As the city’s grand boulevard enters downtown, you catch a last glimpse of waterfront—including a cruise terminal and the floating museum that many associate with this city’s history. Once downtown, premium views of the waterfront give way to premium residences, hotels, and office towers. Unfortunately, a large complex consisting of a convention hall and hotel separate the downtown area from the waterfront. The large marina, Seaport Village shopping area, and waterfront parks are isolated from residents, workers, and visitors. Indeed, residents of many new downtown developments need to detour almost a mile to reach the waterfront.
The excitement of the historic central business turned entertainment district terminates unceremoniously at the elevated grand concourse of the convention center. While it is quite attractive, with a multi-story glass hall lining its front, the convention center becomes eerily ghost-like in the evening as most all activity ceases. Despite the best efforts of planners, the convention center presents nothing but loading docks to the water. The waterfront drive ends up as little more than a scenic service alley and parking access road.
When finally reaching the shore, opposite the grandeur of downtown’s largest attraction, one realizes how exciting the waterfront could be. A beautiful boardwalk, fronted by the outdoor patios of the Seaport Village’s restaurants, leads strollers to a variety of park spaces. All along this boardwalk, one finds an active marina filled with private boats, commercial vessels, and touring ships. The familiarity of chain restaurants appeals to tourists and conventioneers alike, while the seaport village has a mix of hat shops, candy stores, and a carousel pavilion, allowing visitors to easily find a gift to bring home their families.
The de facto exclusion of residents and workers from the waterfront seems almost inevitable, if only because it seems like the convention center has always been there. In fact, much of the residential and commercial development in the area took place after the amputation of the waterfront from the downtown proper by the convention center. It doesn’t occur to many of these residents and workers that they could demand greater access to the waterfront that they, in part, own.
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After a weekend of hiking through downtown San Diego, I was struck by the number of similarities between downtown and waterfront development there and in Long Beach. The two cities share many similar issues regarding access between waterfront and downtown. This is likely due to some combination of land reclamation, California Coastal regulations, and available land for the expansive footprint of convention centers which add much needed visitors to the struggling downtown. Due to the importance of these convention centers to the economies of each city, improving linkages to the waterfront will require creative solutions.
When comparing these two cities, it is clear that downtown San Diego faces dilemmas both worse and better than those faced by downtown Long Beach. A portion of San Diego’s waterfront is only separated from the downtown by the parking lots of the county’s administration building. Unfortunately, nearly half of waterfront—over three quarters of a mile in length—is blocked by one of the largest convention facilities in the United States. The only break in this wall of convention facilities, ten stories high, is a viewing deck located on top of the convention center.
In contrast, Long Beach’s convention center complex creates an obstruction only a third as long as the complex in San Diego, despite the fact that it includes a sports arena, a performing arts center, and hotel. However, the barrier created between the water and the downtown is no less formidable than in San Diego, due to accommodations for automobiles (including the terminus of the I-710 freeway and many acres of parking). A large portion of the convention center sits at the base of the bluffs below Ocean Boulevard, allowing some degree of water views from the downtown.
What I find most interesting are the remarkable similarities both Long Beach and San Diego face in connecting their downtowns more effectively to their waterfronts. As Long Beach’s city planners look toward its future, improving connections between the downtown area and the city’s most valuable natural asset will likely represent one of the top priorities. There are ways in which both Long Beach and San Diego learn from each other in working to realize their unique statuses as large Southern California metropolises with downtowns “by the sea.”
