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Sunny Delights

Casting political unrest behind, San Diego is bouncing back in its own confident, laid-back style.

Over the past three decades, San Diego’s urban core has undergone an extreme makeover. Today, it rocks. But 30 years ago, there was a bit of a self-image problem. In 1972, then-mayor Pete Wilson boldly dubbed San Diego “America’s Finest City.” Bland, yes, but the nickname helped assuage locals after Richard Nixon picked San Diego to host the GOP national convention-then, in a national slap in the face, jilted the city at the last minute.

Politically speaking, San Diego-considered a sleepy little Navy town well into the 1980s-has been a Republican stronghold. Heck, Nixon (before the nixing) called San Diego his “lucky city.” Today’s politicians swing more toward moderate, but they aren’t exactly feeling lucky. In 2005, after it was revealed the city’s pension system was underfunded by nearly $2 billion, the mayor resigned. In a separate scandal dubbed “Strippergate,” two city councilmen were forced out of office. And late last year, a San Diego congressman admitted he accepted $2.4 million in bribes. National headline writers gave San Diego a new and unwanted nickname: “Enron-by-the-Sea.”
Political resolution is underway. And for unruffled San Diegans and city visitors, the party is still going strong-especially downtown. The center city area is an exciting package. A residential boom has meant even more restaurants and bars have opened up in places like Little Italy and the entertainment district known as the Gaslamp Quarter.

Petco Park was recently constructed. Home to Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, the park fits the city-as-palate design test: sandstone exterior, integration with a historic warehouse district, and a grassy play area outside the outfield known as the Park at the Park.

Best of all: The Gaslamp and Petco are walking distance from a recently expanded convention center and a plethora of hotels, including upscale old favorites like the Westgate and hip new places like Hotel Solamar. The business traveler has it made. You really could spend all your travel time downtown and never need to call a taxi.

The city’s character

It’s been said San Diego is a laid-back burg, even though it’s the country’s seventh-largest city. But, yes, coastal cities within San Diego County-places like Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and the liberal enclave of Ocean Beach-are densely populated by play-now-work-later surfer dudes and dudettes.

In a sense, the San Diego region has borders on all sides. To the west is the Pacific Ocean; go not-too-far east, and you’re in the Anza-Borrego Desert. A short ride south from the heart of downtown will place you at the Mexico border. To the north is Camp Pendleton. This military base acts as a buffer to Orange County and widely vilified Los Angeles.

Yes, vilified. The last thing native San Diegans want is for their city to be compared to L.A. in any shape or form. L.A. represents glamour and glitz. That’s not to say San Diego’s beaches aren’t teeming with attractive, well-toned denizens. But the City of Angels is Marcia to San Diego’s Jan; San Diego is St. Paul to L.A.’s Minneapolis. San Diego is cleaner and prettier, yet the national news media still treats San Diego as a suburb of Los Angeles.

San Diego proper can be sliced three ways. In the middle is the city, which is centrally sandwiched by the North County and the South Bay.

The city is reinvigorating, and neighborhoods are redefining themselves. Little Italy, with its abundance of new high-rises and a trendy restaurant scene, is undergoing a renaissance. East Village, home to Petco Park, is packed with potential. And on weekends, the Gaslamp Quarter is jammed-this Fifth Avenue hot spot is always ripe with revelers.

The affluent can be found in North County. Coastal La Jolla is certainly a pocket of wealth, but North County’s Rancho Santa Fe is regularly listed as the most affluent neighborhood in the country. You won’t be able to see a lot of the mansions from outside gated communities, but a winding drive along the Del Dios Highway-mountains give way to ravines that blend into sparkling lakes-is a day trip worth taking. If you go, stop for a snack at Hernandez Hideaway (19320 Lake Drive, 760-746-1444).
Southern San Diego is on an upswing. Not so much with condos, but with single-family-home communities that are popping up in places like Eastlake, just minutes from the Mexico border.

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