How's Life In PB?

April 29, 2008 5:15 PM

PB (Pacific Beach) Filter.... I lived in San Diego back in the early 90's and have been told that PB has changed quite a bit. I am wondering how much of this is true. What is PB like these days? When I was there it was full of college students and aging hipsters (a lot of men in their sixties with gray ponytails, etc.). Now, I understand it has become a fashionable place to live and you find a lot of couples, families and it's really changed. Because of the change, supposedly rents have skyrocketed on and on. How much of this is true? Has it changed all that much? Bottom line: What is it like living in PB these days? As always, thanks in advance!
posted by Gerard Sorme to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

It has not changed since you lived there.
posted by The World Famous at 5:26 PM on April 29, 2008

I don't know how much it's changed--it's still the party zone for the college kids and consistently has more rental listings than any other neighborhood, so the population seems relatively transient. If anything, there are now more bars than ever, and they've spread out east, north and south from where they were formerly contained near the intersetion of La Jolla Blvd. and Garnet. On the outskirts of the bar area, there are quite a bit of regular houses and stuff where a lot of families live, but that's really always been the case and college students just overlook it. Rents aren't too much different from comparable places in San Diego, so it may be that rents in general have skyrocketed.

I think the thing here may be that whoever you heard this from has only just come to the realization that there's more to PB than the bar scene. Or, with your description of men in their sixties with ponytails, you have PB confused with OB. OB is the aging hippie capital of San Diego, and that area has changed quite a bit in the last decade.
posted by LionIndex at 5:27 PM on April 29, 2008

Thanks for the responses. I am definitely thinking of PB and not Ocean Beach. When I first moved there years ago, I stayed at that yellow hostel (can't remember the name) until I found a place to live. The person I heard this from told me how much it had changed in an email and I was skeptical.

However, the Wikipedia entry states:

"Pacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach to the south, Interstate 5 and Clairemont to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by surfers and college students, the population is becoming more professional and affluent due to rising property and rental costs. "PB", as it is known as by local residents, is also home to one of San Diego's more popular nightlife, with dozens of bars, cafes, and eateries lining the main east-west street Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard, which runs north-south."

So, naturally, I thought --- ASK METAFILTER!

Thanks again. Anybody else? Feel free to chime in.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 6:19 PM on April 29, 2008

I haven't spent much time in PB, but all of the time I have has made it seem kind of like the MTV Spring Break central area of San Diego. Young, fratty transplants in an area with lots of tattoo parlors, bars with 80s nights, and people cruising up and down Garnet in swimsuits. I second LionIndex -- I've never seen many families or older guys with ponytails in the neighborhood, although there are plenty to be found in OB.
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 6:52 PM on April 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Not that I am an aging hipster with a gray ponytail.....far from it.....I just remember college kids and, for some reason, I remember quite a few older surfer dude types.

Sounds like it hasn't changed as much as I thought. I am going to move back to San Diego for about a year and I remember PB for having a lot of one-bedroom apts that aren't outrageously expensive and I wanted to see if it's changed as much as I heard.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 7:09 PM on April 29, 2008

As a matter of fact, I used to edit PB Magazine (now Pacific Magazine).

I only did it for a few months, but working in PB for a magazine loathed by many PB residents (it's very glammy, unlike much of PB) made me learn a great deal about the community's past & present, good & bad.

A large portion of PB residents are college kids, or college-age kids -- in the summer, they swarm the beaches and it feels very MTV. Head to the beach on July 4th and you'll be staggered at the skin. They just banned alcohol on the beach here in SD, though, so that might change. During the rest of the year, the beach is a happy mix of families, surfers and loopy former hippies, as well as the ubiquitous strutting college kids. There's some Venice Beach-like goofballs on the boardwalk, especially in Mission Beach.

I tend to avoid the PB scene because of the fistfights and drunken frat boys; also parking is a hassle (if you move to PB, make sure your apt. has a spot!) However, there has definitely been an upswing in the nightlife scene - bars like Johnny V, Firehouse, Tower23 and Bar West are kind of going for the Gaslamp thing -- but for the most part, the old standby beach bars remain the most popular (and several might be the very ones you remember). Why pay $14 for a drink when you can buy one down the street for $4?

In contrast, the PB powers that be are trying to chance it into a family beach. The party kids and bar owners despise this, but the politicians are behind it all the way. The rowdy PB Block Party was banned a couple years ago, giving way to the family-friendly PB BeachFest. Many cute cafes and shops are cropping up, while the old sandy-floored surfer haunts are hanging on.... though many have been bought out. I'm starting to ramble here. Email me for more specifics.
posted by changeling at 8:18 PM on April 29, 2008

RE: PB rents, they're about average for SD. PB is still a melange of old vintagey apartment buildings, beach bungalows, and now high-class low-rise developments. So you can find an old 1br apartment for $900, or a granite-infused ocean view penthouse for $2000+.
posted by changeling at 8:22 PM on April 29, 2008