Turnover

I went downtown tonight to meet a friend who is on assignment here in San Diego. We sat in a bar and drank soda water and talked about plans for the future.

Haven't spent much time downtown since the closing of Xavier's. That site is still boarded up, and there are many boarded up commercial spaces right in the Gaslamp. And as I crossed only two and a half blocks from my car to the Gaslamp Tavern, I saw easily half a dozen new establishments. All were simply repolished, renamed joints in place of old ones. The restaurant business is full of turnover shysters, who own a site and close it down every 18 months to open a new place and ride its crest until the dwindling crowds evince the errors of mismanagement. This is basically how the entire club industry operates. The new places were the same old bullshit, nothing exciting or enticing. Hard to judge the level of business, it's a Tuesday night, but I think when you're looking at the prized real estate (5th Avenue) of the city and seeing boarded up windows on every block it doesn't take an economist to know that things aren't going so hot.

Downtown is interesting. Everything happens on 5th. You'll find some good spots on 4th and 6th, then some more by the ballpark and the waterfront. But every ten feet there are homeless people. And when you wander a couple blocks out of these areas, you're seeing abandoned lots and empty buildings, and you can easily run into trouble.

If you're interested, check out this excellent article on the past and future urban development of San Diego. This city has come a long way. And it really is one of the most beautiful cities in the country. The drive into downtown San Diego is one of the most exhilarating urban vistas I've ever seen. And Harbor Drive at sunset offers one of the most magnificent urban stretches anywhere in the country. San Diego is a beautiful, wonderful city. But it is certainly showing the scars of a stagnant economy.