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Economy

San Diego's East Village Will Get Its Own Unique Sign

A rendering of the East Village sign that will be installed over Market Street between 10th and 11th avenues.
East Village Association
A rendering of the East Village sign that will be installed over Market Street between 10th and 11th avenues.

San Diego’s East Village Will Get Its Own Unique Sign
San Diego's East Village is joining the Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy by creating its own sign downtown, but it won't look anything like the other neighborhood arches.

San Diego's East Village is joining the Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy by creating its own sign downtown, but it won't look anything like the other neighborhood arches.

This sign will be a giant ring held up by four posts that will span Market Street between 10th and 11th avenues. The ring will be emblazoned with the name, "East Village."

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David Hazan, president of the East Village Association, said the group raised all of the money for the sign and is finishing the permitting process with the city. He expects the sign will be up by November.

A sign hangs over the entrance to the Gaslamp Quarter on Fifth Avenue in downtown San Diego.
Tarryn Mento
A sign hangs over the entrance to the Gaslamp Quarter on Fifth Avenue in downtown San Diego.

"We're working with real experts in this that really know what they're doing," Hazan said. "Everyone is pretty savvy on what the city will be looking for and already anticipated any objections they might have so there won’t be any objections."

The sign was designed by Selbert Perkins Design, which worked on Union Station in Los Angeles and the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

The East Village Association asked for proposals for designs from anyone who wanted to submit.

"Frankly, a lot of them were rather pedestrian," Hazan said. "We didn't want just another arch or something everyone else has done. East Village is a very unique community, and we wanted something to reflect its uniqueness."

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He said the public had a chance to weigh in on the sign during East Village Association meetings, and that they didn't hear objections to it.

While they originally wanted to install the sign over an intersection, Hazan said that's not allowed because it would block traffic lights. So it will be put up mid-block.

"East Village is edgy, a little gritty, and we wanted a sign to show that we're still edgy," he said. "It's not your father’s sign, and that’s why we’re very excited about it."

The association has raised $500,000 for the sign and has enough to pay for it, but Hazan said the group is still fundraising to offset costs.