The number of residential units in downtown San Diego (92101) as of October 2005: 15,794 and rising. Who's filling these high (and low) rises? The recent Downtown by Design Tour provided a peak into some of the snazziest homes now dotting the skyline along with a chance to meet their owners. And while on the tour we met up with more residents who call Downtown home. Here are some stories of life in the city.

HIGH ON A HILL

Upon moving to San Diego 20 years ago, Bob and Tina Dameron settled in quiet Kensington, one of San Diego's most established and elite neighborhoods, filled with Spanish-style homes with old-world touches.

Then, in 2001, Tina and the Dameron's daughters, Adrienne and Leann, began discovering downtown San Diego and fell in love with Little Italy. "I went to a Christmas party at the Meridian and was immediately enamored with Downtown," said Tina, who had practiced real estate for several years in Kensington before taking time off to raise her girls. The Damerons decided to invest downtown, initially purchasing in Little Italy at Village Walk where they acquired a "shopkeeper's unit" - a twostory residence above a street-level commercial space. Like many Downtown homebuyers, they bought their space at pre-construction. "We were going to make it a rental," recalls Bob, laughing at the very idea.

"Then I started walking our dog in Little Italy," says Tina. "And we discovered a great hair salon, Salon Tonic. Adrienne had her hair done there for the prom."

"And we enjoyed the coffee shops...Cafe Zucchero and Cafe Italia," said Bob.

"And I love Blick Art Supplies on India," adds Leann.

The idea of renting out the unit dissolved quickly. When Adrienne left for college and their year-long exchange student returned home, the Damerons found themselves with a big and somewhat empty house. "And a lot of yard work," Tina moaned.

And so, Mom, Dad, Leann, and "Cameron Dameron," the family's bearded collie, moved to Little Italy whereupon Tina reactivated her real estate license and quickly became well-versed on all the new developments downtown.

"I have Cameron to thank for my rapid learning curve," Tina says. "Each day on our long walks I discovered new developments sprouting up - places that were just holes in the ground. I literally began knocking on doors to find out what was 'coming soon."'

Bob can testify to that. "Tina would come home every night and tell me about a new place that was going to be 'fantastic.' It could be 'the one.' After about six months, I put my foot down. Don't show me any more!"

Tina gave Bob a break, but while showing a client a unit in the historic El Cortez Hotel building, which was being converted from apartments to condos, the resident broker offered to show her the former Presidential suite, a penthouse just coming onto the market.

"I knew we had to have it," she said. "But I was a little freaked out to share it, and its price tag, with Bob. This was admittedly a bit of a stretch for us."

But Bob immediately agreed this was indeed "the one." The hotel was built in the same year - 1927 - as the Dameron's former Kensington home, and the interiors - doors, high ceilings, plaster, trim and moldings - featured similar craftsman-style workmanship.

"We could take our Kensington home and live in the sky," Bob said.

A structural engineer by trade, Bob says he developed a new hobby over the past five years. "It's called 'moving,"' he says, counting a total of five moves in five years, including a move from the couple's first home in Little Italy to a view property at Treo, another Little Italy project, and a couple of interim moves to apartments to accommodate construction schedules.

When the family finally moved into their penthouse the first week of December 2004, the space sported drab olive green carpet and pale yellow walls and Bob's "hobby" shifted from moving to home improvement. The penthouse's two spacious terraces, affording panoramic views of downtown, San Diego International Airport and the bay, were accessible only through windows. Three irrefutable deadlines spurred the Dameron's interior design and construction progress. "The first thing I moved in was a Christmas tree," says Tina, "and that's because six days later we were hosting the Christmas party for Bob's structural engineering firm [David Evans & Associates]." Adrienne's USC graduation party was held at the home last May, and for the October Downtown by Design home tour, the rehab was complete and stunning. Much of the work was done by the Damerons themselves, including installation of crown molding and access doors to the terraces.

Leann, 17, is now a senior and top student at San Diego High School of International Studies, one of six schools within the school that also holds the distinction of being the oldest high school in San Diego County. Leann favors walking to school, just six blocks away, and loves running from Cortez Hill to nearby Balboa Park. While occasionally looking back with fondness to her younger years in Kensington, Leann relishes the downtown lifestyle where she believes she has become more aware of diverse cultures that make up the city - and not just the new urban professionals but the homeless she frequently encounters on her runs up to the park. "I feel I have a bigger sense of the world living downtown," she says. An aspiring jazz singer, Leann sings every Tuesday night with local legendary jazz icon Joe Marillo and his band at Twiggs, located at the base of the El Cortez Hotel. She's also discovered other jazz clubs downtown, including her favorite, Dizzy's, a nonalcohol club in the Gaslamp. And she's looking forward to her upcoming Senior Prom - to be held in the El Cortez ballroom. How convenient is that?

