Considered the liveliest of the Downtown neighborhoods, the Gaslamp Quarter's 4th and 5th Avenues are peppered with trendy nightclubs, swanky lounge bars, chic restaurants, and boisterous sports pubs. The Gaslamp has the largest collection of commercial Victorian-style buildings in the country. Despite this, when the move for Downtown redevelopment gained momentum in the 1970s, there was talk of bulldozing them and starting from scratch. In response, concerned history buffs, developers, architects, and artists formed the Gaslamp Quarter Council to clean up and preserve the quarter.
The majority of the quarter's landmark buildings are on 4th and 5th Avenues, between Island Avenue and Broadway. If you don't have much time, stroll down 5th Avenue, where highlights include Louis Bank of Commerce (No. 835), Old City Hall (No. 664), Nesmith-Greeley (No. 825), and Yuma (No. 631) buildings. The Romanesque Revival Keating Hotel at 432 F Street was designed by the same firm that created the famous Hotel Del Coronado, the Victorian grande dame that presides over Coronado's beach. At the corner of 4th Avenue and F Street, peer into the Hard Rock Cafe, which occupies a restored turn-of-the-20th-century tavern with a 12-foot mahogany bar and a spectacular stained-glass domed ceiling.
The Gaslamp is a lively place—during baseball season, the streets flood with Padres fans, and festivals, such as Mardi Gras in February, ShamROCK on St. Patrick's Day, and Monster Bash in October, keep the party atmosphere going throughout the year.
