Life in San Diego: North Park

Jun 27, 2019 - Nickie Peña

A short hop, skip and jump from Downtown San Diego, North Park is a hip uptown neighborhood that runs adjacent to Balboa Park. With multiple craft beer establishments, boutique shops, music venues and more, the up-and-coming neighborhood is home to a perfect mix of young hipsters and families, who all embody San Diego’s laidback lifestyle and culture.

If you’re on the hunt for a place to live in San Diego or a new spot to check out, North Park is high on the list of “coolest neighborhoods” in the region. Depending on what you’re into, here are some the favorite places and things to do among tourists and residents alike…

Photo credit: The Travel Pockets

Sip some coffee:

Start your day in North Park by stopping to smell the flowers and enjoying some cold brew at Communal Coffee. Or, order some brew direct from the source at Dark Horse Coffee. This outpost is one of San Diego’s independent coffee purveyors, who roasts its own coffee beans in-house, sells direct to consumers and supplies different retailers and restaurants.

Shop some local boutiques:

The shops in North Park are unique and diverse, much like the rest of this neighborhood. Only a few steps from each other, Artelexia, Simply Local and Pigment are a few of the small retail outposts that showcase the region’s culture, art, and fashionable designers. If vintage and sustainable shopping are your thing, make a pit stop at Verbatim Bookstore to peruse their broad selection, including poetry, tarot cards, locally-produced zines, science fiction and more.

Photo credit: Polite Provisions

Enjoy some craft beer & cocktails:

With San Diego being the Capital of Craft Beer, the brewery options in North Park are also aplenty. Along 30th Street, Fall Brewing, Rip Current Brewing, Modern Times Beer Flavordome, and Second Chance Beer are among the many breweries with popular tasting rooms in this flavorful community. If you want to sample beers from multiple award-winning craft breweries, make a stop at Tiger! Tiger!, who once hosted a popular Food Network TV personality.

Beer isn’t the only crafty concoction you’ll find in North Park. The neighborhood also has a few spirit mainstays, like Polite Provisions and Seven Grand, which have their own in-house mixologists who are contributing to the region’s craft cocktail scene.

Photo credit: Observatory North Park

See live music:

You won’t have to travel far to enjoy a live band. North Park is home to one of the region’s newest concert venues—The Observatory. This historic theatre is located at the heart of this vibrant neighborhood, where 30th Street and University Avenue collide.

In the mood for enjoying good music with a smaller crowd and a more relaxed ambiance? Bar Pink is the place to be. This low-key lounge features chic bubbles and elephant décor, which meshes well with the eclectic musical acts that are known to play there.

Visit sandiegolifechanging.org/live and learn about more of the cool, diverse neighborhoods in San Diego.