San Diego's own Soho
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: EAST VILLAGE
RESIDENTS OF San Diego's East Village, just a pop fly from the Padres' Petco Park, don't have to go to the ballgame to be part of the action. Festive crowds fill the streets on game days, and some condos have balconies and decks with views of the field.
Home mostly to young professionals, the area has a collegiate feel to go with its hip urban setting.
Beginnings
The history of the East Village is intertwined with that of San Diego, incorporated in 1850. Downtown became the heart of the city, with banks, shopping and theaters, while the adjacent East Village went industrial, with warehouses and a power facility.
By the 1980s, the East Village, then known as Centre City East, was aging badly, with shuttered businesses, few residents and a large homeless population. The Centre City Development Corp., a nonprofit agency created by the city, began to revive downtown, starting with the Gaslamp Quarter and the waterfront. The East Village got its turn at bat with the planning and building of Petco Park. Opening in 2004, it kicked off a building boom in the neighborhood.
What it's about
The East Village is downtown's largest neighborhood, anchored by the ballpark at its southern tip. There are bars and restaurants in reclaimed warehouses and on the ground floors of condo developments.
"The East Village is a brand-new neighborhood," said Mike Ciampa, broker-owner of 92101 Urban Living, a real estate agency. "Three and a half years ago, it did not even exist."
Construction cranes, once the official bird of the East Village, are down to a handful, as many residential projects have been completed.
The area "exudes the same dynamic as Soho," said Jon Mangini, owner of Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar, "a Soho that's still in the works." Mangini cites the contrast of the newer buildings' "modern feel" with aged warehouses that "boast phenomenal, raw architectural elements" as an essential part of the neighborhood's mix.
Insiders' views
"I like living in the East Village," said Brandon Buzarde, a Texas transplant, "because you can walk everywhere." Buzarde, manager at the East Village's Fit Athletic Club, has a 900-square-foot loft that he calls a "cracker box" because it's one-third the size of his Texas home. But, he added, "I have a patio the size of my apartment, where I spend most of my time entertaining."
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