Little Italy
The sloping landscape at the northern shore of San Diego Bay was once home to a thriving tuna fishing industry and the Italian-Americans who derived their livelihood from it. As the tuna industry declined and a significant portion of the neighborhood was disrupted by the construction of Interstate 5, Little Italy suffered decades of depreciation. When local business owners and residents teamed up with the Centre City Development Corporation in the early 1990s, things started looking up. They envisioned revitalization of the commercial district and preservation of the small scale and cultural dynamic of the community.
Little Italy today represents some of the finest of San Diego living: bay views, fine food, art and cultural festivities, and affordable residences. Its lovely vistas now offer an urban neighborhood with single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. A recently revitalized India Street is alive with restaurants, small cafes, galleries and specialty shops. Our Lady of the Rosary Church and Washington Elementary School remain important institutions of the area. Amici Park serves both as a playground for the school and a park, including a bocce ball court, for the community. Little Italy hosts over half-a-dozen annual festivals in celebration of holidays, music and art, including Festa, "Chalk La Strada," a Bocce Ball Tournament, ArtWalk, a jazz festival and Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter celebrations. The Little Italy Association brings the story of Little Italy to its visitors through public art displays. Five hundred parking spaces, 33,500 square feet of retail, 1,630 residential units, a County Waterfront Park and the India Street Revitalization Project are among the developments in the pipeline for Little Italy.
