Green Real Estate SD

Del Mar is a small, seaside hideaway approximately 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego. Defined by calm salt water lagoons on each end, this charming, laid back town is best known for it’s exceptional weather, world famous thoroughbred racetrack, the county fair, fabulous beaches, haute cuisine and unique shopping.

With a population of approximately 4,500 in the 2.1 square mile coastal area, Del Mar offers an oasis of unhurried, yet civilized, living. Visitors can enjoy many of the pleasures of the Village without ever needing a car.

The historic downtown village dates back to 1880s. Today it is lined with over 60 shops offering everything from high-end apparel to one-of-a-kind specialty shops. The village hosts 25 restaurants, many providing outside patios overlooking the ocean. There are cafés with sidewalk seating and award-winning dining perfect for any occasion. Visitors will find a variety of hotel accommodations.

With 2 miles of coastline and gently rolling waves, Del Mar’s famous beaches are an ideal destination for beachgoers, surf combers and surfers seeking the legendary California surf. There’s even a sliver of beach for dogs. Del Mar’s primary beach also offers wheel chair access, the only such beach in the county with special wheelchairs designed for the sand. Whales, porpoises, sea lions and a myriad of birdlife populate the shimmering coastal waters and lagoons.

Residents and visitors alike enjoy several parks. Seagrove Park and adjoining Powerhouse Park are ideal grassy locations for a picnic or a wedding, walking a dog, for lovers catching a romantic sunset, or for simply gazing at the many magical moods of a majestic Pacific. And throughout the summer there are free concerts in the park. (Please see this Web site calendar). Not to overlook the little ones, there is a delightful children’s playground adjacent to Powerhouse Park, affectionately referred to as the Tot Lot.

The Del Mar Library is a landmark worth a visit. In 2002 two local artists, Betsy Shultz and Pat Welsh, created the mixed-media mosaic on the wall that frames the historic building which has served as a famous church for both movie stars and residents, a restaurant and other uses over the decades. The wall incorporates memorabilia and treasures from Del Mar’s history, as well as featuring terracotta birds and wildlife from the area.

At any age, at any season, Del Mar is truly a wonderful place to visit or to live.

History of Del Mar

In 1882 a New Yorker named Theodore Loop came to southern California to build a railroad connecting Los Angeles and San Diego. The original train tracks were laid down in the middle of Township 14, today known as Del Mar. Mr. Loop liked the area so much he told people that he had “found the most attractive place on the entire coast”.

In the same year Loop met a very successful rancher from New Mexico, Mr. Jacob Shell Taylor. Taylor and Loop were both captivated by the beauty of the area and recognized a development opportunity. In the summer of 1885, Taylor purchased 338.11 acres and began building the new resort town.

Del Mar was named by Loop’s wife, Ella, who took it from a popular poem of the time titled “The Fight of Paseo Del Mar.”

Taylor was a savvy businessman and a visionary. He knew that if he could lure visitors to Del Mar they would likely be loyal customers or new residents. Jacob Taylor initially built as many as 40 small houses, a two story Victorian schoolhouse, an observation tower, a train depot and a water system. Additionally, in 1886 Taylor opened “Casa Del Mar”, the area’s first resort. To entertain visitors Taylor built a dance pavilion on the beach and a large swimmingdesi pool that went out into the ocean called a Natatorium. Del Mar became a popular vacation destination.

For five years the town bustled with development. Sadly in 1889 Jacob Taylor woke up in the early morning to the smell of smoke in his hotel room. He woke all of the hotel guests, guaranteeing their safety, but within two hours the entire hotel burned to the ground.

Taylor insisted he would rebuild the hotel but, unfortunately, he never finished it. Taylor moved to Texas; leaving behind the town he founded, never to return.

