In 1978, News 8
Weatherman Doug Oliver narrated
a series we called our town.
They were short and sweet stories about San
Diego's counties, communities,
and tonight's News 8 throwback.
We're hitting North Park,
Mission Hills and Kensington.
North Park is one of those San Diego
communities that, in its name tells
you where it is north of Balboa Park.
But it takes a walk down University Ave.
to tell you what North Park is, and what
it is is a very pleasant anachronism,
a throwback to small Midwestern towns,
and a much simpler time.
Maybe even a small town in Kansas.
You know, the kind where there's a
roller rink on the corner and where the
merchants in the town plaster its name.
One every business.
That's the way North Park is.
University Ave.
is the beaten path in North Park,
but somehow the whole area seems
pleasantly off the beaten path.
Kind of nice, don't you think?
Mission Hills hard by Old Town yet
few tourists ever venture up the hill
to find a living museum to the way
California and San Diego were in the
days before the Big War introduced
thousands of sailors and soldiers
to the good life in the sunshine.
And really, if you ask them,
most Mission Hills residents
really prefer it that way.
They cherish their privacy
and smaller town atmosphere.
Even under a Gray sky,
Mission Hill still looks and
feels the way Southern California
seemed to and those F Scott
Fitzgerald novels of the 30s.
You can walk along the quiet streets
and stop at any one of dozens of
classic California homes and somehow
feel you're leafing through an old
photo album where pictures of the past
have turned sepia toned with the years.
But while Mission Hills
produces its share of memories,
don't think for a minute the area
is gathering dust in the 70s.
It's still very much alive.
Well, thank you.
Small children bring new life
to the streets every day.
They combined with the old
style dignity of Mission Hills
to give it a special air,
a great place for San Diegans.
But please don't tell the tourists.
To know Kensington is to know California
in a simpler time when fresh warnings
and orange Groves were the way of life.
Instead of smog and crowded freeways,
it's best to ride or walk through
Kensington during the early morning.
On the old narrow streets
are mostly deserted.
That's the best time to appreciate
the palm trees that line those streets
and the houses that really do seem
to take you back to an easier time.
Kensington is a man on a bicycle
out to do his grocery shopping
at the corner market
off the beaten path.
It's a little quiet
in the middle of a big city getting bigger.
Kensington is the antique
stores along Adams Ave.
busy with shoppers on
a Saturday afternoon.
And I guess that's the
way it really should be,
because Kensington is one
place where they still seem
to appreciate the old ways.
The old ways,
those are the old ways. 1970s something.
Those are the old ways. Many
eight. That's incredible.
It's interesting if you know the
neighborhoods, you know there's so
much that has changed of course but
absolutely gems that are still the same.
I lived in Mission Hills right
on the edge with Hillcrest for,
you know, a while since,
you know, when I first moved here.
And definitely that the Mission Hills
that I walked through and see is not the
Mission Hills in that, in those videos.
Not all of it anyway.
Need to see that?
Look back for more News 8
throwbacks like this one?
Visit our YouTube channel,
CBS 8 YouTube.
We do have a channel and you can
also check out our YouTube playlist
to see if your town made the cut.
You can also go to cbs8.com and click
the throwback tab at the top of the page.