What are the problems with Downtown San Diego? (condos, neighborhoods)

[homenj]

I wrote a post here on CD about a year ago about how I enjoyed San Diego.

However it has come to my attention that a lot of people seem not to like downtown San Diego.

What do you like about it or dislike about it?

Here is what I have gathered

Lots of homelessness (although when I was there I did not see many, maybe it was because it was early in the morning) Then again San Diego has the most perfect climate, at least of any city I have ever been to, so that helps explain why San Diego's homeless population is out of control.

Lack of culture I could understand this. It does not have the world renown museums or even art galleries that other major city neighborhoods have.

It is not a 24 hour city/lack of nightlife.

Seaport Village. I personally liked it though. It is touristy but who cares? And quite frankly at least they built something here. You wouldn't believe how many underutilized waterfront areas and other neighborhoods I have been to.


Is there anything else you like or dislike about downtown San Diego? Just to add my last two cents, it still beats places like Trenton, New Jersey.

[malcorub16]

The SD Forum has done this a couple of times in 2016 and 2017, I think this is the reason for lack of responses.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...-disgrace.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...n-anymore.html

[snpdragr]

Some people don't like downtown because, well it's a downtown. Nothing wrong with that.

There are something like 40k residents in 92101. Rents are higher downtown than a lot of other areas in san diego so it does appeal to many.

Lots of homelessness (although when I was there I did not see many, maybe it was because it was early in the morning) Then again San Diego has the most perfect climate, at least of any city I have ever been to, so that helps explain why San Diego's homeless population is out of control.

I live downtown near petco. yes it's worse than some other cities but on a practical basis, this has almost no impact on me.

[sdlife619]

One thing that has irked me for years and continues to do so is the lack of energy and vibe during the day. This gets annoying after awhile.

Architecturally, San Diego is getting worse. Nothing special or eye popping in terms of eye candy in Downtown besides for a few old gems that truly stand out, but as time goes on, soon they too will be possibly be demolished and replaced by endless amounts of soul sucking, artistically dead modern condos that litterally all look the same and really make San Diego look blander and less distinct than in the past.

Too much emphasis on rebuilding every block Downtown will eventually lead to its architectural demise.

We need some cool old stuff to stick around in combination with the squeaky clean new stuff that looks generic, because without that kind of balance you simple have a massive homogeneous cookie cutter Downtown that doesn’t stand out anymore or is interesting to anyone because San Diego will soon look
like Vancouver, or Honolulu, or whatever city since it lost its charm and character through redevelopment which won’t stop until every single section of downtown is bulldozed and remade.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

One thing that has irked me for years and continues to do so is the lack of energy and vibe during the day. This gets annoying after awhile.

Architecturally, San Diego is getting worse. Nothing special or eye popping in terms of eye candy in Downtown besides for a few old gems that truly stand out, but as time goes on, soon they too will be possibly be demolished and replaced by endless amounts of soul sucking, artistically dead modern condos that litterally all look the same and really make San Diego look blander and less distinct than in the past.

Too much emphasis on rebuilding every block Downtown will eventually lead to its architectural demise.

We need some cool old stuff to stick around in combination with the squeaky clean new stuff that looks generic, because without that kind of balance you simple have a massive homogeneous cookie cutter Downtown that doesn’t stand out anymore or is interesting to anyone because San Diego will soon look
like Vancouver, or Honolulu, or whatever city since it lost its charm and character through redevelopment which won’t stop until every single section of downtown is bulldozed and remade.

I don't know if I agree completely. DTSD has such a tidy look to it in general (let's not discuss the homeless). For example, I was just at the harbor area admiring the curvy street lights. I think they look sleek and beautiful. Some of the designs on the new high-end towers were attractive too.

[stablegenius]

I think it's great... except for the homeless

[the topper]

The problems of Downtown San Diego: Horton's Plaza shopping mall is a black eye to the rest of downtown, and C Street is a complete drug haven and homeless zone along light rail line. East Village is homeless central for whole San Diego county. Along as they don't address these issues: there will never be a real downtown in San Diego, and this downtown won't be viewed as successful and thriving downtown like Portland, Seattle and Denver.

[tickyul]

Go to the East Village early in the morning.....you will get a very good idea of the amount of homeless that stay in and around the downtown area.

[moved]

And Topper continues to repeat what he's a million times already...........

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by moved

And Topper continues to repeat what he's a million times already...........

Maybe... but he's not wrong