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The culture of San Diego, California , is influenced heavily by American and Mexican cultures due to its position as a border town, its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico. San Diego's longtime association with the U.S. military also contributes to its culture. Present-day culture includes many historical and tourist attractions, a thriving musical and theatrical scene, numerous notable special events, a varied cuisine, and a reputation as one of America's premier centers of craft brewing.
Tourism has affected the city's culture, as San Diego houses many tourist attractions, such as SeaWorld, Aquatica San Diego, the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Belmont Park, Balboa Park, and nearby Legoland. San Diego's Spanish influence can be seen in the many historic sites across the city, such as the Mission San Diego de Alcala, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and Balboa Park. Cuisine in San Diego is diverse, but there is an abundance of wood fired California-style pizzas, and Mexican and East Asian cuisine. Annual events in San Diego include Comic-Con, the San Diego/Del Mar Fair, San Diego Pride, and Street Scene Music Festival.
San Diego has been a military town for more than 100 years. Present-day reflections of that tradition include tributes to military history such as the USS Midway Museum and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, as well as numerous smaller memorials throughout the city. Annual events celebrating the military include Fleet Week and the Miramar Air Show.
Because of its ethnic and cultural mix, San Diego has a wide range of cuisines. One can find Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Greek, Latin, German, Indian, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. [1] In addition, there are numerous seafood restaurants and steakhouses. The city's long history and close proximity to Mexico has endowed the area with an extensive variety of authentic Mexican restaurants. Regional homemade specialties, border fare and haute cuisine are all readily available.
San Diego's warm, dry climate and access to the ocean have also made it a center for fishing and for growing fruits and vegetables. Long a center of the tuna industry, San Diego benefits from an abundant supply of seafood.
Many of the most popular restaurants can be found in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, La Jolla, Hillcrest and Old Town.
Local specialties include:
Several chain restaurants made their start in San Diego. These include Jack in the Box (1951), Pat & Oscar's (1991), Souplantation (March 1978), Rubio's (1983), Roberto's Taco Shop (1964), Alberto's (1975), and Anthony's Fish Grotto (1946).
San Diego County has a vibrant craft brewing community featuring more than 100 active local brewpubs and/or microbreweries. [4] The city and county of San Diego are sometimes referred to as "America's craft beer capital". [5] [6] San Diego was listed first in the "Top Five Beer Towns in the U.S." by Men's Journal, [7] and the Full Pint said that San Diego is "one of the country's premier craft beer destinations" with a "thriving brewing culture". [8] San Diego brewers have pioneered several specialty beer styles, most notably the American Double India Pale Ale (Double IPA). Three San Diego County breweries are consistently rated in the Top 10 breweries in the world: AleSmith Brewing Company, Pizza Port/Port Brewing Company/Lost Abbey, and Stone Brewing Co.
None of San Diego's original 20th century breweries (such as Aztec Brewing Company which was closed in 1953) survived the spread of big national brewing companies, although the eponymous beer brewed in the neighboring Mexican city of Tecate dates from this era and is still widely available. The first of the new wave of local breweries and brewpubs was the Karl Strauss Brewing Company which opened in 1989. A second wave of microbrew companies was led by Port, Stone (now the largest local brewer) and Alesmith. [9] Annual events celebrating San Diego's beer culture include San Diego Beer Week in November [10] and numerous local craft beer festivals.
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Several art museums, such as the San Diego Museum of Art, the Timken Gallery, the Mingei International Museum featuring folk art, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and the Museum of the Living Artist are located in Balboa Park. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is located in an ocean front building in La Jolla and has a branch located downtown at the Santa Fe Depot.
The Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Diego (ICA), focuses on experimental and contemporary art. Its headquarters is located at 1439 El Prado, known as ICA Central, and there is a branch in Encinitas, known as ICA North. [11] [12]
Balboa Park hosts dozens of museums and gardens, including the Museum of Us (formerly the San Diego Museum of Man), the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and the San Diego Air & Space Museum (formerly the Aerospace Museum). The San Diego Children's Museum is located downtown. The Columbia district on San Diego Bay is home to the Star of India and seven other floating museum ships and boats belonging to the San Diego Maritime Museum, as well as the unrelated San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum featuring the aircraft carrier USS Midway.
"Kettner Nights" at the Art and Design District in Little Italy has art and design exhibitions throughout many retail design stores and galleries on selected Friday nights. "Ray at Night" at North Park host a variety of small-scale art galleries on the second Saturday evening of each month. La Jolla and nearby Solana Beach also have a variety of art galleries.
