Located just north of Balboa Park, North Park is conveniently located at
the geographic heart of San Diego.
Our
neighborhood is easily accessible by car, bus, bicycle or foot from
downtown, Mission Valley and surrounding neighborhoods. In North Park,
you’ll find there are no parking meters to fret about. The business
district is served by bus lines #2, 6, 7, 10, and 966, which offer some of
the most frequent service in the City of San Diego.
Regardless of how you get here, North Park should be explored by foot.
In your exploration, you’ll discover that
“diversity” is the word that best describes North Park.
“Diversity”
describes the friendly residents of our neighborhood including North Park
natives and recent immigrants, young and old, married and single, straight
and gay – a full array of races, nationalities, and religions all living
together. “Diversity” describes the collection of structures in the
district that range from Renaissance Revival of the 1910s to Post Modern of
the 1990s. And “diversity” describes the businesses in North Park where
you’ll find an interesting mix of specialty shops, restaurants, second
hand stores, offices, and essential services.
North Park Main
Street is a private non-profit organization charged with the
revitalization of the North Park Business Improvement District
(BID), North Park's Downtown and the historic heart of the community..
Main Street is
a system of community-based economic revitalization that was devised by
the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save historic and
significant commercial buildings within economically depressed commercial
districts. The Main Street program is based on the principles of self-determination and direct, inclusive community participation in the
revitalization process. It
works in communities of all sizes and economic conditions and in all parts
of the country. Main Street
is a coast-to-coast movement that has been successful in over 1,600
cities, towns, and neighborhood commercial districts.
In the late
1990s, the City of San Diego adopted the Main Street strategy for
revitalizing three BIDs. A
BID, supported by its member businesses, funds business-related activities,
and improvements that benefit the business district.
In 1996, North Park was selected by the City’s Office of Small
Business, which administers San Diego’s BID program, to be the pilot
project for establishing Main Street in the City of San Diego.
North Park Main Street has since
recruited over 50 volunteers from throughout the community who form the
backbone of our program. North
Park Main Street is community-based and partners with several diverse
groups that maintain a common community vision.
Volunteers
focus their efforts in four broad areas known as the Main Street Four
Point Approach TM:
Design, Economic Restructuring,
Organization, and Promotion.
Linking to the
rich art heritage that thrives in the neighborhood, North Park Main Street,
in 1998, declared itself an Arts, Culture,
& Entertainment district and has been working proactively to cultivate
and recruit businesses that achieve this vision.
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