If you are looking to invest in a Downtown San Diego Condo or a Downtown San Diego Loft or if you already live in Downtown San Diego - take advantage of the cool, trendy “Urbanist” a free local guide for Urban adventure and discovery in Downtown San Diego.

Urbanist is a free, fold out, full color, print publication that can be found all over the Downtown and Uptown area in San Diego area as well as select locations in La Jolla, Pacific Beac, Encinitas, SDSU and UCSD.

Check out the unique and cool Galleries & Culture, the trendy Restaurants, the cool Salons, the hip Music stores and the Urban Shopping places to go in Downtown San Diego today at Urbanist.

For more secrets in Downtown San Diego visit our former blog Secrets of Downtown San Diego’s Urban Living

The East Village Association is a collection of residents including Downtown San Diego Condo and Downtown San Diego Loft homeowners in the East Village District who share a common interest in the positive development of this budding neighborhood. It’s open to renters, home owners, business owners and for anyone who care to see and contribute to the growth of this area of Downtown San Diego. This group needs participation not only in its meetings but in its community projects as well. The following is the agenda for tomorrows meeting at Java Jones, 631 9th Avenue in Downtown San Diego.

AGENDA

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Java Jones, 631 9th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101

I.     Self Introductions
II.     Public Comments
III.     President’s Report - BID Formation Update
Board Action Items
IV.     Mark J. Dibella, Hotel Solamar - Comic Con Sidewalk Closure Saturday July 25; J Street between 6th and 7th
V.     Mark Caro, CCDC - Interim Leash Free Dog Park at 11th and Market Street
VI.     Michael Vogl, City of San Diego Revenue Collections Manager -Parking Meter Utilization Improvement Plan
VII.     Medical Marijuana Clinic Letter
VIII.     Approval of June Meeting Minutes
Non-Action Items
IX.
Guest presentations (if present)

a. CCDC – Sachin Kalbag
b. Council District Two – James Lawson
c. San Diego Padres Update – Richard Anderson
d. Clean & Safe Report - Will Berry
e. Neighborhood Prosecution Unit – Danielle Stroud, Esq.
f. Centre City Advisory Committee – Diego Velasco
g. Downtown Residents Group - Gary Smith

X.     Member Announcement/Comments
XI.     Adjourn

Downtown 92101 Q2 Condo Sales Reveal that the Developer Wars Continue

92101 has it’s very own war going on ~ between Developers  ~ all fighting for their piece of the downtown sales pie.

Last month’s raw sales data for 92101 confirmed what Broker/Owner Mike Ciampa coined many months ago as the “Developer Wars.”  The graph above tells the dramatic story of the skirmish between four types of downtown Seller types:  Developers, Re-Sellers, Short Sales and Bank Owned/REOs.

And the winner for the month of May was…

Developers!   Developers are soundly outpacing all other Seller types by offering “deals” on their remaining new condo inventory.  49% of the 78 sales recorded in the month of May in downtown 92101 went to the Developers.  May 2009 marks the first month since April 2008 that Developer sales exceeded Resales.  Unlike previous months in San Diego’s re-development history, this number is NOT inflated due to any one single new community opening with multiple closings.

2nd place went to Bank Owned/REOs with 26% of all sales.  15 of the 20 were in the $300K-$500K price range.

3rd place was a tie between Re-Sale and Short Sale - each finishing with 13% for the month of May.  If you were one of the 20 who sold their condo last month as a re-sale or short sale, you live under a very fortunate star!  17 of these 20 were priced under $500K.  Only 3 re-sale or short sale transactions in May were priced above $500K.

This data is more than just an interesting statistic for Realtors.

Developers are CHEERING as well as sizing up their fellow competitors.  The Mark, The Legend, Electra and Sapphire are losing the high price Buyers to each other.  Bayside will soon be included in this roster when it opens this summer.  Park Terrace, Atria, Aria and Solara Lofts are competing for the low to moderate price $300K to $600K Buyer. 92101 Urban Living is still unclear about who Breeza competes with as their pricepoints currently seem high and their average square footage seems small.

Bank Owned/REOs are finally finding their liquidation stride.  NOTE TO BUYERS:  If you are thinking of targeting ONLY these properties, be prepared to compete for the most attractively priced properties with 6 to 10 other Buyers bidding up on the asking price to win the deal.  Also know that CASH is KING when buying a Bank Owned/REO!  7 of the 22 properties under $300K and 10 of the 28 properties from $300K-$500K were purchased with ALL CASH offers.  Unfortunately, FHA and VA approved Buyers do not compete well with 20% or higher down payments.

Short Sales are finally happening as the Seller’s “negotiators” and the Bank’s “case managers” are finding some common ground. A little Buyer patience is an important ingredient.  Be not discouraged about making a 2nd position offer!  Many 1st position offers never go the distance.

