Mission Beach

Mission Beach is a community built on a sandbar between the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay. It is part of the city of San Diego, California.

Mission Beach spans nearly two miles of ocean front. It is bounded by the San Diego River estuary on the south, Mission Bay Park on the east, and the community of Pacific Beach on the north. A boardwalk runs along the beaches on both the ocean and bay sides of the community. The main artery through Mission Beach is Mission Boulevard. The community is divided into South Mission, a peninsula, and North Mission. At the south end of the beach a jetty, with grass, parking and a walk, extends into the ocean.

Attractions near Mission Beach include SeaWorld in Mission Bay Park and the historic amusement park Belmont Park in South Mission Beach. Belmont Park was originally built as the Mission Beach Amusement Center by John D. Spreckels in 1925 to stimulate real estate sales and to promote his electric railway. Belmont Park now features the original wooden Giant Dipper Roller Coaster as well as newer rides such as the FlowRider® at Wave House, Chaos, Vertical Plunge, Krazy Kars, Tilt-a-Whirl, Liberty Carousel, Crazy Submarine, The Beach Blaster, and The Chaos.

Mission Beach offers opportunities to participate in sunbathing, horseshoes, surfing, bicycling, skateboarding, Frisbee tossing, and other outdoor activities. This is a great area for weekly vacation rentals. The summer months and spring break are very high volume tourism season for Mission Beach.

Pacific Beach

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.

Pacific Beach public schools are art of the San Diego Unified School District. They include Mission Bay Senior High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, and several elementary schools. In addition to bordering the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay Park, Pacific Beach includes Kate Sessions Park and the Pacific Beach Recreation Center.

La Jolla

La Jolla is a wealthy seaside resort community, occupying seven miles of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. Although within the northern city limits of San Diego, California, La Jolla retains its own small-town atmosphere and its own civic pride. Home to roughly 42,808 residents, La Jolla is defined on three sides by its rugged coastline of ocean bluffs and beaches, backed by steep canyons and hillsides culminating at Mount Soledad. Located twelve miles north of Downtown San Diego, and 40 miles south of Orange County California, La Jolla is probably best known for its beautiful weather year round with an average daily temperature of 70.5 °F making this area a tourist hotspot. In addition, La Jolla is well known for its elite shopping and dining, with upscale boutiques, import shops, and gourmet restaurants lining Prospect Street.

La Jolla is home to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the Salk Institute, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

La Jolla Neighborhoods

La Jolla Farms - the homes on top of the cliffs above Black's Beach and adjacent to the western boundary of the UCSD campus.

La Jolla Shores - the residential area and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus along La Jolla Shores beach and east up the hillside. Also includes a small business district of shops and restaurants along Avenida de la Playa.

La Jolla Heights - the homes on the hills overlooking La Jolla Shores. No businesses.

Hidden Valley - lower portion of Mount Soledad on the northern slopes. No businesses.

Country Club - lower Mount Soledad on the north-west side, including the La Jolla Country Club golf course.

Village - a.k.a. Village of La Jolla (not to be confused with La Jolla Village) the "downtown" business district area, including most of La Jolla's shops and restaurants, and the immediately surrounding residential areas.

Beach-Barber Tract - the coastal section from Windansea Beach to the Village. A few shops and restaurants, mostly on La Jolla Blvd.

Lower Hermosa - coastal strip south of Beach-Barber Tract. No businesses.
Bird Rock - southern/coastal La Jolla, and the lower slopes of Mt Soledad in the area. Shops and restaurants along La Jolla Blvd.

Muirlands - relatively large area on western middle slope of Mt. Soledad. No businesses.

La Jolla Mesa - A strip on the lower southern side of Mt. Soledad, bordering Pacific Beach.

La Jolla Alta - The neighborhood east of La Jolla Mesa.

Soledad South - Southeastern slopes of Mount Soledad, all the way up to the top, east of La Jolla Alta.

Muirlands West - The neighborhood between Muirlands to the south, and Country Club is to the north.

Upper Hermosa - North of Bird Rock, east of La Jolla Blvd.

La Jolla Village - (not to be confused with the Village of La Jolla) - north-east La Jolla, east of La Jolla Heights, north and west of I-5, and south of UCSD. This neighborhood's namesake, The La Jolla Village Square shopping and residential mall, including La Jolla's two movie theatres, is located here. It should be noted that The Village (of La Jolla) and La Jolla Village are not at all the same; they are distinct neighborhoods within La Jolla.

Downtown San Diego

Downtown San Diego (also referred to as Centre City) is the city center of San Diego, California, U.S. and the central business district of San Diego County. In 2004, Centre City San Diego had a population of 28,586.

Centre City 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.

In the past decade, downtown San Diego has benefitted from revitalization and redevelopment and has become a vibrant live, work, play community. CCDC has been actively redeveloping downtown, and it is now a highly desirable address.

Downtown Districts & Neighborhoods

Columbia, the west district of downtown.

