Little Italy is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in
Downtown San Diego
Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, that was originally a predominantly
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
fishing neighborhood. It has since been
gentrified
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
and is now a popular neighborhood full of Italian restaurants and grocery stores, home design stores, art galleries and residential units.
Little Italy is one of the more active downtown neighborhoods, with frequent festivals and events including a weekly
farmers market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
, also known as the ''Mercato'' (the Market, in Italian). The neighborhood has low crime rates when compared with other neighborhoods in Downtown San Diego and is maintained by the Little Italy Neighborhood Association, which looks after trash collection, decorations, and special events.
Geography
Little Italy is located in the northwest end of Downtown, a few blocks from the Embarcadero. It is located north of
Columbia, south of
Middletown, southeast of
Core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the centra ...
, southwest of
Bankers Hill/Park West and west of
Cortez Hill. The neighborhood is located on the side of a hill, with a significant rise in elevation as one approaches Interstate 5.
The district is bordered by West Laurel Street to the north, West Ash Street to the south,
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
and Front Street to the east and the
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of c ...
and Pacific Highway to the west.
India Street, the commercial corridor, runs through the heart of Little Italy, intermingled with high-density mixed-use buildings and single-family bungalow-style historic properties in a highly walkable 48-square-block area.
Tuna industry
From the 19th century through the 1970s, Italian-Americans, chiefly from the
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...
and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, led the enterprise in the building of the boats that founded the American tuna fishing fleet and canning industry based in San Diego, the "tuna capital" of the American West Coast.
The first large tuna cannery, the Pacific Tuna Canning Company, was founded in 1911. By the mid-1930s the canneries employed more than 1,000 people. Due to rising costs and foreign competition the last of the canneries closed in the early 1980s. A large fishing fleet supported the canneries, mostly staffed by immigrant fishermen from the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
Azores
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and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, whose influence is still felt in neighborhoods like Little Italy and
Point Loma
Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...
.
Following the
1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
and fire, many Italian fishermen moved to San Diego. The construction of Interstate 5 in the 1970s split the neighborhood, with the area east of the Interstate becoming part of Bankers Hill. There is a sculpture dedicated to the cannery workers in
Barrio Logan
Barrio Logan is a neighborhood in south central San Diego, California. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of East Village and Logan Heights to the north, Shelltown and Southcrest to the east, San Diego Bay to the southwest, and National Cit ...
and a "Tunaman's Memorial" statue on
Shelter Island.
Development
![Farmers market in Little Italy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Farmers_market_in_Little_Italy.jpg)
There are multiple public improvements and high-rise and mid-rise buildings under construction or approved and scheduled for construction. The northern part of Little Italy is less densely populated than the southern part of Little Italy, which is mainly made up of high-rise and mid-rise buildings. Some older buildings have been renovated for new uses; newer buildings aim to duplicate the feel of the original establishments. The main street, India Street, features public art and plazas, street trees, galleries and antique stores, and numerous restaurants with outside eating areas.
Community groups
Little Italy has a
Business Improvement District and a Community Benefit District that is maintained by the Little Italy Association (LIA), a public benefit
501(c)
A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...
3 corporation established in 1996 to oversee and expedite the revitalization and beautification of Little Italy. The Association represents the residents, property owners, and businesses of Little Italy.
The Italian Cultural Center of San Diego, a 600-member non-profit organization founded in 1981 for people interested in Italian culture and language, is located in this neighborhood.
The Italian Cultural Center of San Diego primary goal is to promote the diffusion of Italian culture in all its varied forms. In order to achieve this goal, the organization has always emphasized the importance of teaching the Italian language as a way to guarantee access to a wider cultural context. The Italian Cultural Center of San Diego offers a variety of cultural events, workshops, lectures and classes at all levels, year round. Classes are taught by native speakers who have been part of the Italian language-teaching scene for several years.
The Convivio Center & Little Italy Heritage Museum is Little Italy's newest destination for arts, culture, heritage and all things Italian in San Diego. The Center serves as a community resource and provides programs and events and something for everyone.
Annual events
The majority of events held are related to Italian culture. Most of the events center on and around India street, usually bordered by Grape street to north and Beech Street or Ash Street to the south.
Every Saturday, 8:00am – 2:00pm, on W. Cedar Street and every Wednesday, 9:00am – 1:00pm, on W. Date Street; Little Italy hosts the Little Italy Mercato. This Italian farmers' market features freshly caught fish, vegetables and fruit from local farmers, pastries from local bakeries, flowers and plants from local farms, and art from local artists.
The Saturday before
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
, there is the Little Italy Carnevale, a
Venetian mask event with several vignettes of entertainment and an open house for retail shops and restaurants.
In April, there is ArtWalk, the largest art event in the west coast with over 120,000 people coming to purchase various mediums of art - paintings, photography, jewelry, furniture and more. Also in April, there is Gran Fondo (Big Ride) Colnago San Diego, where over 3,000 bicycle riders from all over the world come to ride throughout "America's Finest City" in a 32, 53 or 100 mile ride that starts under the Little Italy landmark sign.
In May, the Sicilian American community of San Diego celebrates the Sicilian Festival, the first Italian festival held in Little Italy, launched in 1993. It features Italian and Sicilian entertainment, a cultural pavilion highlighting the contributions of the Italians of San Diego, vendors, and
Sicilian cuisine
Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food a ...
.
In May and again in November, there is the Taste of Little Italy (Spring), where attendees pay to sample food from over 20 participating restaurants and entertainment throughout the community. Proceeds from this event go to the Little Italy Association.
Taste of Little Italy
SanDiego.com Retrieved on 2011-5-18.
In September, there is the Labor Day Stickball Tournament, where several stickball leagues come to play on the streets of Little Italy. This time honored east coast game is played like baseball, but with some minor tweaks. Every third year the San Diego leagues host a West Coast Invitational where they invite New York and Puerto Rico to play on the streets of San Diego's Little Italy.
In October, there is the Little Italy Festa, the largest Italian festival outside of New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, with over 150 Italian food and crafter booths, three stages of entertainment, the Gesso Italiano Street Painting Festival, a stickball
Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, ...
exhibition game, bocce ball tournament and beer & wine gardens. Also in October, there is the Bulls of St. Agata Charge Little Italy; this event showcases over 50 Lamborghinis from all over the United States.
In December, there is the Little Italy Christmas Village and Tree Lighting. This event has progressively gotten larger and larger, with Santa Claus riding in on Little Italy Fire Engine #3 kicking off the festivities of music, shopping and bubbly snow flakes for the kids. The neighborhood also showcases a life-sized gingerbread house all month long at Queenstown Public House (New Zealand inspired restaurant), which collects toy donations for local charities around the area each year
References
External links
Little Italy Association
Little Italy's Mercato
Dine Little Italy
Public Art
Italian Community Center
Italian Historical Society of San Diego
Variety Art Gallery in Little Italy
Numero Water Boutique in Little Italy
Little Italy
fro
San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau
Annual events
Little Italy FESTA!
Mission Federal ArtWalk
Taste of Little Italy
Sicilian Festival
from About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
{{Coord, 32, 43, 27, N, 117, 10, 2, W, type:city_region:US_dim:730, display=title
Ethnic enclaves in California
Historic districts in San Diego
Italian-American culture in California
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
Neighborhoods in San Diego
Sicilian-American culture
Urban communities in San Diego