Pacific Beach

Before Europeans arrived, the Kumeyaay built a large village on the banks of Rose Creek at the entrance of Rose Canyon, known as Hamo or Jamo. The modern town traces back to the completion of a cross-country railroad in 1885. It was developed during the boom years between 1886 and 1888 by D. C. Reed, A. G. Gassen, Charles W. Pauley, R. A. Thomas and O. S. Hubbell. Hubbell cleared the grainfields, pitched a tent, mapped out lots and hired an auctioneer. A railway connected Pacific Beach with downtown San Diego starting in 1889, and it was extended to La Jolla in 1894.

Early landmarks included an asbestos factory established in 1888, a race track and the San Diego College of Letters, which ran from 1887 to 1891. None survive. Around the turn of the century, lemon growing and packing dominated the local economy. In 1902, oceanfront lots sold for between $350 and $700. The San Diego Army and Navy Academy, a preparatory school, was established in 1910 in an old college building. A public high school followed in 1922 and a junior high in 1930.

Crystal Pier opened in 1927, and the Roxy movie theater opened in 1943 to serve a population that had grown five times during World War II. The Navy ran an anti-aircraft training center here during the war. By 1950 the population reached 30,000 and the average home sold for $12,000. After the war, many hotels went up, including the Bahia (1953), the Catamaran (1959) and Vacation Village (1965). In the 1960s the city invested in Mission Bay Park, and SeaWorld opened south of Pacific Beach in 1964.

High-rise construction in nearby Mission Bay led to a 30-foot height limit on buildings in 1972, and the ordinance is still in effect. The boardwalk street called Ocean Avenue was closed in 1982 and became a park. Homes now sell for millions of dollars, although a small number of farms remained for a time. In 1945 more than 1,900 residents signed a petition to remove the name of William Payne, a Black teacher, from the middle school. In 2021 the San Diego Unified School Board voted to rename a joint-use field at the school after Payne and his wife Fannie.

The streets got their current names in 1900. Mission Boulevard is the main north-south street running parallel to the beach. It was formerly Allison Street, the A street of a series named after late 19th century federal officials. Moving inland, the names rise in alphabetical order: Bayard, Cass, Dawes, Everts, Fanuel, Gresham, Haines, Ingraham and on through Randall. Ingraham was first called Broadway in 1887, then Izard, then Broadway again, before settling as Ingraham Street in 1913.

The east-west streets are mostly named for precious stones. Starting at the north end of Mission Boulevard and heading south they run Agate, Turquoise, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Opal, Loring, Wilbur, Beryl, Law, Chalcedony, Missouri, Diamond, Emerald, Felspar, Garnet, Hornblend, Grand, Thomas, Reed, Oliver and Pacific Beach Drive. Locals pronounce Chalcedony chal-SED-nee and put the stress on the second syllable of Garnet, unlike the stones.

The beach stretches for miles from the Mission Bay jetty to the cliffs of La Jolla. The boardwalk, officially Ocean Front Walk, is a pedestrian walkway of approximately 3.2 miles. It runs from the end of Law Street in the north into Mission Beach, ending at the mouth of Mission Bay. Shops, bars, hotels and restaurants line it, and it is generally crowded with walkers, cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders. Crystal Pier, a public pier and hotel, sits at the west end of Garnet Avenue. In December 2019 the San Diego City Council banned all electric-motor scooters.

Surfing at Pacific Beach is open to all, at an intermediate level and all year, though a south wind makes fall and winter best. Tourmaline Surfing Park, at the foot of Tourmaline Street, is a popular local spot. Water temperatures sit in the high 50s in winter and the high 60s to low 70s in summer. Kate Sessions Park has a playground, a large lawn with ocean views and a big unmaintained area used for hiking and mountain biking. Fanuel Street Park is a bay-front park with playground equipment, and Rose Creek, which flows through Pacific Beach before emptying into Mission Bay, provides open space and wetland.

The nonprofit Pacific Beach Town Council promotes the area and organizes events. The Pacific Beach Planning Group advises the city on land use, and Save Pacific Beach is a group of residents working to better the community. The Pacific Beach and Mission Bay Visitor Center gives information on events, lodging, dining and local history. Service clubs include Kiwanis, Rotary, the Lions Club, the Pacific Beach Woman's Club and the PB Garden Club. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has practiced at a temple here since 1977. Print news comes from the daily San Diego Union Tribune and the weekly Beach & Bay Press.

Public schools belong to the San Diego Unified School District. They include Mission Bay High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, Pacific Beach Elementary, Kate Sessions Elementary, Barnard Elementary and Crown Point Junior Music Academy.

Entertainment is the business here. Nightlife is the second biggest attraction after the beach, and most bars sit on the west end of Garnet Avenue, which gets the most foot traffic. Weekends are busier than weeknights, though the most loyal patrons start on Thursday. The crowd is typically young and single and made up of college students and working professionals. Dress codes are rare, and the general rule is that anything fit for the beach works. Bars are strict about identification.

Most restaurants take advantage of the weather with outdoor and sidewalk seating. There is practically a Mexican place on every corner. The first Rubio's, started in 1983 by Ralph Rubio to copy a Baja California taco stand, opened here, and a soft-serve stand on Garnet Avenue has been selling ice cream since 1949.

Pacific Beach has few entrances, which creates a bottleneck at rush hour and on busy weekends. From downtown, drivers take Interstate 5 to Mission Bay Drive and turn left on Grand Avenue or Garnet Avenue. From La Jolla and points north, they can exit Interstate 5 at Garnet Avenue, or follow La Jolla Boulevard south to Mission Boulevard.

Metropolitan Transit System Routes 8 and 9 connect Pacific Beach to the Trolley station in Old Town. Route 30 runs along Grand Avenue and connects to La Jolla and Old Town, and to downtown on weekdays. The less frequent Route 27 travels up Garnet Avenue toward Clairemont and Kearny Mesa. In Pacific Beach itself, beach cruisers are the vehicle of choice, and renting one means no worry about parking.