San Diego Today

Although most visitors know little about San Diego beyond its fun-in-the-sun reputation, locals are talking about much more than the surf forecast and their tan lines. Concerns about the city's public infrastructure, budget woes, and homeless population are all topics of local debate. After a tumble during the last recession, housing prices have once again skyrocketed and affordability has become a renewed issue. However, San Diegans have managed to keep the city’s overall forecast sunny. Several large companies, including Qualcomm, Petco, and Sony Electronics continue to call San Diego home base. The buzz around San Diego’s science and biotech industry continues to grow, along with the flourishing craft beer trade. San Diego has been busy shedding its image as L.A.’s less sophisticated neighbor, and coming into an urban identity of its own. Across the region, residents are embracing new trends in the local art, shopping, dining, and cultural scenes.

Today’s San Diego

Eating well. All over town, new and exciting restaurants are popping up, celebrating both the local bounty and the region’s diversity. Healthy and fresh California Modern cuisine remains a feature on many menus, while neighboring Baja Mexico has given rise to BajaMed, a fusion of Mexican and Mediterranean styles. San Diego’s sizable Asian population has introduced everything from dim sum carts to Mongolian hot pot, while local sushi chefs take advantage of San Diego’s reputation for some of the finest sea urchin in the world. The locavore trend has become somewhat of an obsession for San Diegans, and many restaurants are happy to highlight how and where they source their ingredients.

Toast of the town. San Diego continues to gain recognition as one of the most exciting beer towns in the nation. Craft brewers creating a buzz include Saint Archer, Ballast Point, and Modern Times, just to name a few, and Stone Brewing Company, creator of the notorious Arrogant Bastard Ale, has several locations. All this enthusiasm for San Diego’s suds has given rise to a beer tourism industry, from bus tours of local brewers to large beer-theme events such as the popular San Diego Beer Week. There’s even an app to help you find the perfect pint: inspired by the local brewing scene, a San Diego couple created the TapHunter website and mobile application, which helps beer lovers find what’s on tap and where.

Building for the future, and conserving its past. A drive around San Diego reveals a huge range of architecture, from hip to historic to downright hideous. Urban planning from half a century ago, such as the decision to run Interstate 5 right through Little Italy and Downtown, is hard to undo, but other efforts to conserve the city’s architectural integrity have been more successful. Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter is the most famous conservation area, but the residential neighborhoods of Uptown, Kensington, and South Park delight early-20th-century architecture buffs with streets full of historically designated homes. Projects making waves in San Diego today include the revitalization of the Embarcadero and the opening of the Little Italy Food Hall.

Get outside. San Diego’s near-perfect climate and gorgeous natural landscape make it hard to find an excuse not to get outside and exercise. In fact, San Diego is home to one of the most active populations in the country. Year-round opportunities to surf, sail, bike, or hike offer something for everyone. On weekends and throughout the summer, beaches and parks teem with locals enjoying the great weather and fresh air. Gas barbecues, bouncy houses, and huge shade tents take the concept of the picnic to a whole new level. So when visitors hailing from harsher climates wonder if San Diegans appreciate how good they have it, the answer is a resounding yes.

What We're Talking About

After years of back and forth over funding and new stadium proposals, Chargers fans learned in early 2017 that their NFL team would be leaving San Diego and heading north to Los Angeles. The storied Qualcomm Stadium site is already being demolished to make way for San Diego State University's new Aztec Stadium, home to future football games by 2022.

The buzz surrounding San Diego's craft beer community is growing louder. The 2015 sales of local breweries Ballast Point to Constellation Brands—for a whopping $1 billion—and Saint Archer to MillerCoors, made international headlines, and solidified San Diego's reputation as one of the nation's best beer cities. The sales ignited the aspirations of nearly 160 other local brewers, demonstrating the ability to turn their passion into profit.

San Diego loves its markets, and the Liberty Public Market and Little Italy Food Hall are no exceptions. Housed within Liberty Station, the mixed-use redevelopment of the old San Diego Naval Training Center, Liberty Public Market buzzes with residents and tourists alike. Vendors sell fresh meat, seafood, pasta, and other ingredients alongside a variety of prepared foods such as empanadas, lobster rolls, tostadas, and baked goods. Situated within a 10,000-square-foot piazza, Little Italy Food Hall has six rotating food stations including pizza, tacos, and gelato, plus a full bar. Indoor and outdoor seating areas throughout both markets make these popular lunch spots.

What We're Looking Forward To

• The reopening of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Timken Museum after extensive renovations
• The opening of The Shell—the West Coast's first permanent waterfront concert venue—as the home of the San Diego Symphony
• The opening of the country's second Sesame Place in San Diego
• The opening of LEGOLAND California Resort's largest addition in the park’s history—The LEGO Movie World