I am a very new (and knowing me, probably temporary) resident of
Pacific Beach, a community of
San Diego, California. Having lived here for only a couple of months it seems somewhat inappropriate for me to be a spokesperson for PB, but I hope the limited info I can contribute is superior to the
dusty, quiet nodeshell that sat here prior to my arrival.
Pacific Beach is located on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, just north of Mission Beach and south of La Jolla. As indicated in the previous paragraph, the local people refer to it simply as “PB”. PB is a small, beach-oriented community. There is an asphalt “boardwalk” that runs along the beach from near the north end of PB down to Mission Beach (highlighted by Mission Bay).
The main strip in PB is the east/west running Garnet Avenue, which is lined with restaurants, bars, retail shops and other touristy attractions. Garnet dead-ends at the ocean, where there is a large pier and “Kono’s”, a small restaurant purported to be one of the best breakfast spots in PB (sources say Kono’s is second only to “The Broken Yolk”, found about a mile east on Garnet). I’ve had breakfast only once at each place so far, and I have to say the meals seemed equally delicious to me.
There is a small amusement park about three quarters of the way down the boardwalk. There’s a rollercoaster and other attractions there, but I confess I haven’t been inside. I ride my bike along on the boardwalk every day, dodging numerous runners, joggers, roller-bladers, dog-walkers and the occasional surfer that dashes across the path en route to the ocean.
The climate in PB is as I would imagine paradise to be. From what I hear (and from what I’ve seen so far) it is rarely cold, cloudy, rainy, or in any other way miserable. I guess the same could be said about Southern California in general, but I’m just talking about PB here. All I can say is that it’s nearly mid-December and I’m still walking around in shorts and a t-shirt. Having grown up in Michigan, that’s pretty cool to me.
The people of PB seem to be a very laid-back, casual, friendly lot. The population is diverse, ranging from military personnel to college students, surfers to small business people. I’ve spent many evenings in a small bar with two pool tables, a mostly 30-something crowd and spectacular food called the “Cass Street Bar and Grill”. Other good pool bars are “The Silver Fox”, on Garnet, and “The Society”, also on Garnet.