Not going downtown anymore (San Diego: living, restaurants, fence)

[elchevere]

Hardly an economic engine or hotbed of professionals--no tech hub, financial district, medical center complex, fashion/apparel center, or multiple corporate headquarters (are there any??)--such as in other downtowns. Very limited, though at only 30-35K residents--a small downtown....and I'm focusing on downtown, not the entire county. Lot of bartenders and food servers though, some realtors, some physicians, medical sales reps, architects, etc.--just not enough....and regardless of size, there might be half a dozen restos in all of DT worth eating at and none I would make a special trip or go out of my way for....and I'm one of those on this board who does not complain about income or salary (brought my corp job of 30 years with me and work from home) and would gladly pay up for quality.

[bklynkenny]

I visited San Diego back in 2014 for a full week and spent only a few hours in Downtown and Gaslamp. I walked through the area and there wasn't anything really attractive about it (to me). It's not a neighborhood I'm planning on going back to the next time.

[NYSD1995]

I work downtown, it sucks. If we could move to mission valley, I would be stoked.

[The Flying Dutchman]

The French Laundry? All credibility lost.

[sdlife619]

Speaking of downtown, I was there for comic-con downtown(didn't actually go in) with some friends, and the homeless population has gotten out of control.

I mean downtown has always had a homeless and druggie problem, but the situation has definitely become worse the past few times I've been down there.

With all the revitalization going on, I don't know if the city will ever be able to completely eliminate the problem, and residents will just have to accept this reality. To the idiots paying a half a million bucks in East Village for a condo, well that's your fault. You knew what you were getting yourself into, and you knew the homeless basically sets up shop on your doorstep every morning, and you still bought the unit? You're just a dumbass, sorry.

The city desperately wants to gentrify every last bit of EV, and surrounding area's, but you cannot do this when you have a serious housing crisis. With rents going up all across town, where and how are these people supposed to afford to stay? This has been the biggest problem I believe is the lack of places for these people to go by having a roof over their head. The other half of course are the mentally ill which in this case they are pretty much a lost cause for some unfortunately.

Now I am seeing bums everywhere downtown, not just in EV, but in Sherman Heights and Golden Hill just walking around pushing carts. It really does look like a 3rd world country down off Island and 13th Ave.

As far as downtown goes on a whole, it's still a better downtown than most other mid-sizers and has a lot going on at night. It's urban enough to satisfy even the most hardcore East Coasters, but at the same time, there's a lot of fakeness nowadays especially in places like Littly Italy where there's more non Italian businesses moving in which is starting to water down the entire neighborhood. I seriously question the future of the area because ever since the neighborhood got fixed up and became yuppified, there is now an identity crisis going on. It doesn't even feel like a real Italian neighborhood anymore, but more like just another plastic generic version of North Park. Another sad and frustrating part of all the new construction DT, is that we are losing our historic buildings that have a lot of character. They are being replaced with this modern sleek crap which has absolutely NO character whatsoever. So DT San Diego is starting to look like a bigger place that is sleeker and new, at the expense of losing it's history and urban grit.

Plus what I have noticed lately are more suburban looking types walking around DT, and how DT is starting to build for these kinds of people, rather than serious urbanites that value big city amenities. Now you are starting to see more and more parks, and dog parks popping up, basically more family friendly establishments that cater to families that are used to this kind of way of life out in the suburbs.

DT is still way better than it was 10 years ago, but no matter what, the homeless will be there forever and most likely we will never feel or have the character like a Seattle or SF, or any other big city in the U.S. that treasures it's past. The leaders in SD can't wait to tear up every last bit of DT even it means destroying wonderful 100 year old homes and buildings.

[elchevere]

Recent ad from them in which they were advertising for help, with references to The French Laundry....of course, they claim they would never say it themselves but have heard from "other people" they are the French Laundry of SD (sure, and I'm Shaq O'Neill's identical twin)...kinda like one of the Presidential candidates throwing out innuendos/false accusations prefaced by claiming "I've heard"....would love to know who these "other" imbeciles are and highly doubt they've been within 50 miles of The French Laundry (or maybe they don't exist), one of the top restos in the country.


Herb & Wood seeks GM with experience

Originally Posted by The Flying Dutchman

The French Laundry? All credibility lost.

[The Flying Dutchman]

There are serious Constitutional considerations with regards to the homeless, in addition to massive defunding of mental health program in the U.S. that began under the Reagan administration (and signed into law by successive presidents, both R. and D. like Bush and Clinton). The city cannot really do much except criminalize trivial infractions etc...

I'm sorry to say even though I live downtown the situation won't change despite all the big development money unless we take a serious look at the underlying issues vs. just complain about the symptoms (easy to do from your suburban enclave, wherever that may be).

Though I shouldn't talk, because I'm one of the lucky ones that have the privilege to be on this forum.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by eastcoastbias

Not an evening/night place for a family. Having said that I work downtown and walk around there frequently during the day and it is more touristy. East village and especially east of the stadium is what you desribe above all the time morning day and night- yet people will fork over 2200-2800 dollars a month for 700 sq. feet. Odd to me.

Little Italy is nice and appropriate for families and IMO has better eating establishments

Having said all this, I find Downtown San Diego nicer and cleaner than most downtown areas.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I work downtown, it sucks. If we could move to mission valley, I would be stoked.

I work in Mission Valley, although I like our office in MV, I'll switch with you. I think I would really enjoy working along one of the offices on B Street or Broadway closer to the water. Probably not so much at SDGE building or somewhere closer to the ballpark.

It would be nice to take leisurely strolls along the water or even jog/bike ride during lunch. Here in MV we have the SD River, but it's not as nice as the waterfront. We also have an abundance of homeless folks that gravitate toward the river, but I will say they generally keep to themselves and are not as aggressive with panhandling as their DTSD counterparts.

[LamarOdomsDealer]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

Agreed.



I work in Mission Valley, although I like our office in MV, I'll switch with you. I think I would really enjoy working along one of the offices on B Street or Broadway closer to the water. Probably not so much at SDGE building or somewhere closer to the ballpark.

It would be nice to take leisurely strolls along the water or even jog/bike ride during lunch. Here in MV we have the SD River, but it's not as nice as the waterfront. We also have an abundance of homeless folks that gravitate toward the river, but I will say they generally keep to themselves and are not as aggressive with panhandling as their DTSD counterparts.

Do you find the weather super hot in MV?

[moved]

Where I live in Shelltown, I rarely see any homeless, but there's a few that come around on trash day looking for recycling, and if they find anything, they don't leave a mess on the ground.

But the hookers are another story............