"Normal Heights and Kensington Park" Normal Heights by lmkluque

Under Construction!!

Welcome to my Normal Heights page,

Several communities and streets in this area of San Diego have been graced with a neon sign above the road giving name to the neighborhood or the street. This includes Normal Heights as well as the two communities on either side, Kensington Park and University Heights.

Kensington Park hasn't it's own page so I'll include information about it here.

Granted, these neighborhoods in the city of San Diego aren't really destinations for the tourist, but many people ask about nice communities to live in San Diego, so, I'm offering a simple view.

This is an older part of the city, but not as old as Old Town San Diego or parts of downtown San Diego. It is one of the earlier extensions as the city began to spread out.

In the 1800's there were a few houses, but this was mostly farm land.

In March of 1897 the "State Normal School" began in downtown SD while the campus was being constructed at Park and El Cajon Boulevards and opening there in 1898. Normal Heights recieved it's name from this teacher's college which eventually moved about four miles east and turned into San Diego State University.

Adams Avenue is the main road running through Normal Heights and Kensington and has, over the last thirty years, developed into an attraction of it's own.

Kensington has a better reputation than Normal Heights, as almost the whole of it is lovely, charming and well cared for. It is more expensive to live in Kensington and the affluence is more apparent there.

However, parts of Normal Heights are comparable and the parts that are not as prosperous are improving steadily.

Almost everyone in San Diego will associate something with Adams Avenue; coffee houses, book stores, antiques, or street faires. I'll try to give a fair image.

I Hope you enjoy your visit,
Linda

Normal Heights Sign

Until this page is completed you may find a simple overview of the Normal Heights community on my San Diego page in the General Tips section.

Already stated, Normal Heights is a poor cousin to Kensington and as can be the case, this poor cousin is quite interesting.

The sense of community in Normal Heights is reminiscent of smaller towns where everyone knows their neighbors and they work together to make a success of things.

One result is the growing number of street faires offered by Normal Heights. It began thirty-three years ago with the first Adams Avenue Roots Festival. A free event in April with plenty of music. Almost ten years later they added the Adams Avenue Street Fair, usually taking place in the month of September. This year it will be the 24th & 25th. The 6th Annual Taste of Adams Avenue is in June. Passes: $10.00 which includes Trolley Bus rides. Five years ago they added the Adams Avenue Antique Faire in July, (Sunday July 24th, 2005) also free admission and free parking. The new Art Around Adams is expected to run quarterly. Oh, and let's not forget Holiday on the Avenue every year in December.

Well, putting it that way, maybe a tourist would come to Normal Heights, if only to join the festivities.

Kensington Sign at Night

What to say about Kensington? Hummm. I like it. The sense of community is just as strong as in Normal Heights, only it's a bit more private and usually just between neighbors.

The Kensington Coffee Company sits on a corner of Adams Avenue, across the street from the park and a branch of the San Diego Public Library. It has played a central part of this community for many years and before driving the winding streets of Kensington to see the residential section, stop at this landmark of Kensington, sit outside with a cup of Java and watch the community pass by.

• Pros:Small Community Ambiance
• Cons:Not on the Tourist's Path
• In a nutshell:It's Worth a Visit Just for the Books!