San Diego County: Good Hangs, Great People

Last year, North Park was ranked by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 20 most hipster neighborhoods in America alongside Silver Lake and Oakland. Being the vintage clothing wearing, record listening, warehouse partying, hand-rolled cigarette smoking, bourbon drinking elitist I am, I naturally had to check it out when I was in San Diego. It certainly has all the markers of an up and coming neighborhood: cafés playing indie folk, bars with craft beer on tap, sleek industrial-style restaurants with carefully curated branding, a couple thrift stores and a spiritual bookstore with an ambience of wind chimes and nag champa. 

The newer shops are interspersed with businesses that have been around since before the transformation began. There's a discount cigarette store selling beach souvenirs and postcards, a run-down salon with a big sign out front advertising "Se Habla Español" and a bus stop where homeless people are usually napping.

It reminds me quite a bit of LA's Eastside. The two distinct differences are the amount of things to do in the area and the attitude of the locals. 

In terms of quantity, North Park can't hold a candle to Los Angeles or The Bay Area. The main stretch of shops, bars and eateries on University Avenue runs a few miles and can't have more than a few dozen noteworthy hangs. 

Tiger! Tiger! Tavern

I'll admit to having a spoiled palette, but I would venture to say the quality is not quite up to Jonathan Gold's standards either. When I was there I ate at one of the most popular restaurants and bars in the area: "Urbn." According to the bartender, it was the first hip venue to move in on the block and was the catalyst for many other businesses opening nearby. They have the same formatted menu as all the osterias/ pizzerias in Los Angeles: gourmet cheese and meat assortments, appetizers and coal fired pizza. I had a chopped italian salad and chicken pesto pizza. It was good. Honestly, the ingredients were fresh, local and prepared well. It just didn't have that extra kick. That intangible addition to a meal that makes you say "wow."  

Urbn 

Michael Trujillo moved to North Park from Oakland seven years ago. Originally he was unimpressed by what his new neighborhood had to offer, but he came to appreciate the lack of pretension that comes along with having less choices. "When I first came here I was like 'I'm from the Bay Area', OK?!" Then he realized,  "You can still find organic coffee, slow food movement restaurants, bookstores and record stores, but everyone here is really earnest about it. It's very sweet." 

"Vibe" is certainly subjective, but when I was there I felt a palpable friendliness too. While it's nice to be able to try a new restaurant every day of the week, at what point does a person have enough choices? 

Caffé Calabria

If good people and a manageable selection of good local establishments is what you're looking for, North Park's perfect. If you want that extra edge, to be in a city that's got the coolest of everything, you're inevitably going to have to put up with a higher percentage of trend-driven egoists. That's a decision only you can make. 

Either way, who knows what North Park will look like in ten years. If you wanna say you knew about it before it was on everyone's radar, it's worth checking out now.