Walking About in San Diego

I am one of the fortunate few who can, most days, walk to work. When I am not working at my downtown San Diego office I am working in Mission Valley, which is a short drive, moderate bus ride, or long trolley ride from my East Village home. I've been working in MV for a while now and today was the first day in a while that I was back in my usual office so I've noticed some changes. During the time I was in down in the Valley, significant progress has been made on the renovation of the old Owl Drug building. Many might remember it as the scary Rite-Aid or Thrifty at the corner of Sixth and Broadway. Today, they started painting the street-level facade and it looks like they are actively marketing the space for retail and restaurant tenants. The building is being sold as office condos, which is nice to see. The residential influx is good, but a balance of offices is important, too. Also encouraging is the street-level retail that is popping up with the new condos on Market Street as well as on "G" Street and on 9th Avenue. Before long, Cafe Noir will have some more competition with the new coffee house opening soon behind Lotus Thai (my favorite Thai restaurant) on 9th. Seems eons ago that I would walk around my neighborhood and see empty storefront after empty storefront wondering whether I had made a huge mistake moving down here. Hooterville-by-the-Sea is becoming a little less Hooterville-ish.