I remember when a visit to San Diego meant an obligatory trip to the famous zoo. Postcards were required to mention the pandas in residence. Not any more. San Diego has become one of America’s hottest new destinations, a city that is serving locals and tourists alike as one of the most ideal places to spend time. Growth has been so dramatic that downtown is surrounded by a cluster of North, East and South Counties that are also filled with sights and shopping and yep, very expensive real estate.

THE NEW DOWNTOWN includes renovation and renaissance not only of a downtown district, but miles of city center, including former slums and no-where-lands that were once the hangout of the military community. San Diego must be one of the last major cities in the US where the international airport is in greater downtown.

      Just past Lindbergh Field there’s towers and condos where locals and out of towners are re-locating to take advantage of incredible views of the ocean. No major grocery stores have yet opened for them to shop in, but there’s a major league ballpark, and renovated districts such as Gaslight and  Little Italy. Each area is filled with restaurants, bars, boutiques and on weekends, hordes of visitors who take advantage of the perfect weather (average temp: 74 degrees and sunny) and the ability to stroll everywhere. For those who don’t want to walk, there’s a trolley that goes through the cutie pie districts and stops just shy of the US-Mexico border at TJ, as locals call Tijuana.

     The real renovation of downtown began perhaps 15 years ago when post modernist architects built the mall  at Horton Plaza in the heart of downtown. Instead of making just another mall, the creators developed a wacky and sprawling subversion of color and texture that meanders outdoors, indoors and around waterfalls. The stores are pretty normal but the environment is not. Around the corner, the Grant Hotel re-opens in November after a $50+ million dollar renovation which will turn this Victorian jewel box back into the gem it was years ago. If Victorian is far too quaint, not to worry—the  Hard Rock Hotel San Diego is a condo-hotel in the heart of the downtown-beach-view-renovated district scheduled to open next summer. It’s meant to appeal to the young people who flock to the area-- walking distance to Gaslight or dancing distance to the Rock Star Suite designed by the Black Eyed Peas.

BEACH COMMUNITIES have also re-invented themselves. Ocean Beach, about 15 minutes north of the airport, is the perfect example of a creative solution to what has become an American problem. The entire main street—Newport Avenue—has been renovated and turned into an antiques district. Even the old fashioned, 1950’s style movie theatre is now an antiques mall. The three block stretch of stores offers nothing too hoity or toity but instead has shops and malls filled with stalls that sell informal antiques and vintage clothing. The entire area, bounded by ocean on one side, has the feel of a 1960’s American beachside community.

NORTH COUNTIES: The daisy chain of communities to the north has become a new kind of destination for shoppers as well. When the Carlsbad Outlet Mall was opened there (Carlsbad), it was in the middle of no-where, convenient only to the La Costa Spa. Now five luxury spas have moved into the area, La Costa has been renovated in order to compete and little shopping districts and tourist sites have popped up to support a growing destination. Four Seasons Aviara has a resort hotel, a residence community, a spa, a golf course and an award winning chef.  Four Seasons reports that guests are most likely to check in for some pampering, visits to the spas, strolls in the gardens and—their favorite day trip—a visit to the outlet mall. Most also want to play golf, but for those who don’t there’s also Legoland and the Carlsbad Flower Farm nearby, as well as the usual beach communities where everyone knows that surf’s up.

     If you prefer to head south, there’s another outlet mall—Plaza Las Americas—on the US-Mexico border. No one there is complaining about immigration problems.

Sunburnt kisses, SuzyKG