Horton Plaza

There are eight distinctive neighborhoods that make up most of Downtown San Diego.  Little Italy and the Gaslamp Quarter are two.  Horton Plaza is the smallest but riches of the neighborhoods in the Downtown area.  It is 6 1/2 city blocks that was at one time a park named for the founder of the current downtown area, Alonzo Horton.  On that 6 1/2 blocks sits a 5 level shopping mall.  The park, which was surrounded by tall buildings was just a plot of land with grass and trees.  In the 1960's and 1970's the whole plaza was run down and was home to a substantial homeless population.  The city decided to redevelop the area in the late 1970's but was met with skeptiscism and resistance.  Horton Plaza was to become the centerpiece of the downtown redevelopment project and  the city put $140,000,000 into it.  The investment paid off within the first year of opening Horton Plaza as it ia  a financial success and is the city's highest sales per unit area that ranges between $600 to $700 per square foot.  The anchor stores in Horton Plaza are Nordstoms and Macys.  It is a shopper's dream and the design of Horton Plaza makes anyone want to shop because it justs draws you in.  The whole plaza will turn shopping into an adventure.