Тихий Берег: История и современность района Сан-Диего

Pacific Beach is a neighborhood in San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 and Clairemont to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While formerly largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, because of rising property and rental costs the population is gradually becoming older and more affluent. "P. B.," as it is known as by local residents, is home to one of San Diego's more developed nightlife scenes, with a great variety of bars, eateries, and clothing stores located along Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard.

Before European contact, the area was settled by the Kumeyaay people, who built a large village then known as Hamo, or Jamo, on the banks of Rose Creek at the entrance of Rose Canyon. As with many California cities, the history of San Diego's development can be traced back to the completion of a cross country railroad in 1885. Nonetheless, a small number of farms remained. Today, homes can sell for millions of dollars. In 1945, over 1,900 residents petitioned to remove the name of William Payne from the middle school because they did not believe that a black teacher deserved to be there. At the time, only two black families owned property in the neighborhood. In 2021, following a wave of name changes in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the San Diego Unified School Board voted to rename a joint use field at the middle school after Payne and his wife Fannie. The United States Navy operated an anti aircraft training center at Pacific Beach during World War II. During the 1960s, development continued to increase with the city's investment in Mission Bay Park, including the developments of the Islandia, Vacation Village and Hilton Hotels. In 1964, Sea World opened south of Pacific Beach. The original name of this feature was "Bay Point" and today one may still find a USGS bench mark and associated RM (DC1025, DC1026 respectively) with that name there. The "Bay Point Formation" is the name of a local rock strata first found and described there.

The beach stretches for miles from the Mission Bay jetty to the cliffs of La Jolla. The boardwalk, officially called Ocean Front Walk/Ocean Boulevard, is a pedestrian walkway that runs approximately 3.2 miles along the beach from the end of Law St. in the north down into Mission Beach, ending at the mouth of Mission Bay in the south. There are numerous local shops, bars, hotels, and restaurants along the boardwalk, and it is generally crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, skateboarders and shoppers. Adjacent to the boardwalk is the Crystal Pier, a public pier and hotel at the west end of Garnet Avenue. San Diego City Council banned the use of all electric motor scooters in December 2019.

The streets in Pacific Beach were renamed several times before receiving their current designations in 1900. The primary north south street running parallel to the beach is Mission Blvd., with the streets named after late 19th century federal officials, then incrementing in alphabetical order as they move further from the coast: Bayard, Cass, Dawes, Everts, Fanuel, Gresham, Haines, Ingraham, Jewell, Kendall, Lamont, Morrell, Noyes, Olney, Pendleton, Quincy, and Randall. Mission Boulevard was formerly Allison Street, being the "A" street of the series. Ingraham was initially named Broadway (1887), then was changed to Izard (1900), back to Broadway (1907) and finally settled as Ingraham Street in 1913.

In addition to bordering the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay Park, Pacific Beach includes Kate Sessions Park and the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. Kate Sessions Park has a playground, a large lawn with ocean views, and a many acre unmaintained area used for hiking and mountain biking. Fanuel Street Park is a popular bay front park with playground equipment suitable for toddlers and school age children. Rose Creek, which flows through Pacific Beach before emptying into Mission Bay, provides open space and a rich wetland area.

Pacific Beach is open to all surfers. The level of difficulty is intermediate and can be surfed all year. The south wind makes surfing best though in the fall and winter. Many surfers wear dry or wetsuits as the water is in the high 50s in the winter and high 60s to low 70s in the summer.

The nonprofit Pacific Beach Town Council promotes the area and organizes community events. Save Pacific Beach is residents working together to better the community. The Pacific Beach Planning Group advises the city on land use and other issues. The Pacific Beach and Mission Bay Visitor Center provides information on the Pacific Beach Town Council, special events, lodging, dining, and Pacific Beach history. Surf Club, Friends of the PB Library, PB Garden Club, and Toastmasters.

Pacific Beach public schools are part of the San Diego Unified School District. They include Mission Bay Senior High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, Pacific Beach Elementary, Kate Sessions Elementary, Barnard Elementary, and Crown Point Junior Music Academy .

Pacific Beach is serviced in print by the daily San Diego Union Tribune and the weekly Beach & Bay Press.

In John Dos Passos's The 42nd Parallel (1930), Fainy "Mac" McCreary briefly lives in a bungalow in Pacific Beach with his wife Maisie and their daughter Rose. Love All You Have Left was filmed at a private residence in Pacific Beach.