BACKSTORY: This insider’s guide to the campus and community was called the UCSD Guardian Comprehensive Student Guide when it debuted during Welcome Week, 1996. Much like the revenue-driven Guardian summer editions, it started as an advertising vehicle. Along the way the Student Guide (renamed Student Survival Guide in 2003) blazed a new niche market. The SSG served as a primer for students new to the UC San Diego campus and community, yet strived to also be entertaining enough (and coupon-deal packed) for everyone else. These excerpts were from a section devoted to the neighborhoods and local attractions.
* SHORT CUTS-- SD ‘HOODS *
Clairemont/Kearny Mesa
C: Take 1-5, south to Clairemont Dr.
KM: Take 52 east to Genesee, then south to Balboa
Clairemont is a very affordable area, and many students find rentals there. The adjacent Kearny Mesa corridor has plenty of strip malls (and a few strip bars), auto dealers, audio shops, and a considerable Vietnamese district. The Ranch 99 Asian Market is at 7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. A few blocks west of Ranch 99 is Boomer's, if you feel like a go-kart race or taking on that tough windmill on the back nine.
Take 1-5 north and or the Coast Highway 101
Drive onto Torrey Pines Road North, pass the golf course, and you're on the gateway to San Diego's best scenic drive. Torrey Pines turns into Coast Highway 101, which in turn becomes Camino Del Mar and a few other names before you reach Camp Pendelton. Whatever you call it, the drive exposes you to gorgeous beachscapes, beautiful people, surf bums, and many other sights. Highlights: Rusty's Surfboards in Del Mar (Rusty Preisendorfer is a UCSD alum); VG's donuts and Swami's surfing spot in Cardiff-by-the-Sea; the funky downtown district surrounding La Paloma theater in Encinitas; a summer day on the infield at the Del Mar races.
Take 163 south or 1-5 south to Second
Downtown San Diego is near the bay, where you can see ancient sailing vessels, aircraft carriers in dock, and catch a ferry out to the Coronado peninsula. Downtown's lively, tourist-oriented hub, The Gaslamp, boasts the new digs of the Padres, Petco Park, and a promenade of sidewalk eateries, coffeehouses, jumping music joints. Your evening crawl on any weekend will take you past a gamut of giddy scene-makers, street musicians, panhandlers, and other prototypes of the human condition.
The Golden Triangle area east of campus is notable for sparkling office buildings and imposing landmarks like the Mormon Temple (drive on l-5 North to Nobel and look east) and the classy Hyatt Hotel. Of more immediate need are the many shopping centers including La Jolla Village Square and University Towne Centre (UTC), and smaller but chic strip malls. La Jolla Colony (Regents at Palmilla) has a Super Vons and the popular Leucadia Pizzeria. University City is old money, and its clean neighborhoods have been well kept and virtually intact for forty years. Drive along the main drag (Governor Dr. between Regents and I-805) and you will find that the parks and schools (top ranked) are immaculate. If you interview to rent there, check into an iron.
Hillcrest
Take 163 south to University AvenueHillcrest is an eclectic community noted for its city style, ethnic restaurants, coffee houses, stylish thrift stores, and a spacious tolerance latitude. The large gay community gives Hillcrest its unique personality, and the annual Gay Pride parade is easily the cultural event of the year. UCSD students living in Hillcrest can catch the shuttle to campus from the Hillcrest Medical Center on Dickinson St.
La Jolla
West of 1-5 between Genesee and La Jolla ParkwayThe marvel that is La Jolla is now your neighborhood. It's the Mediterranean West, and one could take a number of day tours without seeing it all. Check out the Birch Aquarium (see below) at UCSD's own Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The top of Mt. Soledad affords a view that stretches east to the mountains and south to TJ. The Cove and La Jolla Shores are the tourist beaches, but go to Windansea, Scripps or Blacks for the waves (see p. 15). The shops and restaurants on Prospect St. also offer a nice browse.
