It’s that time again when the Little Italy Association is holding their monthly board meeting. The association encourages all residents to attend as this is here where you all can get your voice heard in regards to suggestions and ideas about how to improve the neighborhood.

The meeting takes place on April 3rd from 8.30am to 10am at the “Our old lady at the Rosary Hall” in the Little Italy District of Downtown San Diego.

To read more about former meetings, agendas and about the association visit their website at www.littleitalysd.com

Another free slideshow design by Smilebox

Doma #301 is located in the Southern part of the complex with an inner court yard facing view over lush landscape. This two story urban home is very private and has a loft style feeling as you can stand in your bedroom and look down to the living room space. The granite kitchen opens up towards the living room, dining room and the outdoor space. The master bedroom with its private bathroom suite and walk in closet take up the whole second floor. There is plenty of room for a home office or reading area. The highlights of this home are the loft style feeling with high ceilings and lots of light, private, hardwood floors, a full laundry room, window coverings and good amount of storage. Storage unit in the garage is available for rent at $150/month. See slide show link at the bottom of the page for more pictures.

Available for move in April 1st. $2495/month and Security Deposit equal to one month’s rent! 12 months minimum lease term! 1 parking space included! No Pets! No Smoker!

Doma is located in the middle of the Little Italy District of Downtown San Diego with a short stroll down to the water front and the Columbia District. Doma consists of two mid-rise buildings. The more West facing building consists of contemporary lofts constructed out of cement and the other more South facing building has town homes, city homes, and loft units constructed out of steel and wood frames. Doma has a fitness center, an outdoor spa as well as a very impressive roof deck with amazing West facing views over the ocean. Doma was completed in 2003.

For more information call or text Sofia at 619-992-5144 or e-mail sofia@92101urbanliving.com.

This green day that is being celebrated all across the world is originally St. Patrick’s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. For over 1,000 years this day has been the Irish most celebrated holiday.

Every year, the day of March 17th, a party is happening in Downtown San Diego. We have the shamROCK party taking place right now where you will be able to celebrate along the street of the Gaslamp District.

To read more about the shamROCK party click on 92101 Urban Living’s blog “shamROCK 2012 in the Gaslamp District”.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

It’s almost here, my Downtown San Diego friends! Baseball season is quickly approaching with Opening Day against the Dodgers on Thursday, April 5th. Now I know this means honking horns, traffic and East Village sidewalks crawling with game goers but it really is exciting. With this excitement are some new (and “old”) things you should know about Petco Park this season with our very own San Diego Padres.

1. HODADS

Hodads, that infamous burger joint in Ocean Beach (as well as Dowtown on Broadway and 10th), will now be serving their delicious, and rather large, burgers at all Padre homegames. This is BIG folks, BIG.

2. Free Wi-Fi

I was walking my hound through the Park at the Park the other day and noticed a tremendous amount of scaffolding covering a good chunk of seating sections. Found out that is due to the free Wi-Fi the park, in partnership with Verizon, will now be providing its fans who wanted better cell reception and wi-fi. Thanks, Petco.

3. All You Can Eat Seats

Now this isn’t new but it’s worth reminding you all about. Ranging in price from $25-$37, tickets to this section allow you access to seats with a view of an active chunk of field while devouring all you can eat hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, and drinks (sans alcohol). You have the first 2 hours of the game to eat all you can so come hungry.

4. Scoreboard Surprises

We’ve all noticed the “Happy Birthday, Sally”, “Happy Anniversary, Tom” and the occassional “Will you marry me, Mary?” signs that flash up on the scoreboard throughout the innings. Every wondered just how you can get yourself one? Here you go. Go online and request a message up to 48 hours prior to game day. Pay $55 for your message and know that it’s money well spent. Proceeds go directly to the Padres Foundation for Children which benefits children’s health, education and youth softball/baseball.

