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Largely white Bankers Hill

Bankers Hill - Image by Salvatore Filippone
Bankers Hill

Bankers Hill. The name has a regal sound to it. Bankers Hill has been called "Pill Hill" for its many doctors' offices and "Gill Hill" for Irving Gill, who built the historic residences that grace its streets. These days it might be called "Lawyer's Hill," for the lawyers who have bought the Victorian houses and turned them into law offices.

There never were many bankers living here. According to Patty Fares, who conducts walking tours of the neighborhood, "In reality -- through home records at the city or historical society archives -- I found most residents weren't bankers. Many were retired and/or widows." She believes the name is "just symbolic of the wealth of early residents, rather than occupation."

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Bankers Hill, bounded on the north by Upas Street, on the south by Elm, on the east by Fifth Avenue, and on the west by State Street, is almost entirely a residential area. There are a few commercial sections, although that's changing with the high-rise condos and apartments being built or already completed near Balboa Park. Most of these buildings have commercial space on the street level and businesses are moving in. We have our own Starbucks (on Fifth between Laurel and Kalmia), and that's an omen.

I moved here from about a mile away, from First Avenue in Hillcrest. Bankers Hill is to Hillcrest as La Jolla is to Mission Beach: more upscale and less diverse. It's largely white and WASPy rather than multicolored and ethnic. People worry about things such as making sure that the parking-garage door is fully closed before they pull out of the driveway.

But downtown, Little Italy, the Embarcadero, Hillcrest, and Balboa Park are within walking distance. As you stroll through the neighborhood, you can check out one impressive structure after another. Start at the old Park Manor Suites at Fifth and Spruce; stop and have breakfast at Jimmy Carter's just across the street, where you can have an Indian breakfast of dhosa, a crepe made of rice and lentils, or huevos rancheros. Take the footbridge at Quince and Fourth over the canyon and notice the huge old weathered shingle house on your right below. Check out the pine tree on the corner of Second and Quince. Then walk over to the corner of Albatross and Kalmia, where the Old Town tourist trolley stops, to admire the view of San Diego Bay.

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March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Bankers Hill - Image by Salvatore Filippone
Bankers Hill

Bankers Hill. The name has a regal sound to it. Bankers Hill has been called "Pill Hill" for its many doctors' offices and "Gill Hill" for Irving Gill, who built the historic residences that grace its streets. These days it might be called "Lawyer's Hill," for the lawyers who have bought the Victorian houses and turned them into law offices.

There never were many bankers living here. According to Patty Fares, who conducts walking tours of the neighborhood, "In reality -- through home records at the city or historical society archives -- I found most residents weren't bankers. Many were retired and/or widows." She believes the name is "just symbolic of the wealth of early residents, rather than occupation."

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Bankers Hill, bounded on the north by Upas Street, on the south by Elm, on the east by Fifth Avenue, and on the west by State Street, is almost entirely a residential area. There are a few commercial sections, although that's changing with the high-rise condos and apartments being built or already completed near Balboa Park. Most of these buildings have commercial space on the street level and businesses are moving in. We have our own Starbucks (on Fifth between Laurel and Kalmia), and that's an omen.

I moved here from about a mile away, from First Avenue in Hillcrest. Bankers Hill is to Hillcrest as La Jolla is to Mission Beach: more upscale and less diverse. It's largely white and WASPy rather than multicolored and ethnic. People worry about things such as making sure that the parking-garage door is fully closed before they pull out of the driveway.

But downtown, Little Italy, the Embarcadero, Hillcrest, and Balboa Park are within walking distance. As you stroll through the neighborhood, you can check out one impressive structure after another. Start at the old Park Manor Suites at Fifth and Spruce; stop and have breakfast at Jimmy Carter's just across the street, where you can have an Indian breakfast of dhosa, a crepe made of rice and lentils, or huevos rancheros. Take the footbridge at Quince and Fourth over the canyon and notice the huge old weathered shingle house on your right below. Check out the pine tree on the corner of Second and Quince. Then walk over to the corner of Albatross and Kalmia, where the Old Town tourist trolley stops, to admire the view of San Diego Bay.

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San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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