The Big Boom – South Coast Land Company

Over 15 years lapsed before the next development boom. In 1900 the South Coast Land Company purchased the majority of land north of 9th Street. Like Taylor, the directors of the South Coast Land Company had big plans for Del Mar. Their first project was the grand resort hotel called the “Stratford Inn”. They hired a prominent Los Angeles architect, John C. Austin. The new hotel was built on the hill overlooking the beach. (Today the L’Auberge hotel occupies this land.)

On March 9, 1909 the beautiful Stratford Inn opened for business. It was a world-class hotel built on 10 acres. It quickly became the desired destination for Hollywood’s silent film stars.

The hotel had a salt-water swimming pool called The Plunge. Next to The Plunge the Powerhouse was erected to provide power and warm water to the hotel and to the Village.

Shortly after the hotel was finished, a pier (which was washed away in a storm years later) and a new train depot were built. The train depot was directly in front of the hotel, making it an easy commute. The same depot sits on the location today.

During the 20′s and 30′s Del Mar experienced tremendous growth. Although there were still just a few hundred permanent residents, the summer crowds reached almost 2,000.

To accommodate the growing population, the Kockritz Building was constructed across the street from the hotel on the southwestern corner of 15th Street and Camino Del Mar. The building was designed to match the English Tudor architecture of the hotel. The building remains to this day and is referred to as Stratford Square. It has become a Del Mar icon and treasure.

The Track and The Fair

During the early 30′s the San Diego Fair was looking for a permanent home. Col. Ed Fletcher of the South Coast Land Company suggested the 184-acre site in the San Dieguito Valley just north of the Village. The Works Progress Administration provided the initial funding and the Del Mar Fair opened to great fanfare in 1936, a yearly tradition that continues.

A year after the Fair opened the mile-long oval thoroughbred racetrack was completed. One of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s prominent founders, crooner Bing Crosby, became the President of the Turf Club and movie star friend Pat O’Brien became the Vice President. Opening day of the track, July 3, 1937 began a new era in Del Mar. The track was hailed as Bing’s Baby or Movieland’s Own Track. Crosby himself coined the famous lyrics, which live on today, “Where the surf meets the turf, down in old Del Mar …”.

For decades the summer racing season has brought crowds to Del Mar along with many Hollywood celebrities such as Pat O’Brien, Jimmy and Marge Durante, Lucy and Desi Arnez, Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickenson. All made Del Mar their second home and it continues to remain a favorite of many today.

During World War II the races came to a halt so that the facilities could be used as a bomber tail assembly plant. However, racing returned in August 1945 after Japan surrendered.

Del Mar Today

In 1959 Del Mar incorporated as a city. It is now the smallest municipality in the booming San Diego region; a gem nestled along the coast. The most significant impact on the community over the last 40 years has been nearby University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Many faculty members and students reside in the community, influencing the political, social and cultural climate. In the 1970 the emphasis of the local government shifted towards slow growth, open spaces and preservation. Because of the efforts of an active group called the Friends of Del Mar, there will never be high-rise apartment buildings or billboards in the City. Seagrove Park and Powerhouse Park are both the results of the community citizenry working together to preserve open space.

Del Mar has grown family-by-family over the last 150 years. Today, almost 4,500 lucky residents call Del Mar their home. People still come to visit or live in Del Mar for the same reasons, as did the founding fathers: it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Whether coming to enjoy the beach, shop in the village, spend a day at the races or just relax, Del Mar is “always in season”. Enjoy your visit, and come back again.

Ocean Beach is located in San Diego on the Southern California coast. It lies on the Pacific Ocean at the estuary of the San Diego River, at the western terminus of Interstate 8. It is approximately 7 miles from Downtown San Diego. O.B. is south of Mission Bay and Mission Beach, directly north of Point Loma, and northwest of downtown. The O.B. community planning area is bounded on the north by the San Diego River, on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Froude St., Seaside St. and West Point Loma Boulevard, and on the south by Adair Street.

Earlier names for O.B. include Mussel Beach, Mussel Beds, Medanos (Spanish for ‘dunes’), Palmer’s Place/Ranch, and Palmiro’s.

The main street of business is Newport Avenue which has antique stores, restaurants, head shops, tattoo and piercing shops, coffee houses, bars, bike and surf shops, and an international youth hostel. Ocean Beach has three schools – Ocean Beach Elementary (a K-4 public school), Sacred Heart Academy (a K-8 Catholic school), and Warren-Walker (a K-8 private school). The community also features multiple churches, a public library, a U.S. Post Office, an independent supermarket, a vegetarian food co-op, and other amenities. Recreational facilities include the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, Dusty Rhodes Park, and the Robb Field athletic fields and skate park.

Local organizations include the Ocean Beach Town Council, the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association, the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation, the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach, the Ocean Beach Antique District, and the Ocean Beach Historical Society.  Also, the Ocean Beach Planning Board advises the city regarding growth and development strategies and communicates the community’s desires to the City of San Diego.

Local events include the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cookoff in late June, a jazz festival at the foot of Newport in late September, the Ocean Beach Christmas Parade in early December, and the Ocean Beach Kite Festival on the first Saturday of March. Also, each Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m, two blocks of Newport Avenue are open to only foot traffic and bicycles for a farmers market.

The Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, built in 1966, is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, measuring 1,971 feet.  The pier, which includes a restaurant and bait shop, is located at the south end of the beach and is available to the public for walking and fishing 24 hours a day. A concrete walkway spans most of the length of the one-mile beach.

The northern end of O.B.’s waterfront is known as Dog Beach, alongside the channel that empties the San Diego River. It has been set aside specifically for leash-free pets and their owners 24 hours a day. A commemorative plaque at the entrance lays claim to it being the first leash-free dog beach in the United States.
Ocean Beach and adjacent Point Loma are home to a sizable population of feral parrots and their offspring, known locally as the “O.B. air force.” The sub-tropical climate is nearly ideal for parrots. There are numerous trees for roosting, and plenty for the intelligent, omnivorous birds to eat. The parrots, mostly Amazons, are especially active and vocal at sunrise and sunset.

Ocean Beach was given its name by developers Billy Carlson and Frank Higgins in 1887. They opened the real estate firm of Carlson & Higgins and proceeded to develop Ocean Beach.The pair developed the Cliff House, a resort hotel, and subdivided the area into lots. To drum up business for their subdivision, Carlson and Higgins organized a variety of promotional activities, including mussel roasts (thus the early name of “Mussel Beach”) and band concerts. Despite their efforts, the development did not do well, because it was 2-1/2 hours by carriage from downtown San Diego. They rented a locomotive, but by that time, the boom ended and the development was put on hold. The Ocean Beach Railroad, launched in April 1888, was a casualty of the economic decline. Passengers could take a ferry from San Diego to Roseville in Point Loma to ride the train to the Cliff House. Later, Higgins’ partner committed suicide, and the Cliff House burned down from a fallen chandelier in 1898. Carlson sold the Ocean Beach development to an Eastern financier, and its development would wait another 20 years for permanent rail service – trolley cars – to arrive, carrying riders from Ocean Beach to Old Town. A wooden bridge, built in 1914 across the San Diego River flood-control channel between Mission Beach and Ocean Beach, was demolished in January 1951, thereby cutting off through traffic to Ocean Beach from the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach communities.

But Carlson and Higgins were not the first to file a subdivision map in Ocean Beach. Theirs was filed with the city on May 28, 1887, according to research done by librarian Rhoda E. Kruse. Earlier, on April 22 of the same year, J.M. DePuy filed “DePuy’s Subdivision” on 15 blocks in the northern portion of O.B.
The northern end of Ocean Beach was dominated in the early 20th century by the

Wonderland Amusement Park, which opened on July 4, 1913 and was constructed on the sand at Voltaire and Abbott streets. It boasted a large roller coaster, dance pavilion, large menagerie, roller skating rink, merry-go-round, children’s playground and 22,000 lights outlining the buildings. Wonderland was a popular attraction until 1916, when most of it was washed away by high tides. Some of the bungalows built as tourist accommodations atop the cliffs on either side of Niagara Avenue are still in use as businesses and homes.