5. Mini Plans

Sometimes all you need are a few tickets to be satisfied with baseball season. If that’s the kind of fan you are then these mini plan packages may be just perfect for you. There’s the Opening Day Plan which includes tickets to Opening Day + 3 home games of your choice or 3 predetermined home games. You can also purchase the Saturday Plan which includes 4 predetermined, Saturday evening home games. With the purchase of these mini plans comes a behind the scenes tour of Petco and a Padres ball cap. Cool deal, huh?

Create your own free photo slideshow

The Grande #605 in the north tower is a luxury spacious two bedroom home that is facing south and overlooks the courtyard area and has some interesting views where you can watch the cruise ships come into town. The hardwood floors give you a nice feeling as you enter this home as well as the open gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Both bedrooms are east facing with carpet and closet space. The master bathroom has its private dual vanity and a walk in shower. The guest bathroom has a bathtub/shower and is located to the left as you first enter the unit. The highlights of this home are the South facing orientation letting in lots of light, the good size outdoor covered balcony, good amount of storage in the unit as well as a separate storage unit in the garage, floor to ceiling windows, new paint and two tandem parking spaces.

Rent is $3199/month with a Security Deposit equal to one month’s rent! A minimum lease term of 12 months! Available Now! No Pets!

The Grande at Santa Fe is located in the middle of the Columbia District of Downtown San Diego with a short stroll down to the water front and the Little Italy District. The Grande consists of two high-rise towers, the North and the South tower. All the luxury amenities can be found in the building such as lap pool, hot tub, fitness center, front desk attendant, high security, steam room, sauna and community room. Bosa completed the north tower in the late 2005.

For more information; call/text Sofia at 619-992-5144 or e-mail sofia@92101urbanliving.com.

Being a resident of Downtown San Diego is a lifestyle I love. Many of my suburban friends and family members look at me sometimes and ask why I don’t want a lawn, a garden or a place to let my dog loose? I tell them, I gave up my backyard for Balboa Park.

One of the exciting perks of Downtown is the constant live entertainment, and a perfect example of this is coming on March 24th and 25th. “Buskers after Dark” are street performers who are coming to Seaport Village down by the water front in the Marina District.  These people love to perform and put on quite a show with dancers, comedians, jugglers, acrobats, sword swallower, and fireball blowers.

Next weekend’s treat starts at 6pm and ends around 10pm on both nights, and entrance is free! Check out the video above to get a glimpse of what might be coming. Enjoy the show!

Personalize a digital slideshow

In the middle of the East Village/Ballpark District of Downtown San Diego is a unique true urban loft available for rent. With 14 foot high ceilings and an open layout this home is perfect for someone looking for the Downtown San Diego life style.

The first element you will notice as you enter this loft is the high ceilings that are letting in lots of natural light. This home is considered to be a 2 bedroom unit as it could easily be transformed with either sliding doors or walls around the bedrooms. There are two full bathrooms and a stackable washer and dryer. Some other highlights about this home is the top floor location as you will not have any neighbors on top of you, the skylights in the kitchen and bathrooms, new paint and refinished cabinets, blinds, and a good size walk in closet. There are also two tandem parking spaces included in the rent.

$2300/month, security deposit is equal to one month’s rent, minimum of 12 months lease term, pets ok with $500 deposit/pet, Available Now!

M2i is located between Market, Island, 10th and 11th Avenue a block away from Petco Park in the East Village/Ballpark District. The complex was completed in 2005 and has been fully sold old. Most occupants are home owners but there is a good amount of renters as well. You have Brooklyn Bagel located in street level of the complex, the new Jefferson Law School across the street and the new Downtown San Diego Library (currently under construction) one block away. It will take you about 5 minutes to walk over to the vibrant Gaslamp District, the water front and the trolley stop is just 2 minutes down the street.

For more information please call/text Sofia at 619-992-5144 or e-mail sofia@92101urbanliving.com.

I am writing this blog to fill you in on the details of an exciting creative collaboration I have been working on with my close friend Justin Lee of Justin Lee Photography. We have been working on a collection of photography pieces that represent the unique Cityscape of Downtown San Diego. We are calling this project 92101Rooftops. Officially, the show to present the art pieces will be held on March 15th at Basic…located in Downtown’s East Village on the corner of 10th and J Streets.  I invite you to check out the teaser clip that we have attached, and read further for some more details on the show!

