SAN DIEGO (part one)

[downtownpdx]

My boyfriend and I flew down to San Diego in March for 4 days -- a beautiful, friendly city with lots of interesting infill developments. Starting off with a few aerial plane shots of the Sierras and possibly the Cascades, not quite sure how far south we were...

IMG_4803 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4815 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4821 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4809 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

And on to San Diego... sorry about the jet stream right in front some aerials.

IMG_4825 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr


IMG_4828 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4834 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4840 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4922 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4861 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5021 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4985 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5013 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5020 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4955 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4927 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4977 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4968 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4966 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4958 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4961 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4951 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4998 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4921 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4924 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5098 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5005 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4965 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4989 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4970 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4925 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4937 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4981 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4919 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5012 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4967 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4997 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4935 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4920 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4875 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4843 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4850 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4874 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4889 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4899 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4907 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4905 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4900 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4923 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4928 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4934 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5025 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5003 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4973 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4944 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4838 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4964 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4860 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4887 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4941 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4876 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4979 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4991 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4839 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4879 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4938 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4878 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4885 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4963 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4909 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_5015 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4983 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4929 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

IMG_4932 by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

Thanks for taking a look, part 2 coming soon

[boden]

Nice shots.....particularly like the first one taken from the plane coming in.

[OhioGuy]

Love it!

[LSyd]

it's been 4 years since i visited but these photos make it feel like last week, thanks for posting

-

[MplsTodd]

Great photos! You captured the city beautifully!

[The-New-Tony-Detroit]

Now there is a city I need to get back to (last time there was 2004!)

Thanks for the tour

[jg6544]

San Diego is a neat city. Beautiful park/museum area. It's a lot less stressful than LA, too.

[destroycreate]

God, you captured my hometown so well! Makes me a bit homesick.

Can I ask, what type of camera did you use? I want my pictures to look like that!

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

God, you captured my hometown so well! Makes me a bit homesick.

Can I ask, what type of camera did you use? I want my pictures to look like that!

Thx! Yeah I had a great time there. It's such a laid back, friendly city with a nice downtown, and beautiful waterside areas. I'm using a Canon EOS 60D with a 200mm lens, love it.

[Derek]

I can't believe the "Don't Believe the Hype" mural is still painted on that garage at Horton Plaza. I remember the first time I saw that was when I was in high school. It has to be at least 7 or 8 years old now.

[bobdreamz]

Beautiful pics of a beautiful city !

[Prahaboheme]

I see you made it to Hillcrest, my old neighborhood and still one of my favs.

[destroycreate]

You know, relooking through this thread again, it's shocking to me that downtown SD hasn't boomed even more. While it has made huge strides, it's far from Vancouver levels--and there's no reason I can think of why it couldn't be. It has transit, subjectively perfect weather, tons of nightlife/dining opportunities, a great waterfront (that admittedly needs more revamping), is way cleaner than LA/SF--not to mention safer, and lots of people living the high rise condo life. I'm surprised more rich Chinese don't buy there en masse like they do other places.

What do you think it is about SD that keeps it from really taking off the same way? Is it the airport being way too small? As a San Diego native, it's always frustrated me a bit seeing the city not really live up to its fullest urban potential.

That being said, I guess what makes the city so great is that it's kind of a secret--people go to San Diego for beaches and the zoo (snooze), but it's got a ton of fantastic streetcar quasi-urban neighborhoods a la North Park, Hillcrest, Kensington, and South Park, not to mention the many dense beach cities that are all fairly walkable and interesting.

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

You know, relooking through this thread again, it's shocking to me that downtown SD hasn't boomed even more. While it has made huge strides, it's far from Vancouver levels--and there's no reason I can think of why it couldn't be. It has transit, subjectively perfect weather, tons of nightlife/dining opportunities, a great waterfront (that admittedly needs more revamping), is way cleaner than LA/SF--not to mention safer, and lots of people living the high rise condo life. I'm surprised more rich Chinese don't buy there en masse like they do other places.

What do you think it is about SD that keeps it from really taking off the same way? Is it the airport being way too small? As a San Diego native, it's always frustrated me a bit seeing the city not really live up to its fullest urban potential.

That being said, I guess what makes the city so great is that it's kind of a secret--people go to San Diego for beaches and the zoo (snooze), but it's got a ton of fantastic streetcar quasi-urban neighborhoods a la North Park, Hillcrest, Kensington, and South Park, not to mention the many dense beach cities that are all fairly walkable and interesting.

This is a fantastic photo thread, but there is a lot of development not reflected in the photos, particularly in East Village, Little Italy, and along PCH. Development was really hurt after the crash, but has come back really strong with a lot of new marquee buildings planned and under construction.

[Prahaboheme]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

You know, relooking through this thread again, it's shocking to me that downtown SD hasn't boomed even more. While it has made huge strides, it's far from Vancouver levels--and there's no reason I can think of why it couldn't be. It has transit, subjectively perfect weather, tons of nightlife/dining opportunities, a great waterfront (that admittedly needs more revamping), is way cleaner than LA/SF--not to mention safer, and lots of people living the high rise condo life. I'm surprised more rich Chinese don't buy there en masse like they do other places.

What do you think it is about SD that keeps it from really taking off the same way? Is it the airport being way too small? As a San Diego native, it's always frustrated me a bit seeing the city not really live up to its fullest urban potential.

That being said, I guess what makes the city so great is that it's kind of a secret--people go to San Diego for beaches and the zoo (snooze), but it's got a ton of fantastic streetcar quasi-urban neighborhoods a la North Park, Hillcrest, Kensington, and South Park, not to mention the many dense beach cities that are all fairly walkable and interesting.

Corruption over the years at City Hall certainly didn't help matters, and a conservative NIMBY base that quite literally opposes and sues the city for every proposal stifles true progress.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures!

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by spoonman

This is a fantastic photo thread, but there is a lot of development not reflected in the photos, particularly in East Village, Little Italy, and along PCH. Development was really hurt after the crash, but has come back really strong with a lot of new marquee buildings planned and under construction.

I do wish I'd seen some more of the city, especially where those cranes are by the stadium. .. not sure which neighborhood that was but seemed like a kind of industrial area being redeveloped. East Village? We did visit Little Italy, briefly, which definitely has some great infll going on. I think that was my favorite neighborhood along with Hillcrest, of course they're very different. I've got a few shots from Little Italy in the part 2 thread coming up.

Like destroycreate mentioned, it's a clean, safe city, and it seems poised to become much more urban. Outside of Gaslamp area, DT was pretty quiet but nice. There's tons of great historic architecture particularly in Gaslamp, & I suppose it's just a matter of time and increasing infill for it to approach the energy of an SF.

[Lipani]

Great pics! It's making me homesick here.

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

especially where those cranes are by the stadium.

Sounds like Ballpark Village under construction. Definitely a needed project since it's replacing a parking lot.


http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...star-downtown/

[EastSideHBG]

Nice!

[TonyAnderson]

San Diego is definitely underrated (for its size). Gaslamp district is crazy crowded and busy on the weekends though, it's pretty impressive. Great shots.