By John W. Davis
As the sun rolls down and is lost in sight,
Tinting the scene with its golden light,
The islands dim and the fading shores,
The ebbing tide through our harbor door,
The dropping sails of an anchored fleet,
The shadowy city at our feet.
With the mountains proud peaks so lofty and still,
‘Tis a picture worth seeing from Golden Hill.
Daniel Schuyler
March 1887 Golden Era Magazine
I have lived in Greater Golden Hill since 1989. That means that it’s an OK neighborhood to me. In fact that means it’s a great neighborhood to me. One of my younger neighbors told me the other day that even if he became a millionaire by age 30, he’d still live right where he does, in Golden Hill.
There are glitzier neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more snob appeal or sex appeal. Golden Hill is not a place where one tries to impress his neighbors with the bigger barbeque grill and things like that. A lot of us have them, but we have them because we like to barbeque.
Golden Hill is the area East of Interstate 5, South of Juniper and Balboa Park, North of 94, and West of Interstate 15. Politically it is comprised of two Districts: District 3, which is South Park, and District 8, which is Golden Hill proper.
The average income figures prove that Golden Hill is not a prestige neighborhood. According to SANDAG figures, the medium household income in Golden Hill in 2000 was $26,866. Even bumping that 10%, a rough guess for 2007 would bring that to slightly under $30,000. The medium household income overall for the City of San Diego in 2007 according to the San Diego Public Library is $55, 637.
When I moved here in 1989 Golden Hill was not idyllic by a long shot. We had lots of drugs and gangs. In some areas it wasn’t unusual to hear gun shots. Those days seem to have gone and quiet prevails most places most of the time.
Several years ago, when Juan Vargas was our city councilman, I read an article in “Los Angeles” Magazine saying that some of the gang members who were employed by the Arellano Cartel lived in our neighborhood. This included the people who cut the head off the wife of a rival gang leader to the Arellano’s, then mailed the gang leader the head. I copied the article and sent it to Juan, suggesting that we didn’t need these people in our neighborhood. About nine months later a multi-governmental task force (as I had suggested to Juan) came in and swept up this human wreckage. Nice job, guys. And I appreciate it to this day.
Remnants of “the good old days” remain. The other day I was walking up to the George Washington Post Office at 27th and “C” Streets and saw some graffiti about the Lomas Gang. This was disappointing. I have been told by Hispanic locals that all of the original Lomas Gang is either dead or in jail. The taggers probably are the sons or grandsons of the original Lomas Gang. Times have changed, mostly and for the better.
Crime statistics from SDPD’s Crime Analysis Unit shows that from January 2007 through May 2007 Golden Hill had a violent crime rate of 2.86 per thousand while the Gas Lamp had a rate for the same period of 168.00 That is not a typo! Similarly, crimes against property were 32.17 in Golden Hill and 36.96 in the Gaslamp. Auto theft was closer but still higher in the Gaslamp, There were 16.92 auto thefts per thousand in Golden Hill and 28.8 in the Gaslamp. The analyst I spoke with commented that the nature of the neighborhoods were different. Nightclubs and transient population spurts on the week-ends must make the Gaslamp a juicer target for criminals.
With the run up in real estate prices in the early 2000’s, more young professionals moved here. My take on that is the commute problem from the burbs. I have paid my personal dues in commuting. I found it was of no value to the worker or the employer to sit on a freeway for 45 minutes each way. Time lost and never regained. Now I know many of our Los Angelean neighbors don’t think they have even gone to work unless they put at least 45 minutes in on a freeway or two. But then we are not Los Angeleans. Golden Hill does have the benefit of having close access to highways 5, 805, 94, and 163, though; that’s in case you just have to commute.
Greater Golden Hill also has the benefit of older houses with character. It should not escape notice that these do not carry Coronado price tags either. A good friend of mine who lived above Fashion Valley complained once that my house was old. I told him that his PRD (Planned Residential Development) house looked like a box. The conversation ended there and we were still friends.
Golden Hill was once a fashionable area for the downtown merchants in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. That’s why we have some nice old homes. One of them is now called Carter House, at 25th & Broadway. That is the house where George Carter Jessup, our legendary downtown jeweler lived as a baby. I called him up once and asked him if he remembered it, but he said he only remembered Coronado. Another famous resident of that same house was Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi lived here when she worked at the Big Kitchen on Grape Street. The Carter House by then had become a rooming house.
A current famous resident is Rick Geary, author and illustrator. Rick lives in Golden Hill proper.
Another notable house, now a business office, is the large mansion on 24th & Broadway.
The commercial center of Golden Hill is 25th & Broadway. The Golden Hill Café in that block was the site for a movie back in the 1980’s (“K-9”). The Martin House on 24th Street is another fine example of turn of the century architecture.
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I don’t know who else rich and famous lived or live in Golden Hill. I hope this article generates a lot more talk and stories about that. I do know we have publishers, writers, artists and so on living quietly in our midst here.
For some nuts and bolts data I accessed the SANDAG data warehouse. Here’s part of what I found. Our total population in 2004 was 47,163 and should grow modestly to 48,830 by 2010. That is 30,799/34,231 Hispanics and 16,364/14,599 non-Hispanics; a slight decrease in non-Hispanics. The median age is interesting. In 2004 it was 28.2 and is projected to be 28.9 in 2010. That’s not much of a change. The under 30’s crowd seems to have it. This can be seen if you stop in at the Turf Club on 25th for dinner almost any night.
Taken with the income and crime statistics that gives you some of the “stats” for Golden Hill.
We are close to downtown, Petco Park, Balboa Park, A Municipal Golf Course, the Zoo, City College, The Gaslamp and the Trolley. Those are lots of choices within a close range. I, like my young neighbor, think Golden Hill is a great place to live. I don’t read the classifieds looking for new digs. I’m happy here. That means a lot to me. I hope you are as happy in your neighborhood as I am in mine.
Article resources:
Greater Golden Hill CDC, Kristie Rice, Executive Director
The SANDAG datawarehouse: http:www.//datawarehouse.SANDAG.org
San Diego Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit: (619) 531-2413 http:www.sandiego.gov/police/stats/index
City of San Diego Public Library Reference Desk