Bay Park, San Diego, CA

Bay Park got its start as the Bay Park Village subdivision in 1936, more than a decade before the rest of Clairemont filled in, and its hillside streets still drop toward Mission Bay in San Diego. The neighborhood runs from Morena Boulevard and the bay edge up to the Clairemont mesa, with Bay Ho uphill to the north and Morena below it on the south side. Napier Street is where the neighborhood gathers. Harland Brewing opened its tasting room there in 2021, and its hazy IPA and Japanese lager are the regular orders, with a mariscos truck parked out back on some days. Bay Park Coffee, a few doors down, handles breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast and acai bowls. Around the corner on Ashton Street, Bay Park Fish Company serves chowder, oysters, fish tacos and sushi with a long list of beers on tap. Luce Bar and Kitchen on Morena Boulevard rounds out the cluster with a gastropub menu. The housing spans a longer stretch of time than most of Clairemont. Homes from the early Bay Park Village years sit near postwar ranch houses from the 1950s and 1960s, and plenty of both have been remodeled over the decades. Because the land slopes west, many homes look out over Mission Bay, and some catch the ocean beyond it. Western Hills Park, on Garfield Road, has a playground, a basketball court and canyon views. Up on Clairemont Drive, the YMCA's Krause Family Skate and Bike Park has street courses, a BMX track and a concrete pool for paid pass holders. Tecolote Canyon's trails begin at the nature center on Tecolote Road in neighboring Morena, and the grass along Mission Bay's eastern shore is just across the freeway. Errands mostly happen on Clairemont Drive near Burgener Boulevard, where Sprouts, a cluster of casual restaurants and the Clairemont Library share a few blocks. The Blue Line's Clairemont Drive station opened in 2021 at the base of the hill on Morena Boulevard, with trains running south to Old Town and north to UC San Diego. The slope is the catch. Streets climb steeply between Morena and the ridge, so walking to Napier Street from the upper blocks means a real hike back. The upper blocks of Bay Park are also where the widest views are, looking straight out across the bay toward Pacific Beach.