The city’s culture hub, Downtown encompasses the historic Gaslamp Quarter, with a lively dining and bar scene, and Little Italy, lined with trattorias. Performing arts venues include the grand Civic Theatre for opera and bands. On the bayfront, there are tall ships at the Maritime Museum and vintage planes on the USS Midway, plus shops at Seaport Village. The Museum of Contemporary Art has 20th-century works
Downtown San Diego, also referred to as Centre City, is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in America. In 2010, the Centre City area itself had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural, financial center and central business district of San Diego County.
Central San Diego, Downtown San Diego is delimited by San Diego Bay to the west and southwest, Bankers Hill, Middletown, and Balboa Park to the north, Sherman Heights and Golden Hill to the east, and Barrio Logan and Logan Heights to the southeast. San Diego International Airport is just northwest of downtown.
Due to San Diego International Airport‘s (Lindbergh Field) proximity to downtown, there is a FAA imposed 500-foot height restriction on all buildings downtown. The height regulation exists because when planes approach the airport, any structure taller than 500 ft. could interfere with flight operations and potentially cause a collision.
The Downtown area contains numerous sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They include:
- The Gaslamp Quarter Historic District
- The Star of India and the Berkeley,historic ships berthed at the B Street Pier in downtown
- The Alfred Haines House at 2470 E Street
- The Armed Services YMCA at 500 West Broadway
- The Balboa Theatre at 868 Fourth Avenue
- The former City of San Diego police headquarters, jail, and courts at 801 Market Street
- Eagles Hall at 733 Eighth Street
- The El Cortez Apartment Hotel at 702 Ash Street
- The Hawthorne Inn at 2121 First Avenue
- The Horton Grand Hotel at 332 F Street
- The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building at 526 Market Street
- The John Ginty House at 1568 Ninth Avenue
- The McClintock Storage Warehouse at 1202 Kettner Boulevard
- The Medico-Dental Building at 233 A Street
- The Panama Hotel at 105 West F Street
- Pantoja Park on G Street and India Street
- The Pythias Lodge Building at 211 E Street and 870 hTird Avenue
- The Robert E. Lee Hotel at 815 Third Avenue and 314 F Street
- The San Diego Rowing Club building at 535 East Harbor Drive
- The San Diego Trust and Savings Bank building at 530 Broadway
- The Spreckels Theater at 121 Broadway
- Santa Fe Depot at 1050 Kettner Street
- The U.S. Grant Hotel at 326 Broadway
- The U.S. post office at 815 E Street
- The U.S. courthouse at 325 West F Street
- The Walker Scott Building and Owl Drug Building at 1014 Fifth Avenue and 402 Broadway
The Civic Theatre in the Community Concourse is the home of the San Diego Opera as well as traveling shows. The San Diego Symphony is headquartered at Copley Symphony Hall, a renovated movie palace on 7th Avenue originally built in 1929 as the Fox Theater. The Spreckels Theater at 1st and Broadway, in continuous operation since 1912, hosts local and raveling performances and productions. The Balboa Theatre, built in 1924, re-opened in 2008 after extensive renovations as a venue for live performances and concerts. Both the Spreckles and the Balboa theaters are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other downtown theaters include the Lyceum in Horton Plaza, which hosts the San Diego Repertory Theatre as well as concerts and art shows, and the Sledgehammer Theater. Night clubs such as the House of Blues and Croce’s feature well known musical groups.
The Columbia (waterfront) neighborhood of downtown hosts the Midway aircraft carrier museum ship, as well as the eight ships and boats of the San Diego Maritime Museum, headlined by the Star of India.
The San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park are located downtown.
Seaport Village shopping and dining complexes attract visitors as well as local residents.
More than 200 cruise ships a year call at the cruise ship terminal. A passenger ferry connects downtown San Diego with Coronado, and San Diego Bay harbor tours depart from Harbor Drive.
Downtown events include the Big Bay Balloon Parade, held in conjunction with the Holiday Bowl; the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and Festival; the Parade of Lights featuring holiday-decorated boats on the Bay; and the San Diego Street Scene music festival.
The downtown area is served by the San Diego City Schools. Washington Elementary School is located in the downtown area. San Diego High School and San Diego City College are located in the northeastern corner of downtown adjacent to Balboa Park. Middle school students from downtown attend Roosevelt Middle School in the Balboa Park area. The Monarch School, a public K-12 school for students who are homeless or affected by homelessness, is also located downtown.
A few private or religious schools exist in the area. California Western School of Law is located downtown.
Streets are laid out in a grid pattern and many are designated for one-way traffic. North/south roads have both names and numbers. The named roads begin with Harbor Blvd then move east past Pacific, Kettner, India, Columbia, State, Union and Front Street. The roads then numbered and are called Avenues, starting at 1st Avenue and contunuing to Park Blvd (12th Ave) The general pattern is that even numbered streets head south, and odd numbered streets go north. East/west streets are laid out alphabetically from A to K, with the exception of D,H & I which are replaced with Broadway, Market and Island streets respectively. Steets north of A Street are named after trees and start with Ash Street, and going up to Laurel.
Main thoroughfares include Broadway and Market Streets (east/west), and Harbor Drive, Pacific Highway and Park Ave (north/south).
Three freeways either pass through or start/end in downtown San Diego. Highway 163 ends in downtown with the southbound lane of the freeway becoming 10th Ave and 11th Ave becoming the northbound lane at Ash Street. Interstate 5 passes above the downtown area and is accessible from selected streets outside of the actual downtown area or at the intersection of 10th/11th and Ash (where 163 starts/ends). Additionally, Highway 94 enters downtown from the east, with westbound 94 becoming F Street and G street becoming eastbound 94.
The downtown area is served by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, the San Diego Trolley. There is also a commuter train linking downtown with northern San Diego County, called the Coaster, which also stops at communities along the San Diego County costaline, as well as the Amtrak passenger rail system.
Parking is mainly concentrated in various “pay to park” lots, with metered parking spaces alongside most streets. There is also parking available at the County operation center (located between Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway, just north of Ash), as well Seaport Village shopping areas.
