Visit Civic Core, or Core District, tucked between San Diego’s Cortez Hill and East Village districts. This is undoubtedly the city’s financial hub, with a concentration of San Diego’s major banks. You’ll also find a lot of ties with the past, not to mention many trendy and cultural establishments. Walk the area to become acquainted with it and to appreciate its many fascinating features.
The zone encompasses an area from A Street to Broadway and Union Street to Park Boulevard. Here you’ll find two of the city’s tallest buildings. Symphony Towers, with a height of 499 feet (152 meters), is surpassed by One America Plaza, a few blocks away, by just 1 foot (0.3 meter).
At the top of Symphony Towers is the exclusive University Club for business leaders. Plan to attend a concert or show at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Center, adjacent to Symphony Towers, where the San Diego Symphony makes its home.
At the corner of Third Avenue and B Street, find San Diego Civic Theatre. Its seating capacity of 2,967 makes it one of the region’s largest performing arts centers.
Notice the integration of downtown with living, working, shopping and being entertained. Part of the urban design known as the I.D.E.A. District is to create a minimal urban footprint. One example is Smart Corner on Park Boulevard, which has the different requirements for living confined to one city block.
Continue westward through Civic Core toward San Diego Bay to arrive in Columbia District, where the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art operates in a former baggage depot. The museum on Kettner Boulevard has presented works of art in all media created since 1950. Understand the diverse collection with a public tour, which is included in the admission fee on weekends and certain special weekdays.
The waterfront is populated with condominiums collectively called Millionaire Row. Columbia District ends at the cruise ship terminal and nearby USS Midway Museum.