Finally, check out the way ALL CASH Buyers are making their moves on downtown.

ALL CASH Buyers are stealing the show - and not in just in the under $300K price range.   33% of all May Buyers (26 of the 78) made their purchase with ALL CASH .  See the graph below for the purchase price category distribution.

Yes, it is now OK to say WOW! about that!

For futher questions about current market conditions or more information about condo sales in each of the four categories above, please go to the 92101 Urban Living  wesite or call 619.677.2435 and press “0” followed by “7.”  92101 Urban Living can also be reached via email at info@92101urbanliving.com.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It is finally here - the famous Broken Yolk Cafe that everyone has been talking about for months! Please help us welcome this superb breakfast and lunch place to the neighborhood.  Patrons who have long been fans of the Broken Yolk Cafe in other locations say “It’s like having a good home cooked meal that your mother prepared.”

Mr.  Salvador Lombroso, owner of the Downtown San Diego and the East Lake location, is looking forward to welcoming everyone to taste something extraordinary. Stop by at 355 6th Avenue between K St. and J St. - just one block away from Petco Park.

92101 Urban Living visited the Cafe yesterday and was invited to sit down and enjoy a meal by Mr. Salvador Lombroso and Mr. John G -  founder/owner of the Pacific Beach location. This breakfast place in Downtown San Diego has it all. We tried a new item on the menu -  the Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Panini - with grilled eggplant, zucchini, red onions, roasted green pepper, sprouts and goat cheese served on crispy foccacia bread with pesto mayo. You can’t go wrong with that!

The Broken Yolk Cafe has been in business since 1979. The Cafe offers a large selection of home cooked meals in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. The Downtown Cafe has a loft like feeling with high ceilings, exposed elements and an oversized industrial ceiling fan. There are over 20 different omelets to choose from such as the Ham-It-Up, John Wayne, California, 27 Mile South, Cisco Kid and The Mom, a San Diego favorite. The Broken Yolk also offers a wide variety of other breakfast favorites which include pancakes, waffles and French toast. To see their full menu please click here.

Feel more like lunch? Try one of their juicy ½ pound burgers, their large sandwiches or one of their fresh soups and salads of generous portions. Without question, The Broken Yolk Cafe has a strong dedication to good food and equally good service.

Lucky Downtown San Diego Condo and Loft owners at Pacific Terrace, The Legend, Trellis, Gaslamp City Square, Alta and Crown Bay can now step outside their door to stroll over to the best voted breakfast cafe by the San Diego Reader. The Broken Yolk even offers free delivery to residences in the immediate vicinity.

Stop by for a great experience! If you need more information please visit The Broken Yolk Cafe or call them at 619-338-9655.

For more Downtown San Diego secrets, visit our former blog Secrets of Downtown San Diego’s Urban Living.

San Diego Bay is promising another spectacular display with its eight year in the row firework show on the Big Bay July 4th. Fireworks will be discharged at the same time from four barges placed strategically around the bay off Shelter Island, Harbor Island, the Embarcadero area and Seaport Village. Music broadcasted from FM radio station KyXy 96.5 will accompany the show.

The show starts at 9 p.m. on Friday, July 4th and can be viewed from almost anywhere around the Northern portion of San Diego Bay, as well as from Embarcadero Marina Parks North and South and Coronado Tidelands Park in Coronado.

To visit our former blog about the 4th of July celebration of 2008 please visit Fourth of July Celebrations

Below is a list on where to go:

Coronado Independence Day   9pm - Fireworks
7am - 29th Annual Independence Day 15k run and 5k walk
9am -The 45th Annual Rough Water Swim
10am - Coronado’s Independence Day Parade
4-5:30pm - Spreckles Park will host patriotic music.

Escondido - 9pm Fireworks
2:00pm - 10:00pm - Celebrations at Grape Day Park
321 North Broadway and California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd.
Fireworks Celebrations - 9pm
Chula Vista Yacht Harbor
Del Mar Fairgrounds
Kimball Park, National City
Memorial Park (Logan Heights)
Mira Mesa Community Park
Ocean Beach Pier
Poway High School
Ramona High School

Julian - Cleveland National Forest
Noon - Parade
The American Legion hosts a barbeques at 2nd and Washington Streets.

Legoland - 8pm
Independence Day of celebration to include a life-size “Old Glory.” The 7200 brick creation will weigh in at 150 pounds upon completion, measuring more than eight by four feet.

La Jolla Cove - 9pm Fireworks
Fireworks can best be seen from La Jolla Cove, Scripps Park and La Jolla Shores Beach.

