North Park, CA

zip code:  92104

Click the "Listings" tab above and you will see all the NORTH PARK homes that are currently in the market for sale.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

North Park is situated to the northeast of Balboa Park, bounded on the north by the canyons overlooking Mission Valley, on the south by Switzer Canyon and the South Park neighborhood, on the east by Interstate 805 and City Heights, and on the west by Florida Canyon and Hillcrest. The pre-Interstate 805 boundary of North Park was widely considered to be 35th Street, which is now part of City Heights.

The large North Park sign can be seen at 30th Street and University Avenue, and this intersection is often considered to be the heart of the neighborhood. North Park includes the sub-neighborhoods and the Morley Field area.

HISTORY

In the summer of 1893, San Diego merchant Joseph Nash sold 40 acres of land northeast of Balboa Park to James Monroe Hartley, who wished to develop a lemon grove. The Hartley family began the process of clearing the land to prepare the earth for the grove, but providing the growing trees with proper irrigation was always a problem. Barrels of water had to be hauled from downtown San Diego up a wagon trail that would eventually be called Pershing Drive.

As the growth of San Diego eventually caught up with the original Hartley lemon grove, it eventually became roughly bordered by Ray Street to the west, 32nd Street to the east, University Avenue to the north and Dwight Street to the south. Hartley deemed his area "Hartley's North Park" - and years later, the name evidently stuck as the City of San Diego referred to the new suburb as "North Park."

In 1911, Hartley's eldest son, Jack, and a relative (brother-in-law William Jay Stevens) developed the plot into one of San Diego's first residential and commercial districts. After first establishing "Stevens & Hartley", North Park's first real estate firm, in 1905, Jack and William built North Park's first "high rise" commercial building, the Stevens building, on the northwest corner of 30th Street and University Avenue (today's "Western Dental" building) in 1912. "Thirtieth & University" became North Park's symbolic place name and within 10 years, this became the heart of the community.

Later in the 1910s, North Park became one of the many San Diego neighborhoods connected by the Class 1 streetcars and an extensive San Diego public transit system that was spurred by the Panama-California Exposition of 1915 and built by John D. Spreckels. These streetcars became a fixture of this neighborhood until their retirement in 1939.

North Park was the site of the crash of PSA Flight 182, California's deadliest aviation accident to date.

Arts, culture and cuisine

An array of restaurants, as well as independent coffee shops, can be found along the main arteries of 30th Street and University Avenue. The area is also houses bars and night clubs that cater to a wide diversity of patrons.

Downtown North Park contains the Ray Street Arts District. Ray at Night is a gallery walk held the second Saturday of every month in North Park. It is the largest and longest running artwalk in San Diego's history.

Nearby, the Birch North Park Theatre reopened after major renovations in 2005. It is the home of Lyric Opera San Diego.

North Park has a Farmers Market every Thursday at the parking lot located at University and 32nd Streets. The Spring/Summer hours are 3pm-sunset, Fall/Winter 2pm-Sunset. They feature over 35 independent vendors; locally grown produce/flowers; gourmet/ethnic foods; arts and crafts; books; and, often, live music.

The San Diego Music Foundation hosts a large musical festival "North Park Music Thing" in the fall on El Cajon Boulevard. This event helps add to the North Park reputation as a great community for the arts in San Diego.

Oscar Castillo

BROKER - REALTOR®

(858) 775-1057

DRE# 01140298