Downtown

Downtown is San Diego's Lazarus. Written off as moribund by the 1970s, downtown is now one of the city's prime draws. The turnaround began in the late 1970s with the revitalization of the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District and massive redevelopment that gave rise to the Horton Plaza shopping center and the San Diego Convention Center. Although many consider downtown to be the 16½ block Gaslamp Quarter,it's actually comprised of eight neighborhoods, also including East Village, Little Italy, and Embarcadero.

Considered the liveliest of the bunch, Gaslamp's 4th and 5th avenues are riddled with trendy nightclubs, swanky lounge bars, chic restaurants, and boisterous sports pubs, something of a French Quarter West (but without Bourbon Street's less savory distractions). Nearby, the most ambitious of the downtown projects is East Village,encompassing 130 blocks between the railroad tracks up to J Street, and from 6th Avenue east to around 10th Street. Sparking the rebirth of this former warehouse district was the 2004 construction of the San Diego Padres' baseball stadium, PETCO Park. As the city's largest downtown neighborhood, East Village is continually broadening its boundaries with its urban design of redbrick cafés, spacious galleries, rooftop bars, sleek hotels, and warehouse restaurants.

Holding true to its European roots is the charming neighborhood of Little Italy,inhabited by native Italians and talented artists. After an afternoon of gelati and espressos in this village enclave you may just forget that you're in Southern California. Running along the San Diego harbor is downtown's Embarcadero,home to the USS Midway, the Maritime Museum, and Seaport Village, with 50-plus shops, 17 restaurants, and outdoor entertainment. The Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade project put 14 acres of greenery, a pedestrian walkway, and artwork along Harbor Drive from Seaport Village to the San Diego Convention Center.

Downtown's natural attributes were easily evident to its original booster, wealthy San Francisco businessman William Heath Davis, who along with several business partners attempted the first settlement by the Bay in 1850.When Alonzo Horton arrived in San Diego in 1867, he bought 960 acres for $4,265 and gave away the land to those who would build churches. Today the William Heath Davis Historic House Museum celebrates the lives of these two San Diegopioneers.

There are reasonably priced ($4-$7 per day) parking lots along Harbor Drive, Pacific Highway, and lower Broadway and Market Street. Most restaurants offer valet parking at night, but beware of fees of $15 and up.