As many of you well know, I have both lived and worked in Downtown San Diego for the last 9 years. Back in November I was able to reconnect with my good friend Justin Lee who had just moved his home and studio to the Pioneer Lofts in the Gaslamp District. It was clear after we started to get together regularly that there was a desire to collaborate on a project together. As a Result, the idea to document the perspective of a Downtown San Diego Cityscape in photo originated out of two concepts: a desire for old friends to reconnect and a desire depict Downtown San Diego along with similar Iconic Skylines such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

“The 92101 Rooftops project is an art show, as much as it is two friends coming together to produce something beautiful…an experience supported by mutual respect and the love of a Downtown San Diego lifestyle. The “experience” of standing on a rooftop in the middle of Downtown San Diego ended up being such a huge part of this project. Sometimes we hit a “home run”, and sometimes the results were limited. The point was that we wanted to get ourselves on as many rooftops as we could… in order to see what would happen. If we were patient, and let the shot tell its own story…all we had to do was be present and allow the experience to develop.” (Except from the Downtown San Diego March News Article).

In most respects, I think the Downtown San Diego community has developed in a very short period of time. In the other Iconic Skylines that I have spoken of…there are generations of pride and identity that have been able to develop. With San Diego growing as fast as it did in the early 2000’s, 9 out of 10 people you run across are not FROM Downtown. We are hoping that by presenting a new perspective of the Cityscape…we can encourage the development of a “Downtown Identity”. Downtown San Diego is such a great place to live and work. Every day, we have gratitude for the lifestyle that we have created for ourselves. Hopefully, this “LOVE” will be visible in the photos we have chosen to represent the Cityscape.

It was important to both Justin and I that the show at Basic on the 15th was supported by the hundreds of homeowners who live and work here everyday. For the very first time…Four Downtown complexes ICON, M2I, The Mark, and The Legend have approved the Art Show as an HOA supported social event. There is a happy hour for locals that will start at 5:00 and run to 7:00. We are expecting 500 to 700 people over the course of the 7 hours, so get there early and stay late. Hope to see you there. For more information and show details, please refer to the website:  www.92101rooftops.com

When I think of Downtown San Diego neighborhoods, Little Italy, East Village, The Marina, and The Gaslamp come to mind. Often times it’s easy to forget that Bankers Hill falls into our 92101 zip code. Maybe it seems a little removed from the other closely knit neighborhoods but it’s a neighborhood to be explored, that’s for sure.

Let me start off by saying if you haven’t been to Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant you must go. Now. But that’s not the only adventure you should take when exploring this very hip and historic neighborhood. It’s the houses. Oh, the houses. There are some incredible homes where once lived the wealthy bankers of downtown-hence the name Bankers Hill. Downtown San Diego living is more than just condos, lofts and high rises. It has homes, historic homes at that, and they should be seen by you because they are gorgeous.

March 17-18 is Historic Home Tour Weekend featuring The Great Architects of Bankers Hill. If you are an architecture buff, Saturday involves lectures and a reception. Sunday the historic tour begins. Tickets cost $40 unless you are a member of SOHO in which you pay $30. For more information go to SOHOsandiego.org or call 619-297-9327.

Living in Downtown San Diego is filled with great experiences and this is one of them. Get to know a neighborhood that is easily forgotten as a part of our very own great city.

Are you one of those who love the older black and white movies? Well…it’s time for the classic “The Mark of Zorro” to play at the San Diego Symphony in the Gaslamp District of Downtown San Diego.

This movie is from the 1920’s and it’s a mixture of romance, action and comedy…so it has something for everyone.

Tickets range from $20 to $30 and can be purchased directly from the Symphony’s website at www.sandiegosymphony.com. It’s coming up…already showing March 10th, 2012 at 8pm…so make sure you are out in good time. Enjoy the show!