Pacific Beach

Pacific Beach is also the name of a small community in Grays Harbor County, Washington.

Pacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by surfers and college students, the population is becoming more professional and affluent due to rising property and rental costs. "PB" as it is known as by local residents is also home to one of San Diego's larger nightlife areas, with dozens of bars and eateries lining main east-west street Garnet and north-south street Mission.

The beach in Pacific Beach stretches for miles. A sidewalk, the boardwalk, running along the beach, is typically crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, and shoppers. The beach scene centers around Crystal Pier which is at the west end of Garnet Street.

Unlike many other areas of southern California, alcohol is permitted on the beach in Pacific Beach during certain hours, which naturally makes it a popular spot for parties on the weekends.

The primary north-south street running parallel to the beach is Mission Boulevard, with the streets then incrementing in alphabetical order as they move further from the coast. Bayard, Cass, Dawes, Everts, Fanuel, Gresham, Haines, Ingraham, Jewell, Kendall, Lamont, Morrell, Noyes, Olney, Pendelton.

The east-west streets are named after precious stones and are roughly in alphabetical order from north to south:

• Agate
• Beryl
• Chalcedony
• Diamond
• Emerald
• Felspar
• Garnet¹

Other east-west streets, also named after stones, fall in there, but out of order. Including: Sapphire, Tourmaline, Opal, and Turquoise

¹Despite the fact that Garnet St. is surrounded by streets named after other stones, most San Diego residents erroneously pronounce as though it were a surname, "Gar-NETT."