Ocean Beach, San Diego, California

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The Ocean Beach Pier at sunset

Ocean Beach (also known as O.B.) is a beachfront neighborhood City of San Diego, California, USA known for its openmindedness and fierce independence. Comprised of an eclectic mix of surfers, punks, bikers, granolas, and families, few things are not tolerated. Some things likely to upset the locals are excessive displays of wealth, poseurs, money hungry real estate folks, arrogance, greed, and disrespectful non-native San Diegans. Many consider Ocean Beach the last bastion for native San Diegans adamant about protecting the character of the city and having an affordable place to call their own. With a large population of renters, the recent trend in Condo Conversions and a lack of affordable housing is threatening to force out the very soul of the community and in the process has angered many members of the community.

It is located south of Mission Bay and Mission Beach and west of downtown on the Pacific Ocean at the western terminus of Interstate 8.

Ocean Beach houses two schools (Ocean Beach Elementary and Sacred Heart Academy), multiple churches, and a public library. The main street of business is Newport Avenue, with the eastern blocks dominated by a large number of antique stores. Notable local organizations include the Ocean Beach Town Council, the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association, and the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach. Major local events include the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cookoff in late June, the Ocean Beach Christmas Parade in early December, and the Ocean Beach Kite Festival on the first Saturday of March.

The Ocean Beach Pier, built in 1966, is the longest on the West Coast of the United States, measuring 1971 feet.

The northern end of OB's waterfront is known as Dog Beach, alongside the emptying San Diego River. It has been set aside specifically for leash-free pets and their owners.

[edit] History

Waves crashing over the Ocean Beach Pier in 2002

Ocean Beach was given its name by developers Billy Carlson and Frank Higgins in 1887. They opened a real estate firm Carlson & Higgins and proceeded to develop Ocean Beach.

They developed the Cliff House Hotel and subdivided the area into lots. The development did not do well because it was 2 1/2 hours from downtown San Diego by carriage. They rented a locomotive, but by that time, in 1888, the boom ended and the development put on hold. Higgins' partner committed suicide and the Cliff House burned from a fallen chandelier in 1898. Carlson sold the Ocean Beach development to an Eastern financier and its development would wait another 20 years when permanent rail service arrived.

Earlier names for Ocean Beach include Mussel Beach, Mussel Beds, Medanos (Spanish for 'dunes'), Palmer's Place/Ranch, and Palmiro's. Many locals refer to Ocean Beach simply as OB.

The northern end of Ocean Beach was once dominated in the early 20th century by the Wonderland Amusement Park. Eventually Wonderland was razed and turned into a mostly residential neighborhood.

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[edit] Economy

In 2001, Starbucks bought property within the community, creating a tremendous uproar among the citizens, who considered the move a direct attack on several mom and pop, individually owned, small scale coffee shops already in place. Shortly after this event the historic, single-screen movie house The Strand was converted into a Wings, an east coast chain store selling beach apparel. To this day, patrons of either establishment are castigated by the long-time citizens of the community. Locals highly encourage the boycott of Starbucks and patronage of local non-chain coffee shops.

Despite these corporate encroachments, the economy of Ocean Beach is still dominated by small independent businesses.

With a limited number of liquor licenses, several of the existing bars (Sunshine Company, South Beach, Nick's) have begun leveraging their existing licenses by creating mega-bars that cater to people outside the community and create tension within the community. Many of the neighborhood establishments (Arizona's, South Beach, Qwigg's) have either been bought out or succumbed to the temptation of making lots of money at the expense of the community. Additionally, John Small, a Virginia Beach native now living in Point Loma, owns at least four bars (Sunshine Company, the old Arizona, Tony's, and Nick's).

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

[edit] External links

• Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association
• Ocean Beach History
• Ocean Beach
• City of San Diego Life Guard
• Ocean Beach: A Lifestyle Frozen in Time

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 32.74332° -117.243347°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA