A lot of people in North county don't want to go to Downtown San Diego (San Jose: hotels, house)

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Agreed except that there are shows/performances that draw me there occasionally. However, there are very few exciting places to eat, lots of dead space and heaps of homeless zombies.

Yeah, I occasionally go to symphony hall of the civic theater or the Balboa. I actually agree (whoa!) about the restaurants down there- the two places I *do* love are Cafe Chloe and Cafe 21 (and cafe 21 has another location a couple of blocks from my house, so I just go there ). Everything else is pretty much meh.

[elchevere]

Moved away from there, with zero regrets--limited good dining options (nothing I miss nor would go out of my way for when I return to the area on business, unlike in other cities), limited adult (i.e. above age 35, let alone professionals) nightlife/entertainment options, excessive homeless population, dog and human waste stench in parts of the city. Really an unsophisticated wannabe urban center with hopes of turning the corner, like downtown Long Beach, but really hasn't--other than the addition of Petco Park....perhaps if a revised Seaport Village evolves into something special (but all plans I have read is that it is geared more for tourists) and they expand the waterfront Embarcadero with something for locals it could still turn the corner--but you are looking at another 3-5 years down the road with moving goal posts...like the Padres, seems downtown is in a perpetual rebuilding mode, one step forward and one step backwards.

Makes sense to live downtown if you are in your 20's or are one of these "I live each day to its fullest" types with no long range career or financial plans who lives paycheck to paycheck and/or to visit on occasion to catch a baseball game (for the visiting team) or bring out of town visitors every so often.

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Agreed except that there are shows/performances that draw me there occasionally. However, there are very few exciting places to eat, lots of dead space and heaps of homeless zombies.

[4SR]

If I'm going that far south, I'm probably going to Coronado.

[snpdragr]

Originally Posted by BizrulesSD

Can you explain what would draw me to go downtown besides the airport? I don't drink much (there goes gas lamp) and there are about 10,000 restaurants between me and DTSD. The biggest issue is the logistics of getting there. So I spend 30-45 minutes driving down and parking to do what activity that can't be done closer to home.

I live downtown and recently moved there in August. The main reason we decided to live downtown was (1) high walkability, (2) availability of lock and leave condos -- this is something that's hard to find in California, (3) we're a few minutes walk from the water, (4) easy access to all the highways, and (5) centrally located and we can get anywhere we want in a few minutes drive. Seems that whenever we drive somewhere we're going in the light direction of traffic.

[CNYC]

Parking is my main issue. Otherwise I would go on a whale watching tour more often just to be out on the water. At the same time I would probably eat something on my return.

Not into wanna be urban hipster scenes. I left that nightmare behind me in NYC. I came to CA to be outdoors next to the beach and beautiful palm trees. If I go urban these days it is to Tijuana or on a plane to an exotic location.

No more American Urban Hipster Wastelands for me.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by CNYC

Parking is my main issue. Otherwise I would go on a whale watching tour more often just to be out on the water. At the same time I would probably eat something on my return.

Not into wanna be urban hipster scenes. I left that nightmare behind me in NYC. I came to CA to be outdoors next to the beach and beautiful palm trees. If I go urban these days it is to Tijuana or on a plane to an exotic location.

No more American Urban Hipster Wastelands for me.

FYI, There's whale watching tours with San Diego Sportfishing that go from mission bay- no downtown parking required!

[kettlepot]

I think you are criticizing Downtown for not succeeding at something it is not trying very hard to succeed at. Even Downtown boosters recognize that a lot of what Downtown has can be replicated elsewhere which limits the area's dynamic pull. That's why the main push has been the construction of downtown housing. There won't be a need to attract people from North or East County, or South Bay. The commercial will survive off its internal population and workforce customer base.

Regarding C Street, yes it is horrible. And interestingly, in this case I believe the trolley is a big part of it. The tracks drove off the car traffic which gave it a dark and desolate feel which drove off the pedestrians which caused street level businesses to close. I wonder if they had made it a subway, if that would have prevented the problem. Turning it into an elevated would have made it worse by darkening the street even more. Or maybe it wasn't the trolley at all, and what has ruined C street is that buildings on Broadway cast too much shadow on the street. Whatever it is, the street is dark and desolate.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Jenkay

FYI, There's whale watching tours with San Diego Sportfishing that go from mission bay- no downtown parking required!

Even closer to him are the whale watching tours from Oceanside. I have friends in North County and we have gone on those. Not bad for the money; cheaper than here in Dana Point.

[the topper]

I believe downtown has a bright future because of all those new high rise housing will improve the downtown sustainability somewhat and less reliance on commuters or residents outside downtown, but it's 10 years or more off.

[CNYC]

Originally Posted by Jenkay

FYI, There's whale watching tours with San Diego Sportfishing that go from mission bay- no downtown parking required!

What's the parking situation like ?