The small cottages, bungalows, single-family homes and two-storied apartments in the residential areas, were filled with college students from several local colleges, joined by a good number of sailors, retirees and middle-class families. With the dredging and development of Mission Bay and the dismantling of the Ocean Beach-Mission Beach bridge, O.B. became geographically isolated from the rest of San Diego and the other beach communities, until the construction of Interstate 8 in 1967. The westernmost segment of I-8 from Interstate 5 to the terminus in Ocean Beach is officially labeled the “Ocean Beach Freeway”.  The Ocean Beach Pier, which opened in 1966, added to the attraction of the community’s waterfront.

Surfing as a sport and recreation began to take hold in O.B., and became a prominent feature of the community by the early and mid-1960s. Major surfing contests were held at the end of Newport Avenue, a number of local surfers made it to the big-time and several well-known surf shops prospered.

Each spring, Ocean Beach would become a favorite local beach hang-out for many of the area’s youth. As in many youth beach towns, friction arose between the youth and local police. 1968 was a particularly explosive year, as there were well-known police-youth skirmishes at the beach during Easter weekend and Memorial Day weekends that year.

Ocean Beach was once known as the Haight-Ashbury of San Diego. The community became an attraction for hippies, who eventually became accepted by many local business establishments. The Black headshop opened on Newport Avenue. Soon to follow was an organic food store – the Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market – on Voltaire Street.

Beginning in the early 1970s, local development and land interests pressed for the development of Ocean Beach’s oceanfront, with plans for tourist-oriented resorts, hotels and a marina outlined in the Ocean Beach Precise Plan. With the passage of a 30-foot height limit in 1972 and the re-writing of the Precise Plan, the development plans for the waterfront were abandoned.

In 1978 the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association (OBMA) was formed with 25 paid members. The OBMA organized Ocean Beach’s first Street Fair in 1981, an event that continues today. During the 90s the OBMA co-ordinated improvement projects for Newport Avenue including a tile project, store front improvements, and a Veteran’s Plaza at the foot of Newport Avenue. During the 1990s the OBMA trademarked the names “Ocean Beach Street Fair, Chili Cook-off and Fireworks Festival” as well as the name “Ocean Beach Farmer’s Market”, two regular community events. Every Wednesday Newport Avenue between Bacon St and Cable St is closed to vehicle traffic while The Ocean Beach Farmer’s Market is held.
The economy of Ocean Beach is dominated by small, independent retail businesses. Newport Avenue, the main business street, featured family-owned businesses from the 1930s through the 1960s, such as a bakery, drug stores, a book and novelty shop, a shoe store, men’s and women’s apparel shops, and a family-owned pet store. In the 1960s and 1970s larger stores and shopping malls elsewhere in the city gradually replaced the small local stores. Many of the storefronts were then turned into antique stores, and the area is now known as the Ocean Beach Antique District. Nowadays Newport Avenue is dominated by antique malls, where interior space is leased to small vendors, as well as visitor-serving establishments such as restaurants, bars and surf shops. There are several small independent hotels in O.B., but no nationally franchised hotels.

The community has actively opposed chain businesses opening in Ocean Beach, and only a few exist there. In the 1970s, community protests led a chain of donut stores to drop its plans to open a store in O.B. In 2000 an Exxon station abandoned its attempt to open a gas station there. In 2001, an organized grassroots effort attempted unsuccessfully to block Starbucks from opening a coffee shop in Ocean Beach.

The historic single-screen movie house The Strand Theatre – which opened to screen talkies in 1924 in the middle of town – was converted into a Wings, an East Coast chain selling beach apparel, after several failed attempts to preserve it as a theater. The theater was designated a historic building by the San Diego Historical Resources Board in December 2003.