Up and Coming Neighborhood
North Park, located northeast of Balboa Park, is one of San Diego’s best up and coming neighborhoods. Some say it has a hipster vibe, but I prefer to think of it as just a fantastic spot with an eclectic array of experiences to be had. I got a chance to spend a weekend in the area and explore much of what it has to offer. This guide should help you have a fantastic time in this special neighborhood and I guarantee you that the people and businesses will have you planning your next trip before you even leave. So without further ado, here is how to spend the weekend in North Park, San Diego. Source: https://californiathroughmylens.com/north-park-san-diego-guide Curated by JonespainRelief.com
History of North Park
In the summer of 1893, San Diego merchant Joseph Nash sold 40 acres (16 ha) of land northeast of Balboa Park to James Monroe Hartley, who wished to develop a lemon grove. The Hartley family began the arduous process of clearing the land to prepare the earth for the grove, but providing the fledgling trees with proper irrigation was always a problem. Barrels of water had to be hauled from downtown San Diego up a wagon trail that would eventually be called Pershing Drive.
As the growth of San Diego eventually caught up with the original Hartley lemon grove, it eventually became roughly bordered by Ray Street to the west, 32nd Street to the east, University Avenue to the north and Dwight Street to the south. Hartley deemed his area “Hartley’s North Park” – and years later, the name evidently stuck as the City of San Diego referred to the new suburb as “North Park.”
In 1911, Hartley’s eldest son, Jack, and a relative (brother-in-law William Jay Stevens) developed the plot into one of San Diego’s first residential and commercial districts. After first establishing “Stevens & Hartley”, North Park’s first real estate firm, in 1905, Jack and William built North Park’s first “high rise” commercial building, the Stevens building, on the northwest corner of 30th Street and University Avenue (today’s “Western Dental” building) in 1912. “Thirtieth & University” became North Park’s symbolic place name – and within 10 years, this became the heart of the community.[5][6]
Later in the 1910s, North Park became one of the many San Diego neighborhoods connected by the Class 1 streetcars and an extensive San Diego public transit system that was spurred by the Panama-California Exposition of 1915 and built by John D. Spreckels. These streetcars became a fixture of this neighborhood until their retirement in 1949
Eateries
An eclectic and diverse array of restaurants, as well as independent coffee shops, can be found along the main arteries of 30th Street and University Avenue. The area is also dotted with bars and night clubs that cater to a wide diversity of patrons. The Linkery used to be in the neighborhood. Waypoint Public now occupies the same space.
Now let’s take a look at Serra Mesa