Core District, the central business district of downtown.

Cortez Hill, the north-east district of downtown.

East Village, the east district of downtown, which is home to Petco Park and surrounding Ballpark Village.

Gaslamp Quarter, a two by ten block night life district in central Downtown Little Italy, the north-west district of downtown.

Marina, the south-west district of downtown, which is home to Seaport Village.

Horton District, the district comprising Horton Plaza and adjacent buildings in central downtown.

Seaport Village, a tourist district within the Marina District, which is not an official district or neighborhood.

Del Mar

Del Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located near the Pacific Ocean.

The Del Mar Beach Colony offers some of the most desirable and most expensive real estate in California.

Rancho Santa Fe

Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States and a bedroom community of San Diego. The population was 3,252 at the 2000 census. At $245,631, it is one of the highest income communities in the United States with at least 1,000 households. The CDP is primarily all residential with one shopping avenue as well as several private schools, and single family residential areas situated on uncommonly large lots.

Rancho Santa Fe has many strict architectural design codes as can be exemplified by several attempts from local residents to improve upon or build new residences. Forbes reported Rancho Santa Fe as having the third most expensive ZIP code in the United States, and most expensive in California, with a median home sale price of $2,585,000. Some homes in ZIP code 92067 but not within the CDP are valued at more than the median home-value within the Master Planned Community that makes up the official CDP, and many people who live within the 92067 ZIP code cite their community as Rancho Santa Fe even though they do not live within the strict boundaries of the Master Planned Community. The United States Postal Service also calls the entire 92067 and entire 92091 ZIP codes "Rancho Santa Fe".

The downtown is centered around the intersection of Linea del Cielo/Paseo Delicias and La Granada/Via de Santa Fe. It is the site of offices of financial firms, restaurants, and small stores. A library and a school are also located here. The community directory, the Rancho Santa Fe Blue Book, is published annually to provide residents with a comprehensive account of businesses in and around Rancho Santa Fe.

Point Loma

Point Loma is a seaside community of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, the east by the San Diego Bay and Old Town and the north by the San Diego River. Along with the Coronado peninsula, Point Loma separates San Diego Bay from the Pacific Ocean.

Point Loma has an estimated population of 45,887 (including Ocean Beach), according to the 2000 Census. The 2008 population of the 92106 and 92107 ZIP codes is estimated at 48,285.

There are several distinct neighborhoods in the Point Loma peninsula. The commercial and retail heart of the peninsula is called Point Loma Village. Its retail establishments serve local residents as well as yachting and sport fishing interests. The streets in Point Loma Village are lined with hundreds of jacaranda trees as a result of community beautification efforts.

Connected to Point Loma Village by a causeway is Shelter Island, which is actually not an island but a former sandbank in San Diego Bay. Shelter Island was developed in the 1950s after it was built up into dry land using material dredged from the bay. It is under the control of the Port of San Diego and contains hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland.

The newest commercial and retail area is found at Liberty Station, site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego, which also has residential and educational sections.

The Midway district at the northern end of the peninsula, adjacent to the San Diego River and the I-5 and I-8 freeways, is primarily commercial and industrial with a few small residential developments.

Most neighborhoods in Point Loma consist primarily of single family homes. The bayside residential area is called La Playa and lies somewhat north of the original La Playa, the beach where commercial and military ships anchored during the early days of the city. La Playa includes some of the most expensive homes in San Diego. Some
bayfront homes have private piers for small boats.

The hills above La Playa are known as the Wooded Area on the bay side of Catalina Boulevard (so called because of the many mature trees in the area), and the College Area on the ocean side (because of the proximity of Point Loma Nazarene College). The  Sunset Cliffs neighborhood is on the west side, above ocean bluffs, and is known for
its views of the Pacific Ocean.

Roseville, named for San Diego pioneer Louis Rose, encompasses the oldest settled part of the peninsula. Many Portuguese fishermen and fishing boat owners settled here more than 100 years ago. Some people refer to the area as “Tunaville” because of its association with the tuna-fishing fleet. The hilly area above Roseville is known as Fleetridge, named for its developer David Fleet, a son of Reuben H. Fleet.

The bayside hills between Rosecrans Street and Chatsworth Boulevard are known as Loma Portal. A distinctive feature of this neighborhood is the location of street lights in the middle of street intersections instead of on the sidewalk. Loma Portal lies directly in the takeoff pattern for planes from Lindbergh Field, making it the home of the “Point Loma Pause” where all conversation ceases temporarily due to airplane noise. The streets in Loma Portal are known as the "alphabetical author streets". The streets are named for authors in alphabetical order from Addison to Zola, with a second partial cycle from Alcott to Lytton.

The northwest corner of the peninsula, where the San Diego River flows into the ocean, is a separate community known as Ocean Beach. The southern one-third of the Peninsula is entirely federal land, including Naval Base Point Loma, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, and Cabrillo National Monument.

Information cited from http://www.wikipedia.org/