Hillcrest
Hillcrest Sign on University Ave
Hillcrest is a neighborhood in San Diego northwest of Balboa Park known for its tolerance, diversity, and locally-owned businesses, including restaurants, cafés, bars, clubs, trendy thrift-stores, and other independent specialty stores. Due to Hillcrest’s grid street pattern and relatively high population density, pedestrian activity is relatively high.
Hillcrest is the residential and commercial hub of San Diego’s gay and lesbian community. Most gay bars in San Diego are located in Hillcrest and surrounding neighborhoods.
The Hillcrest Association, a business improvement organization, and Uptown Planners, an organization representing residents interested in planning issues, work to make Hillcrest attractive for shoppers and residents.
Area
Hillcrest is an older neighborhood going through gentrification, which is mostly residential with a large amount of retail and features tree-lined streets, traditional homes, and apartments. The neighborhood is bound by Mission Hills to the northwest, Bankers Hill and Balboa Park to the south, and University Heights and North Park to the east. A large ridge overlooking San Diego Bay borders the neighborhood to the west.
Nearby Balboa Park provides recreational and cultural opportunities to Hillcrest residents, as does the neighborhood’s proximity to Downtown San Diego. Hillcrest and Mission Hills are home to Scripps Mercy Hospital and the UCSD Medical Center.
Hillcrest is part of the Uptown community, which consists of the neighborhoods of Mission Hills, Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, Park West and University Heights west of Park Boulevard.
Events
San Diego Gay Pride is an annual celebration for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Festivities take place the second to the last weekend in July; there is a Gay Pride parade, then a two-day festival in Balboa Park. The route of the annual Pride Parade runs through University Avenue to Sixth Avenue, ending at the west entrance to Balboa Park. San Diego Gay Pride is considered to be the largest civic event in the city of San Diego. For more information, see http://www.sdpride.org.
Hillcrest “CityFest” is an annual street festival which features food, live entertainment, a beer garden and street vendors. This event takes place annually in August.
Other regular events in Hillcrest include a weekly farmers market, Book Fair and Mardi Gras.
Transportation
Hillcrest is a walkable neighborhood with many of the cafés, restaurants and shops near the main residential pockets. It is common to see pedestrians, cyclists and scooters throughout the neighborhood and surrounding communities. Centrally located within San Diego, Hillcrest has easy access to freeways, beaches and the downtown area. Uptown Partnership, the Community Parking District for the Uptown district which includes Hillcrest, receives 45% of meter revenues to reinvest in the community to improve parking availability, traffic circulation, transit effectiveness, and pedestrian mobility.
Hillcrest is served by State Route 163 at the University Avenue, Washington Street and Robinson Avenue exits. University Avenue and Washington Street are the major east-west thoroughfares in Hillcrest; Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Avenues connect Hillcrest to Downtown San Diego through Park West and Bankers Hill.
There is substantial bus service connecting to Downtown as well as to the Mission Valley trolley stops because of the presence of the University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard transit corridors, the two busiest in the metro region.
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