Pacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more professional, and more affluent due to rising property and rental costs. "P.B.," as it is known as by local residents, is home to one of San Diego's larger nightlife scenes, with dozens of bars, eateries, and clothing stores.
The beach
A golden beach in Pacific Beach stretches for miles from the Mission Bay jetty to the cliffs of La Jolla. A sidewalk, the boardwalk, running along the beach, is typically crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, and shoppers. The beach scene revolves around Crystal Pier, which is at the west end of Garnet Avenue.
Streets
The streets in Pacific Beach were renamed several times before receiving their current designations in 1900. The primary north-south street running parallel to the beach is Mission Boulevard, with the streets named after late 19th century federal officials, then incrementing in alphabetical order as they move further from the coast. Bayard, Cass, Dawes, Everts, Fanuel, Gresham, Haines, Ingraham, Jewell, Kendall, Lamont, Morrell, Noyes, Olney, Pendelton. Mission Boulevard was formerly Allison Street, being the "A" street of the series.
The east-west streets are named after precious stones and are roughly in alphabetical order from north to south:
- Agate
- Beryl
- Chalcedony
- Diamond
- Emerald
- Felspar - an alternate spelling of "Feldspar" that has fallen out of use
- Garnet - pronounced locally with the second syllable accented, /??r?n?t/, unlike the pronunciation of the stone.
- Hornblend - spelled differently than the amphibole, Hornblende
Several other east-west streets are also named after stones, but these streets do not follow the alphabetical pattern. These include: Sapphire, Tourmaline, Opal and Turquoise.
History
Pacific Beach was developed during the boom years of 1886-1888 by D. C. Reed, A. G. Gassen, Charles W. Pauley, R. A. Thomas, and O. S. Hubbell. It was Hubbell who "cleared away the grainfields, pitched a tent, mapped out the lots, hired an auctioneer and started to work". To attract people, they built a Race Track and a San Diego College of Letters, neither of which survive today. A railway also connected Pacific Beach with downtown San Diego, and was later extended to La Jolla.
Education
Pacific Beach public schools are part of the San Diego Unified School District. They include Mission Bay Senior High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, and several elementary schools.
Parks
In addition to bordering the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay Park, Pacific Beach includes Kate Sessions Park and the Pacific Beach Recreation Center.
Organizations
The nonprofit Pacific Beach Town Council promotes the area and organizes community events. The Pacific Beach Planning Group advises the city on land use and other issues. Service clubs include Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Club and Toastmasters.
Bars and nightlife
Pacific Beach is one of the main centers of nightlife in San Diego. Garnet Ave between Ingraham St and Mission Blvd is where many bars and restaurants are located. The nightlife in Pacific Beach caters towards a younger crowd than the nightlife in downtown San Diego. |