USS Midway! NEW!!!
View multiple fireworks displays from the deck of the USS Midway (San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum). Lawn chairs, blankets and coolers with food and non-alcoholic beverages allowed.
Admission: adults, $12, children (6-17), $7.
Ship opens at 6pm for July Fireworks event.
Info: 619-544-9600 or www.midway.org

Navy Pier, Downtown - Fireworks
A patriotic salute, with Conductor Garbutt, the Sweet Adelines Chorus, Sun Harbor Chorus and Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band.

Rancho Bernardo HS - Fireworks
Rancho Bernardo High School
13010 Paseo Lucido
10am - Festivities kick off in Webb Park.
3:30pm - Parade begins at Bernardo Center Drive.
Sundown - Fireworks at Ranch Bernardo High.

Oceanside Pier - 9pm Fireworks
10am - 10pm - activities at Pacific Street and Mission Avenue, Oceanside Pier, Oceanside Yacht Club and at amphitheater. Parades, fireworks and a street fair.

San Diego Bay - 9pm Fireworks
7:30pm - Summer Pops Concert: A Salute to America

San Marcos Bradley Park
Independence Day Celebration includes food, music, kids activities and fireworks at 9pm.

Seaworld - 9pm Fireworks
4th SeaWorld Adventure Park Independence Day Celebrate with musical acts, extended hours and San Diego’s biggest fireworks show.

Vista’s Brengle Terrace Park
11am to 9:30pm - Food, entertainment, a kids carnival, fireworks and military displays.
9pm - Fireworks
Free shuttle is available from Vista High School.

Don’t miss out on this wonderful experience to taste the unique collection of what the Gaslamp Quarter has to offer. There is an incredible variety of restaurants with different styles and flavors for you to try. Some of them are;

Blue Point Coastal Cusine                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Gaslamp Tavern                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Henry’s Pub Stingaree                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Mister Tiki Mai Tai Lounge                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          More

How does “The Taste of Gaslamp” work?

You have to buy a ticket, $25 per person and that one is your passport to come Downtown to the Gaslamp Quarter and sample menu specialties from more than 20 of our favorite locations per day. You can pick up your walking map, wristband and an event survey whenever is suitable.From there you can visit the locations that interest you in any order you choose. There are a few locations that are only open to age 21 and up but the event is suitable for everyone. After a couple of hours of tasting, head over to the “Beer Tasting Garden” for some special flavors.

This event is starting on Saturday June 13th to Sunday June 14th from 1pm to 4pm. You can buy tickets online here

Want to win tickets? San Diego Reader is giving tickets away here

The “Taste of Gaslamp” is an annual event and at the end of each one the top restaurant is awarded the Lamplighter award. Wonder who will win this year. Read our earlier blog from 2008 Downtown San Diego Restaurant Week….Don’t Miss it!

Does the sound of train horns wake you up in the middle of the night?

Concerned Downtown San Diego residents have joined together and started the website “San Diego Quiet Zone Project” to provide residents with information, links and contacts to help improve the quality of the Urban Living of Downtown San Diego.

Federal regulations require engineers to blow the horn no fewer than 15 seconds before they enter a crossing – two long bursts and a short one, then a last long blast until the train enters the crossing. With 13 crossings from the Little Italy District around the Southern edge of Downtown San Diego, the additional noise has stirred residents to seek some relief.

See and hear a BNSF engineer excessively blowing train horn at 3:20 am on March 4 2007, awakening residents not only all over Downtown but as far away as Coronado and Point Loma. Please click here to see the video.

After the merge of ATSF and BN, BNSF Railroad got rid of the old small eight axle diesels with the horn mounted over the cab and not much louder than a Semi and brought in monster 12 axles into Downtown San Diego. The trains were designed to go 70 miles per hour over the great plains and the horns were designed to reach out ahead of them in areas with no guarded crossings. The horns are so loud that the engineers required them to be mounted back in the middle of the engine so they would not become death.

San Diego Quiet Zone contacted City Hall and after a few months they got an ordinance to pass preventing, except in the case of emergency, the blowing of horns between 7 PM and 7 AM. When they tried to enforce it, the BNSF, backed up by the PUC, said only the Federal Railway Administration could make rules.

The Federal Railroad Administration say the horn blowing is for safety and that engineers are “not out there to wake you up.” For more information about the San Diego Quiet Zone visit their website here.

                                                                                                                                                     Buyers of Downtown San Diego’s biggest condo building Vantage Pointe located in the East Village District are getting their money back. Buyers were informed via e-mail that they soon would receive cancellations of their contracts and that their deposits would be returned. Over 70 buyers were supposed to close escrow last weekend and another 125 were to close later this month.

For some buyers this news comes as a good one because they had been anxiously eying their closing dates and reconsidering their decisions in 2004 and 2005 to buy homes in the building. Many buyers had hoped for discounts and other assurances from the builder and in recent weeks the relationship between developers and buyers was getting increasingly ugly.

