downtown-san-diego-urban-lifestyle/young-familiestierd-of-suburbia/117/
Downtown San Diego is not only a place for the young professional or the retired couple, it is a huge hub for young families interested in living outside of suburban sprawls and interested in living an enriched urban lifestyle. Downtown is all ready a family-friendly city, however, as more young urban families are flocking into Downtown, more and more family friendly infrastructures are in the making. What’s in the future for downtown? Here are a few projects the young urban family may be interested in.
San Diego Children’s Museum
The San Diego Children’s Museum will be located in downtown San Diego’s Marina District on the North side of Island Avenue between Front and Union Streets. This will be a creative desatination for kids and families. This museum will include 13,000 square feet of galleries, a retail store, public lobby, a cafe with outside terraces, tons of activity areas, and a 2500 square-foot multipurpose performance space. This new structure also utilizes “Green” Architecture: enviornmentally friendly infra-structural practices. This project is estimated to be completed by May 2008.
Children’s Museum Park
Located in front of the New Children’s Museum will be a one-acre, triangular park, right along Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade. The park will mirror the design, patterns and materials used in the King Promenade. Tree lined with contemporary design. Completetion for this project is set for April 2007, right before the expected completetion of the Children’s Museum. What a great afternoon, a day at the museum and an afternoon in the park. This will be a haven for families and kids.
Park-to-Bay Link
Two of downtown’s outside sanctuaries, both great for families, are the famous Balboa Park and the San Diego Bay. This project will connect the two. Located along Park Boulevard between C and K streets, this project will transform Park Blvd. into a beautifull landscaped pedestrian promenade with trees, lighting and public art. Sunny San Diego days call for outside wandering, and what a better way than to spend a day in between San Diego Bay and the exciting Balboa Park
Metro Center
Located in downtown San Diego’s East Village, off of 16th and National will be the site of the new Metro Center. This will be an enormous retail center containing 475,000 square feet of retail space and parking. Now the nice part is, if you live downtown, you can walk. It is rumored the new Metro Center will house a Target and a Home Depot. Construction is due to commence this year and to be completed by summer 2010. IAs a downtown San Diego resident, I will appreciate the convience of having a retail center housing such stores as Target and Home Depot, beats driving anywhere.
Main Library
The new Main Library is planned for the block bounded by Park boulevard, Eleventh Avenue, J and K streets, a landmark location on the new Park-to-Bay Link. The 10-story, 400,000 square-foot building is designed with expansion space projected to serve the citys library needs for 50 years or more. No construction schedule has been set.