Many novels, films and television shows take place in San Diego. [13] Almost Famous , Bring It On , Citizen Kane , Some Like It Hot , Top Gun and its sequel were set in and filmed there. [14] Hotel del Coronado, Balboa Park and Downtown San Diego have been the filming location for multiple films and television shows. [15]
The San Diego Symphony performs on a regular basis at Symphony Towers and other venues. The San Diego Opera at Civic Center Plaza, directed by Ian Campbell, was ranked by Opera America as one of the top 10 opera companies in the United States. The San Diego Master Chorale performs both alone and with the San Diego Symphony. Other musical organizations include the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, La Jolla Music Society, the Greater San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Concert Band, and the music departments of San Diego State University, University of California at San Diego, University of San Diego, and Point Loma Nazarene College. Free concerts of organ music are presented regularly at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, the world's largest outdoor pipe organ, in Balboa Park.
San Diego boasts one of the most eclectic local music scenes in California. Once dubbed the "Next Seattle" during the independent rock craze of the early to mid-1990s, San Diego's clubs and cafes have produced such pioneering rock acts as Blink-182, Stone Temple Pilots, Pierce the Veil, P.O.D., Switchfoot, As I Lay Dying, Three Mile Pilot, Rocket From the Crypt, Pinback, Thingy, Drive Like Jehu, Unbroken, Swing Kids, Creedle, Battalion of Saints, Manual Scan, Beat Farmers, The Paladins, The Bigfellas, Morlocks, Crash Worship, Greyboy Allstars, Boilermaker, The Black Heart Procession, The Luke Walton Band, The Album Leaf, Tristeza, and Pitchfork, among countless others. Singer-songwriter Erika Davies is a notable lounge music local act.
Artists from other genres have emerged and found success. Frank Zappa briefly operated in San Diego with progressive band The Mothers of Invention. Renowned singer-songwriter Tom Waits also spent a long period of his life in Southern California at the start of his career, including San Diego. [16]
Hip-Hop has also had a scene in San Diego, drawing influences from styles across the country, with artists like Rob Stone citing both west coast gangster rap and Atlanta styles as influences. [17] Figures in the culture like DJ Artistic have held influence within the San Diego region, whereas rappers like Nick Cannon went on to experience wider success as mainstream entertainers. [18]
The Old Globe Theatre at Balboa Park has been in operation for more than 70 years and produces about 15 plays and musicals annually. The La Jolla Playhouse at UCSD produces both original and touring works and is directed by Christopher Ashley. Both the Old Globe Theatre and the La Jolla Playhouse have produced the world premieres of plays and musicals that have gone on to win Tony Awards on Broadway. More than three dozen local productions have gone on to Broadway; four have won one or more Tonys. [19] In 1984 the Old Globe Theatre received the Tony Award for best regional theater, [20] and the La Jolla Playhouse received the same award in 1993. The Joan B. Kroc Theatre at Kroc Center's Performing Arts Center is a 600-seat state-of-the-art theatre that hosts music, dance and theatre performances. The San Diego Repertory Theatre at the Lyceum Theatres in Horton Plaza produces a variety of plays and musicals. Serving the northeastern part of San Diego is the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, a 400-seat performing arts theater. Other professional theatrical production companies include the Lyric Opera San Diego, specializing in comic operas, operettas, and musical comedies, and the Starlight Musical Theatre, presenting musical comedies in the outdoor Starlight Bowl. Both the Lyric Opera and Starlight sought bankruptcy protection in 2011 and are currently inactive. Starlight is now under new management and being rebuilt to operate as an event space. www.savestarlight.org There are also numerous semiprofessional and amateur theatrical productions throughout the year by such groups as the Cygnet Theatre, Christian Community Theater, Vanguard Theater, Lamb's Players Theater, Diversionary Theatre, and San Diego Junior Theatre.
(* An asterisk designates National Historic Landmarks)
San Diego is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast in Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.3 million residents, the city is the eighth-most populous in the United States and the second-most populous in the state of California after Los Angeles. The city is the county seat of San Diego County, which had a population of nearly 3.3 million people as of 2021. San Diego is known for its mild year-round Mediterranean climate, extensive beaches and parks, its long association with the United States Navy, and its recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture but also is influenced heavily by Mexican culture due to its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico. San Francisco's diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities are so great that they have greatly influenced the country and the world at large over the years. In 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek voted San Francisco as America's Best City.
Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and central business district of San Diego, with more than 4,000 businesses and nine districts. The downtown area is the home of the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Opera as well as multiple theaters and several museums. The San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, are also located downtown. Downtown San Diego houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments.
San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2020 population of the region was 5,456,577, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico, and the second-largest shared between the US and another country. The conurbation consists of the San Diego metropolitan area, in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach (126,980), and Tecate (108,440) in Mexico. It is the third most populous region in the California–Baja California region, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The culture of San Antonio reflects the history and culture of one of the state's oldest and largest cities straddling the regional and cultural divide between South and Central Texas. Historically, San Antonio culture comes from a blend of Central Texas and South Texas (Southwestern) culture. Founded as a Spanish outpost and the first civil settlement in Texas, San Antonio is heavily influenced by Mexican American culture due to Texas formerly being part of Mexico and, previously, the Spanish Empire. The city also has significant German, Anglo, and African American cultural influences. San Antonio offers a host of cultural institutions, events, restaurants and nightlife in South Texas for both residents and visitors alike.
William Templeton Johnson was a notable San Diego architect. He was a fellow to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1939.
The San Diego Art Institute was a contemporary art museum with a focus on artists from the Southern California and Baja Norte region. It was founded in 1941 as the San Diego Business Men's Art Club. Its name was changed in 1950 to the San Diego Art Institute. In 1953, women were admitted for membership. It officially became a nonprofit in 1963. The San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park and Lux Art Institute in Encinitas merged in September 2021 to become The Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, with each museum continuing to operate at its respective site.
The House of Charm is a historic museum building in Balboa Park, San Diego. It was built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition, and like most buildings from that Exposition it features Mission Revival Style architecture. It acquired its current name, "House of Charm", during the park's second Exposition held in from 1935 to 36. It now houses the San Diego Art Institute and the Mingei International Museum as well as rehearsal space for the Old Globe Theatre. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
San Diego County, officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fifth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is San Diego, the second-most populous city in California and the eighth-most populous city in the United States. It is the southwesternmost county in the 48 contiguous United States, and is a border county. It is also home to 18 Native American tribal reservations, the most of any county in the United States.
30th Street is a major north–south road in San Diego, California on the east side of Balboa Park. It connects several of the densest urban communities of Central San Diego and has a high rate of pedestrian activity. In recent years, 30th Street has become known nationally for its prominent craft beer culture.
Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) historic urban cultural park in San Diego, California. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. The park hosts various museums, theaters, restaurants, and the San Diego Zoo. It is managed and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Diego.
Richard Smith Requa was an American architect, largely known for his work in San Diego, California. Requa was the Master Architect for the California Pacific International Exposition held in Balboa Park in 1935–36. He improved and extended many of the already existing buildings from an earlier exposition, as well as creating new facilities including the Old Globe Theater.
The California Quadrangle, California Building, and California Tower are historic structures located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. They were built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and served as the grand entry to the Expo. The buildings and courtyard were designed by architect Bertram Goodhue. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 17, 1974. They now house the Museum of Us.
San Diego County, California, has been called "the Craft Beer Capital of America". As of 2018, the county was home to 155 licensed craft breweries – the most of any county in the United States. Based on 2016 sales volume, three San Diego County breweries – Stone, Green Flash, and Karl Strauss – rank among the 50 largest craft brewers in the United States. San Diego County brewers pioneered the specialty beer style known as Double India Pale Ale, sometimes called San Diego Pale Ale. Its beer culture is a draw for tourism, particularly during major festivals such as San Diego Beer Week and the San Diego International Beer Competition. San Diego County breweries including Stone Brewing Co., AleSmith Brewing Company and Ballast Point Brewing Company are consistently rated among the top breweries in the world.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of San Diego, California, United States.
This is a list of media outlets based in the city of San Diego. People in San Diego are also able to receive media from Tijuana, Mexico.
The economy of San Diego is the 17th largest among metro areas in the United States and 4th largest among California's metro areas, with a gross domestic product in Greater San Diego of $206 billion in 2014. The economy is also part of the San Diego–Tijuana international metropolitan conurbation.
Herbert Siguenza is an American actor, writer, visual artist, and performer based in California. He is best known for co-founding the theater performance group Culture Clash, which was founded in 1984 and is still active. He is currently the playwright-in-residence at the San Diego Rep and has continued to pursue many solo ventures in addition to his group work.
Hispanic and Latino Americans make up 30.1% of the population of the City of San Diego, California in the US, and 35.0% of the County of San Diego, with the majority of Hispanics and Latinos in San Diego being Mexican American.