Miramar Road/Mira Mesa
MR: Take La Jolla Village Dr east of I-805.; MM: Take 1-805 north, east on Mira Mesa Blvd.The lengthy stretch of Miramar Road between 1-805 and 1-15 is home to many useful businesses, particularly of the automotive persuasion. If you need tires, brakes, shocks, upholstery, a transmission, a stereo, an oil change, and a tune up, then go east, young Tritons. The Arco AM/PM on Camino Santa Fe has cheaper gas than the Villa La Jolla Mobil, and excellent hot dogs, to boot. Two Roberto's Taco Shops are on Miramar, too. Mira Mesa personifies suburbia, SoCal style, with a considerable dash of Asian culture in the stew. There's plenty of Vietnamese seafood stores and supermarkets, and the sprawling Mira Mesa Mall is the community touchstone. Mira Mesa is a short drive from UCSD, and like Clairemont, you can find more affordable rentals.
Mission Beach
Take 1-5 south to Sea World Drive, watch for Mission Bay Dr. turnoffMission Beach is the hot spot for beach-bound tourists in San Diego, and is the closest thing our city has to a Santa Cruz-style boardwalk. Located south of PB, it features a roller coaster, bumper cars, an arcade, sidewalk vendors, and a handful of tourist shops. Parking on summer weekends is a horror story, so rollerblades or a bike may be your only way in.
Pacific Beach
Take 1-5 south, right on Garnet Ave.On Friday and Saturday night, the stretch on Garnet between Fanuel and Mission looks like a location shot for "Girls Gone Wild—except that the boys may be wilder. If you like esoteric thrift shops, biker bars, punk boutiques and tattoo parlors (all next door to each other), then the name of the place is PB. Take a bike cruise sometime, from Garnet heading south along the boardwalk towards Mission Beach, and see how the other half lives.
Balboa Park
Take 163 south, watch for exitsSprawling, botanically marvelous Balboa Park is museum central -- there's the San Diego Museum of Art, Museum of Man, and also photo, sports, automotive and aerospace museums. You'll also find the nationally known Old Globe Theater, bridges, fountains, numerous picnic spots and frisbee fields. One of the best bike tours. The San Diego Zoo (see below) is also nearby.
The Birch Aquarium at Scripps
2300 Expedition Way | 534-FISH | http://aquarium.ucsd.eduBirch Aquarium is a mini Sea World for intellectuals, yet it's not too esoteric for the casual browser. Watch this Fall for the new "Earthquake! Life on a Restless Planet" exhibit. There's also the popular "Secrets of the Seahorse," sharks, colorful coral reefs, a tide pool and that killer view of La Jolla Cove. If you want to drop in on a weekday, wait 'til l:00 -- the Aquarium usually hosts school classes in the mornings. Admission for UCSD students is $6.00.
Legoland
1 Lego Drive, Carlsbad | 760-438-LEGO
The recreations of famous people, historical landmarks and cityscapes are a wonder to behold. But at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of Legos. $43.95 admission (but only $31 through the UCSD box office, 534-0694).
The San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive | 619-231-1515The Zoo is a must see (at least once) for new residents and fans of hippo swimming. Animal lovers may find it takes a quarterly trip to get their fix of the 4,000 tenants. Adults get in the gate for one Al Hamilton, and the comfort foods are pricey. Parking, however, is free. The Skyfari ride gets you above it all for a dazzling aerial view.
Sea World
500 Sea World Drive | 619-226-3901
There are numerous sea life exhibits, spooky sharks, performing mammals and the like, but as always, the Chairman is Shamu the Killer Whale. After a low key Penguin Encounter (they just stand there), the new Journey to Atlantis roller coaster brings the adrenaline back.
Wild Animal Park
5550 San Pascual Rd., Escondido | 760-747-8702Only a half-hour drive from campus, the Wild Animal Park offers visitors the closest thing to an African safari this side of the Atlantic. The main attraction is the extensive monorail tour that allows passengers to view animals outside the confines of an enclosed exhibit. Admission is nearly $30, so only animal-lovers need apply.