Pacific Beach, San Diego



Pacific Beach is a neighborhood in 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 formerly largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, because of rising property and rental costs the population is gradually becoming older and more affluent. "P.B.," as it is known as by local residents, is home to one of San Diego's more developed nightlife scenes, with a great variety of bars, eateries, and clothing stores located along Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard.

The beach
Pacific Beach's namesake stretches for miles from the Mission Bay jetty to the cliffs of La Jolla. The boardwalk, officially called Ocean Front Walk/Ocean Boulevard, is a pedestrian walkway that runs approximately 3.2 miles along the beach from the end of Law St. in the north down into Mission Beach, ending at the mouth of Mission Bay in the south. There are numerous local shops, bars, hotels, and restaurants along the boardwalk, and it is generally crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, and shoppers. Adjacent to the boardwalk is the Crystal Pier, a public pier and hotel 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 Blvd., 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, and Pendleton. Mission Boulevard was formerly Allison Street, being the "A" street of the series.

The east-west streets are mostly named after precious stones. Starting at the north end of Mission Blvd. and heading south, the streets are:


 * Agate
 * Turquoise
 * Sapphire
 * Tourmaline - see Tourmaline Surfing Park
 * Opal
 * Loring
 * Wilbur
 * Beryl
 * Law
 * Chalcedony
 * Missouri
 * Diamond
 * Emerald
 * Felspar - an alternate spelling of "Feldspar" that has fallen out of use
 * Garnet - pronounced locally with the second syllable accented,, unlike the pronunciation of the stone
 * Hornblend - spelled differently from the mineral hornblende
 * Grand
 * Thomas
 * Reed
 * Oliver
 * Pacific Beach Drive

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 the 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.

As with many Californian cities, the history of its development can be traced back to the completion of a cross-country railroad in the late 1880s. In 1902, lots sold for between $350–700 for ocean-front property and by 1950, the population of Pacific Beach reached 30,000 and the average home sold for $12,000. Nonetheless, a small number of farms remained. Today, homes can sell for millions.

The United States Navy operated an anti-aircraft training center at Pacific Beach during World War II. During the 1960s, development continued to increase with the city’s investment in Mission Bay Park, including the developments of the Islandia, Vacation Village and Hilton Hotels. In 1964 Sea World opened, which is located only a few miles from Pacific Beach.

The original name of this feature was "Bay Point" and today one may still find a USGS bench mark and associated RM (DC1025, DC1026 respectively) with that name there. The "Bay Point Formation" is the name of a local rock strata first found and described there.

Today, Pacific Beach is home to a younger crowd, including college students, single professionals, and families. The restaurant and nightlife culture has grown extensively, with Garnet Avenue becoming the major hub for places to eat, drink, and shop, and includes a range of bars, restaurants, pubs, and coffee houses.

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, Pacific Beach Elementary, Kate Sessions Elementary, Barnard Elementary, and Crown Point Elementary.

Parks
In addition to bordering the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay Park, Pacific Beach includes Kate Sessions Park and the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. Fanuel Street Park is a popular bay-front park with playground equipment suitable for toddler and school-age children. Rose Creek, which flows through Pacific Beach before emptying into Mission Bay, provides open space and a rich wetland area.

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. The Pacific Beach and Mission Bay Visitor Center provides information on the Pacific Beach Town Council, special events, lodging, dining, and Pacific Beach history. Service clubs include Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Club, Girl Scouts, Pacific Beach Woman's Club, Surf Club, Friends of the PB Library, PB Garden Club, and Toastmasters.

Media
Pacific Beach is serviced in print by the daily San Diego Union Tribune and the weekly Beach & Bay Press.

Bars and nightlife
Pacific Beach is one of the main centers of nightlife in San Diego. Garnet Avenue, between Ingraham Street and Mission Boulevard, is where many bars and restaurants are located. The nightlife in Pacific Beach caters to a younger crowd than the nightlife in downtown San Diego.

Notable current and former residents

 * Frank Bompensiero (d. 1977), mobster
 * Donna Frye, former city council representative and mayoral candidate
 * Skip Frye, professional surfer
 * Adam Gnade, musician-novelist
 * Tony Gwynn, Jr., former outfielder in the MLB
 * Robert Hays, actor, known for role in Airplane
 * Pauly Shore, actor, former MTV host
 * Eddie Vedder, musician
 * Dinesh Dsouza, political commentator