Downtown San Diego

Downtown San Diego began in the 1850s when William Heath Davis started to develop the waterfront area. Davis was known for building a "salt box" style house. Today this house is still along Market Street and is one site visitors can see when they tour downtown San Diego. In 1867, another San Francisco man moved into San Diego to add his own development to the city. He purchased 800 acres of land along the water front, building several homes and businesses. Downtown San Diego is known as the Gaslamp Quarter due to the remaining old structures.

Visitors can see the Gaslamp Arhcway, which was completed in 1989, as a sign of where the quarter starts. The quarter has seen redevelopment over the years and has also become a shopping, dining, and entertainment region. Numerous shops, art galleries, and restaurants worth visiting in San Diego are found in this area. Some of the restaurants are 809 Lounge, Acqua AL 2 Ristorante, and Bandar. In fact, there are 22 American style restaurants, 8 with California cuisine, 5 Irish, and 8 Mexican. In total there are over a hundred restaurants in the downtown San Diego area. This area has quite a few of the luxury hotels in San Diego.