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La Jolla in Spanish means "The Jewel" and it is the Jewel of America's finest city, San Diego. La Jolla has an approximate population of 43,000 residents and is located 15 north minutes of downtown San Diego. It has wonderful beaches, cultural activities and fine restaurants. La Jolla is an exquisite combination of a southern European resort atmosphere and Southern California fun. While La Jolla is known to be one of the most affluent communities in the United States, it has a down to earth feel due to the beautiful natural scenery and the helpfulness of its residents. Moreover, in addition to fine restaurants, beautiful beaches, hotels and art galleries, La Jolla is home to renowned institutions, such as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Stephen Birch Aquarium & Museum.
Downtown La Jolla is noted for its jewelry stores and five-star restaurants and hotels. Prospect Street and Girard Avenue also have several famous boutiques and restaurants. Notable for its architectural and historical presence is the La Valencia Hotel; which used to welcome movie stars on retreat from Hollywood during the silent film era.
Another notable architectural and cultural landmark is the La Jolla branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, founded in 1941; located just above the waterfront in what was originally the 1915 residence of philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps.
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The most compelling geographical highlight of La Jolla is its ocean front, with alternating rugged and sandy coast line and wild seal congregations. Popular sandy beaches, dotting the coastline from the south to the north, are:
- Children's Pool Beach
- La Jolla Cove
- La Jolla Beach and Tennis property
- La Jolla Shores
- Scripps
- Black's Beach (leading up to Torrey Pines State Reserve)
- Windansea Beach (mentioned in the Beach Boys' song "Surfin USA")
La Jolla is also a golfer's paradise. La Jolla is the home of Torrey Pines Golf Course; made famous by the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational held there each February. In 2008, Torrey Pines also hosted the 2008 U.S. Open which was played on the south course and won by Tiger Woods.
Spectacular views of the ocean and much of San Diego can be seen from the Mount Soledad Memorial Park at the top of Mount Soledad. Mount Soledad is covered with the narrow roads that follow its contours and hundreds of homes overlooking the ocean on its slopes. It is the home of the large concrete Mount Soledad Easter Cross built in 1954, later designated a Korean War Memorial.
La Jolla is a collection of many small neighborhoods that include:
- La Jolla Farms - the homes on top of the cliffs above Black's Beach and adjacent to the western boundary of the UCSD campus.
- La Jolla Shores - the residential area and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus along La Jolla Shores beach and east up the hillside. Also includes a small business district of shops and restaurants along Avenida de la Playa.
- La Jolla Heights - the homes on the hills overlooking La Jolla Shores. No businesses.
- Hidden Valley - lower portion of Mount Soledad on the northern slopes. No businesses.
- Country Club - lower Mount Soledad on the north-west side, including the La Jolla Country Club golf course.
- Village - a.k.a. Village of La Jolla (not to be confused with La Jolla Village) the "downtown" business district area, including most of La Jolla's shops and restaurants, and the immediately surrounding residential areas.
- Beach-Barber Tract - the coastal section from Windansea Beach to the Village. A few shops and restaurants, mostly on La Jolla Blvd.
- Lower Hermosa - coastal strip south of Beach-Barber Tract. No businesses.
- Bird Rock - southern/coastal La Jolla, and the lower slopes of Mt Soledad in the area. Shops and restaurants along La Jolla Blvd.
- Muirlands - relatively large area on western middle slope of Mt. Soledad. No businesses.
- La Jolla Mesa - A strip on the lower southern side of Mt. Soledad, bordering Pacific Beach.
- La Jolla Alta - The neighborhood east of La Jolla Mesa.
- Soledad South - Southeastern slopes of Mount Soledad, all the way up to the top, east of La Jolla Alta.
- Muirlands West - The neighborhood between Muirlands to the south, and Country Club to the north.
- Upper Hermosa - North of Bird Rock, east of La Jolla Blvd.
- La Jolla Village - (not to be confused with the Village of La Jolla) - north-east La Jolla, east of La Jolla Heights, north and west of I-5, and south of UCSD. This neighborhood's namesake, The La Jolla Village Square shopping and residential mall, including La Jolla's two movie theatres, is located here.
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