Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

North Park’s experiment in humanity

North Park - Image by Derek Plank
North Park

After 14 years of living in North Park, a marriage proposal propelled me into the arms of Encinitas. I've acclimated, but on evenings when I hear norteño music pulsating from the roadway behind my new home in the 'burbs, I become wistful thinking of my North Park neighborhood. I loved its sights, sounds, and people — like the New York City subways, an experiment in humanity.

My first memories of North Park were as a child of the '60s. Though we lived in Kensington, my folks would drive us over in the family Rambler to watch movies at the North Park Theater, skate at the roller rink, and shop at the boutiques lining University Avenue. My mother loved the JCPenney (now Big Lots), which was the company's flagship store in San Diego. A treat was a trip to the Jewish bakery on 30th Street.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When I bought my tiny Craftsman bungalow in the late 1980s, North Park had become a different place. Friends worried whether it was safe, a concern furthered by news stories of drive-by shootings. As a defense mechanism, I claimed I lived in "the 'hood." Living blocks from the Balboa golf course and steps from Switzer Canyon, how could this be a bad thing? And on a clear day, motoring down the eastern edge of Balboa Park on Pershing Drive, you can see forever.

Years of neglect, bad zoning laws, and awful remodeling jobs took their toll, but people awakened to North Park's inventory of early 20th-century architecture. Owning a vintage home has become a status symbol and a rallying point for preserving the character of the community. North Park is being transformed by the influence of the creative class. Many artists moved into North Park's business district after being displaced by the ballpark.

I now live in a half-million-dollar stuccoid home — a "modest" 1600 square feet — in new Encinitas. We have central heating and air-conditioning, and many electrical outlets. Nevertheless, my favorite memory of North Park remains those balmy evenings when my underinsulated, un-air-conditioned ancient home was so hot inside that all I could think of was to grab an icy glass of lemonade and sit on the porch. And it would be so hot in every house on the block that all my neighbors would be rustling about outside. One thing would lead to another, and we'd end up having a party in a neighbor's back yard. We'd swap stories about skunks and possums appearing in the kitchen, eating the cat food. Or we'd discuss home-restoration tips and real estate prices in North Park — $350,000 for a 700-square-foot cottage? We'd pass along gossip, debate politics, and, underlying everything, share a feeling that we were living in the coolest, most happening neighborhood in all of San Diego. I miss that feeling.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
North Park - Image by Derek Plank
North Park

After 14 years of living in North Park, a marriage proposal propelled me into the arms of Encinitas. I've acclimated, but on evenings when I hear norteño music pulsating from the roadway behind my new home in the 'burbs, I become wistful thinking of my North Park neighborhood. I loved its sights, sounds, and people — like the New York City subways, an experiment in humanity.

My first memories of North Park were as a child of the '60s. Though we lived in Kensington, my folks would drive us over in the family Rambler to watch movies at the North Park Theater, skate at the roller rink, and shop at the boutiques lining University Avenue. My mother loved the JCPenney (now Big Lots), which was the company's flagship store in San Diego. A treat was a trip to the Jewish bakery on 30th Street.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When I bought my tiny Craftsman bungalow in the late 1980s, North Park had become a different place. Friends worried whether it was safe, a concern furthered by news stories of drive-by shootings. As a defense mechanism, I claimed I lived in "the 'hood." Living blocks from the Balboa golf course and steps from Switzer Canyon, how could this be a bad thing? And on a clear day, motoring down the eastern edge of Balboa Park on Pershing Drive, you can see forever.

Years of neglect, bad zoning laws, and awful remodeling jobs took their toll, but people awakened to North Park's inventory of early 20th-century architecture. Owning a vintage home has become a status symbol and a rallying point for preserving the character of the community. North Park is being transformed by the influence of the creative class. Many artists moved into North Park's business district after being displaced by the ballpark.

I now live in a half-million-dollar stuccoid home — a "modest" 1600 square feet — in new Encinitas. We have central heating and air-conditioning, and many electrical outlets. Nevertheless, my favorite memory of North Park remains those balmy evenings when my underinsulated, un-air-conditioned ancient home was so hot inside that all I could think of was to grab an icy glass of lemonade and sit on the porch. And it would be so hot in every house on the block that all my neighbors would be rustling about outside. One thing would lead to another, and we'd end up having a party in a neighbor's back yard. We'd swap stories about skunks and possums appearing in the kitchen, eating the cat food. Or we'd discuss home-restoration tips and real estate prices in North Park — $350,000 for a 700-square-foot cottage? We'd pass along gossip, debate politics, and, underlying everything, share a feeling that we were living in the coolest, most happening neighborhood in all of San Diego. I miss that feeling.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.