they could walk to/from Little Italy to do grocery shopping. It's just so far from the truth it's not funny. Nobody is walking with 5 Grocery bags up some huge hills to Mission Hills.

But some people would lead newbies to believe, "hey you could live in Little Italy and be close to grocery stores." No, you're really not that close enough to actually walk and do grocery shopping. Unless you plan on walking with 1 bag everyday and it's along the way home from work.

Remember, though, that when people talk about a "walkable" neighborhood it doesn't necessarily mean you literally have to walk everywhere, more that you don't have to drive. I don't drive at all when I'm not commuting to work, and the closest grocery (that I actually shop at) is a little over a mile from me.

Carrying groceries on the bus isn't that much fun, but it's doable. For one person, a large backpack should be plenty of food for a week if you eat fresh stuff. An occasional car-to-go or trip with a friend maybe once a month to stock up on big ol' things of toilet paper, etc. rounds it all out. Another solution is a bike with panniers. I do all my grocery shopping from North Park that way, generally making a loop: Trader Joes -> through Hillcrest -> Through Balboa Park -> Sprouts -> Vons (if I need anything from there). Easy peasy. Little Italy would be fine for that, no hills if you go to the downtown stores, and if you need to go to Mission Hills to shop and aren't up for riding uphill to the store you can take the bus. Plus there's the farmers' market on Satudays.

So yeah, IMHO, you could very well live in Little Italy without a vehicle and be able to get all your stuff done. Having said that, however, I do think North Park, Uni Heights, Mission Hills, Kensington, etc. are better for that, as you don't have that big hill as a barrier between you and most other stuff that you'd want to get to. Not to mention that Little Italy is possibly the worst place for someone who specifically wants to live in a neighborhood "not overrun by tourists"

[mewzikguy]

^- - - - Agree. Also, not sure why a certain person keeps posting long, negative, inaccurate comments that reflect personal opinion. Our short skyline is like Phoenix, Tampa, & Portland. Either it's airport restrictions or city ordinance about not blocking views (Portland, Mt. Hood).