When BLVD North Park—located in University Heights, by the way—started taking applications in summer 2019, projected rents ranged from $1,970 to $4,500. Fast-forward three years, and you might as well start selling off organs to pay for the astronomical increases locally. According to Rent.com: “The average rent for apartments in San Diego, Calif., is between $2,379 and $5,205 in 2022″—for studio and three-bedroom, respectively. One bed: $2,889, up from $2,300 in mid-2019. Two: $3,778, up from $2,823 during the same time period.
Maybe prospective renters should feel good about BLVD North Park, which rates aren’t monumentally pumped up—being already lofty before dramatic increases across the region. An 831-square-foot two beds and baths goes for $3,700, according to a listing on Trulia. That’s within the range that I recall—rightly, hopefully—when the BLVD property opened to residents.
Now, with context in place, let’s discuss the Featured Image, which prompted the informational update. This evening, I took a stroll down El Cajon, approaching BLVD North Park from Alabama on my way to Florida. The backlit sign could make an interesting street shot, I thought. So I stopped with iPhone 13 Pro and made five snaps. Time wasted, because the first was by far the best—and that is typical and why I rarely capture more than one with Leica Q2 (left home, unfortunately).
Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 400, 1/40 sec, 26mm; 8:18 p.m. PDT, about 50 minutes after sunset.