Vibrant Pockets in San Diego (Corona, Coronado: rental car, where to stay, rental)

[BostonJad]

Hey guys,

I am looking to spend 1 week in San Diego carless and stay in an AirBnB but still deciding on neighborhood and location. I'd like to find an pedestrian friendly area ample with coffee shops, parks and music venues. Hipster neighborhoods usually do it for me so was considering finding me something in North Park near 30th ave and University.

Do you guys agree or you think I'm better off considering areas like East Village, Little Italy or Cortez Hill? Where specifically is all the action in these areas (intersections specifically)

Yes in that 1 week stay I do intend to visit the beaches and whatever landmarks SD has and thought I could do it all by bike and uber, maybe I'm nuts

[Tulemutt]

Oh hell. I thught this was going to be a thread about a new sex toy.

[RosieSD]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions, but Little Italy would be my suggestion. It has tons of restaurants, bars, some craft breweries, and will be more central than North Park if you're planning to rely on foot, bike, and public transport. For instance, you walk to downtown and the gaslamp district from Little Italy. You can walk down to the Ferry and take the Ferry over to Coronado and the beach there. Or you can walk/bike to downtown or Balboa Park from Little Italy. You can easily catch the Trolley to Old Town or even to Mexico if you want to spend the day in Tijuana. Little Italy is also closer to Pacific Beach (probably too far to bike there but I suppose you could try).

North Park is a fun area, and does have more of a "hipster" edge, but it will be less convenient if you won't have a rental car. You'll be farther from the beaches and need to rely more on buses (the Trolley doesn't go near North Park), and won't be able to walk to as many interesting things to do.

I'm sure you've already done this, but when I'm planning a trip and trying to decide where to stay, I find it can be helpful to use Google Maps streetview to "walk" around the immediate area. Even though Google street view is a few years out of date, it will give you a sense of the vibe of the area, and what it offers.

[T. Damon]

The challenge of Little Italy is the noise factor; trains, planes and automobiles are in abundance, and I'm not sure of the plethora of Airbnb options, but I imagine they are readily available. North Park/South Park/Golden Hill would serve you fine as well. Being right up in hipsterville (Little Italy is vibrant, but more touristy) you'll have plenty of options between University Heights, Normal Heights and down the 30th St. corridor through North/South Park and Golden Hill. The #2 bus runs every 12 minutes uptown/downtown all day and stretches to 30 minutes late at night, the #11 through uptown, and Uber/Lyft between the same is all of ~$7.00 so it's not like you'll be stranded. You'll also be close by to Balboa Park for cultural offerings.

You'll get more of a local's vibe uptown; Park & Rec, Small Bar, The Live Wire, The Red Fox Room, Soda & Swine, Air Conditioned Lounge, Toronado, Coin-op, The Whistle Stop, Hamilton's, Kindred, The Turf Supper Club, Counterpoint and Monkey Paw- and then you are downtown!

Live music may be a tough one but there may be something at Live Wire, or The Irenic, a small church on Polk that has some off-the-wall great shows once in a while- I've seen Of Montreal there twice, for ticket prices all of $20! There might be something at The Observatory in North Park, we are seeing Mike Gordon of Phish on the 30th, or check out The House of Blues downtown.

It'll be a little more of a trip to the beaches but it is possible without breaking the bank, and downtown/uptown is just way more fun without the fratboy/street urchin mess of the beach cities.

[oddstray]

Here's the public transportation info, so you can see which neighborhoods are better served: Home | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

[elchevere]

Noise doesn't bother me that much at Little Italy and it has lots of restaurants but it's not exactly the most lively place to be after dinner or especially after 9PM weekdays or 10:30PM on weekends--though one could Uber to other areas that are.

[hitman619]

I'm all for North Park Maybe even South Park. Plenty of Mom/Pop places to eat and have a beer, near all

[BostonJad]

Hey guys, I ended up settling in North Park and I am glad I made that choice. The apt turned out near the intersection of University Ave/30th St near the giant North Park sign. There was a decent amount of bars walking distance from me and the restaurants I way preferred them over what I saw downtown, here they seem authentic and not pretentious and tourist traps. As for transportation, a 4 mile run could get me easily into Little Italy and then the #2, #7 and #215 bus routes are not too shabby.

[JefeFrancois]

In favor of Little Italy, also. In addition to what RosieSD stated, you also have The Casbah (music venue). You would be very close to the Gaslamp for nightlife...I usually Uber/Lyft there then walk home (20-25 minutes) after a few drinks. You'll find plenty of AirBnB in that area at many price points.

[kettlepot]

OP, thanks for posting back about your ultimate decision. Those kind of posts are the most useful of all.

However, I too would have recommended Little Italy as a somewhat better option over North Park, but I'm glad NP worked well for you.

Hillcrest and South Park would also have been recommendations. Hillcrest has vibrancy plus proximity to Balboa Parks Museums. South Park has vibrancy and is closer to the transit connections in Downtown. Not quite in the same league would have been University Heights and Normal Heights. Less vibrant on their own, but they have easy access to other vibrant areas either via walking or transit.