Some say that this relationship had more to do with their reticence to go through with their purchase than the declining Downtown San Diego real estate market.

For more information visit Voice of San Diego

                                                                                                                                                            Downtown San Diego offers something for everyone such as relaxing walks along the waterfront, shopping, ballpark, plays, excellent Condo and Loft living with amazing views and much more. It can be a little tricky even for the long time resident to keep track of everything that happens in this vibrant city of ours.

Want to find out about some hidden secrets for your everyday Urban Living in Downtown San Diego? Here are a few tips:

San Diego Pet Supply

San Diego Pet Supply located on 15th Street and Island Avenue in the East Village/ Ballpark District is now open for business. George Galino is free from grocery store dependency and is now available for all animal lovers. Stop by and check it out and take advantage of the green 30 min free parking spaces right in front of the building. Want a 5% off coupon visit their website here

Heavenly Cupcakes

Heavenly cupcakes on 518 Sixth Avenue located in the Gaslamp Distict have some sweet treats. Who does not love cupcakes? Here you have varieties for only $3 each. Along your stroll stop by for a cup of coffee and a treat that you do not want to miss out on. Check out heavelycupcakes.com

Platinum Collection

Want luxury furnishings, jewelry and the coolest unique gadgets for your pleasure and entertainment? Want personalized DNA artwork? Stop by at Platinum Collection located at 345 Sixth Avenue in the East Village/Ballpark District. Check it out on King of Platinum

Cafe Noir

Gloria Poore and her husband Ben saved a historic building at 447 Ninth Avenue located in the East Village/Ballpark District and opened the coolest of the cool coffee shops. Come by and enjoy great coffee, tea and $2 beer. 

Farmers Market at Horton Square

On your way to work grab a bunch of flowers, fresh food or a bag of fruit at the Farmers market at Horton Square located right in front of Horton Plaza in the Gaslamp District. The market runs every Thursday from 11am to 3pm from March to October.

Farmers market at The Little Italy Mercato

Starting on Date Street to Union Street in the Little Italy District Downtown San Diego’s largest open air market is taking place. Every Saturday from 9am to 1.30pm experience more than 70 boots and a festive day.

Perry Meyer Fine Art

When the Little Italy Mercato farmers market shuts down at 1.30 keep walking to India and Kalmia Streets and visit Perry Meyer Fine Art. More than 300 people visited the gallery during the last Kettner Nights. Change is in the air - this District is modeled after New York City’s Art and design district Soho and Chelsea.

New Public Art Park

Downtown San Diego’s newest park is located next to the Hilton San Diego Bayfron Hotel. Bring your blanket and picnic basket sit down and relax in this public art park. One of the attractions are the seven wind-activated sculptures and the 26 benches. The park is 4.3 acres and is overlooking the water and include a tricked out Fox Sports Grill and Starbucks.  When the arty pedestrian bridge across Harbor Drive opens and traffic can again flow to the waterfront the park will also mark the terminus of Park Boulevard, which will be a lot more interesting. Visit our earlier blog Downtown San Diego’s Harbor Drive’s View is Now Forever Changed. Don’t hesitate taking a ride with the new water taxi for some adventure.

The Ultimate Engagement Cocktail

The last Martini you will ever need is a flashy cocktail garnished with a one carat diamond and is on the menu at the luxury Keating Hotel. The deal is sealed when the happy couple is whisked over to another of Keating owner Eddie Kaen’s holdings, the San Diego Jeweler’s Exchange, where the gem is mounted. The price: $15,000.

Keating Hotels Owner Eddie Kaen has a sense of humor. His recession package offers 33% off the second night of a two night stay and the 432 F Street Hotel if the guest shows up in the lobby wearing a barrel, top hat and suspenders, the trademark outfit of depression-era stock brokers.

For more information visit San Diego Metropolitan Magazine

After the last two successful races in San Diego, the Red Bull Air Race Championship returns to Downtown San Diego on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10.

This will be the third year San Diego is host to the Red Bull Air Race World Championship and this is made possible with the support of the Unified Port of San Diego , City of San Diego and San Diego Sports Commission. The race will take place over San Diego Bay with the beautiful Downtown San Diego skyline as the backdrop.

The Red Bull Air Race San Diego will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN Radio 800 for San Diego residents and visitors citywide. Listen on Saturday from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm and Sunday from 12:30 pm- 4 pm. Visit www.espnradio800.com for more information.

Tickets and Hospitality
Directions and Parking
Tickets Pickup
Race Location Guide
San Diego info booklet

Read more about the Air Races 2008 in our earlier blog Red Bull Airraces This Weekend

For more information about the Red Bull Air Races visit Red Bull Air Races