Today, Tina's real estate company, Urban Homes & Investments, employs eight agents and maintains its headquarters at the family's Village Walk shopkeeper's unit at 1501 India St. "The day we hung out our 'Coming soon!' shingle in 2002, people were pounding on our door, begging for our services," Tina says. "Yes, 2003 and 2004 were fantastic years. Today the market has returned to what I'd call 'normal,' meaning that homes take a month or two to sell. But for buyers, it's a great market because there is so much inventory, so many choices."

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING, THEY'RE SOLD ON DOWNTOWN

Michael Fowler is vice principal at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon; Maria Vidal the VP at Grossmont High. "We're the disciplinarians - the ones the kids go see when they're 'sent to the principal's office,"' says Michael.

Downtown living is the perfect antidote to their high-pressure jobs, say Michael and Maria, who became engaged last month and are shopping for their fourth downtown condo and their first residence together.

"Our jobs are exhausting but wonderful," says Maria. "It's really great to be able to come home, park the car and unwind. We can walk across the street and have a glass of wine or enjoy a steak at Buon Appetito, our favorite restaurant, just a block away."

Michael moved to Little Italy three and a half years ago from Mission Valley. "I had just visited Europe, and was drawn to small village towns like Sorrento, Italy. These towns were built hundreds of years ago before cars were invented and they were designed for pedestrians. So, today, people continue to walk there. In Mission Valley, I had to drive everywhere, and as soon as I returned from Europe, I began searching for a better way to live. I found it in Little Italy.

"It's a neighborhood. I know all the merchants," he says. "Sam owns the grocery, Jen owns the coffee shop [It's a Grind], April owns the deli here in our building and Carlos owns the cleaners. And Tony is opening a new coffee shop." Maria and Michael began dating a little over a year ago, and when she visited him in Little Italy, she, too, knew this was a lifestyle she could embrace. Maria's mother, Lilia, shares her home. "I remember when I took my mom into Mona Lisa, a restaurant and deli, and she saw the salted fish, it reminded her of the fish shops in our native Venezuela. She loved it."

Maria's mother, who prefers not to drive, hasn't had to get behind the wheel since she and her daughter moved into their new La Vita ("the life") residence last May. "Every day she walks to mass at our Lady of the Rosary, stops for tea, and picks up bread at Solunto's. And now she enjoys taking the trolley to Fashion Valley and Mission Valley shopping centers."

The couple also purchased an investment condo at Nexus (G and Ninth in the Gaslamp) which will be completed in a year. They may "turn it" upon completion, a popular activity among Downtowners. Or they may hold onto it and rent it out. The couple is planning to sell their two existing residences to buy a larger space together. And they are shopping for a downtown venue for their upcoming wedding, perhaps the University Club or onboard the USS Midwayor the Star of India - options abound.

And they plan to start a family. But don't look for them to head to the 'burbs - they can't think of a better place to raise kids than the vibrant downtown area. "There are plenty of small parks here and Balboa Park and all those museums are just up the hill," says Michael. "Here we have easy access to culture like the Symphony and the theatre that you might not think to take advantage of if you lived in the suburbs."

A PASSION FOR POOCHES AND DOWNTOWN LIVING

When Jenna Fasack first moved downtown in late 1997, she was disheartened to find there just wasn't much available for pets. "In fact," she said, "there wasn't much in the way of services for residents, period. Not even a corner market." What a difference a decade makes. Now Ralph's is a neighborhood stalwart and an Albertsons is coming soon to her East Village neighborhood. Jenna, meanwhile, has solved the shopping dilemma for downtown dog-lovers with her Lucky Dog pet boutique. Her first shop on Fourth Avenue was just 500 square feet; she has since expanded into a 1,500 square-foot Market Street spot. Lucky Dog stocks designer clothing, carriers, leashes, collars, beds, "blankies," baked goods, toys and treats for terriers, poodles, and all their canine brethren.

And while Jenna and her husband Ian may be a young couple, they're doggedly pursuing their downtown investment strategy.

They can keep an eye on the construction of their two adjacent residential units, now nearing completion at M2i (a CityMark development) from their second-floor unit at Park Boulevard East (a D.R. Horton development), just two blocks away in East Village. They bought the Park Boulevard condo as an investment but then decided to move in, along with their fawn pug, Sam, after selling their last downtown abode at a tidy profit. "We move a lot," sighed Ian, "but it sure has been worth it."

Ian was the first to live downtown. After graduating from Arizona State and selling cell phones to the media covering the Republican National Convention, he discovered City Front Terrace apartments across the street from the Convention Center. Then he and Jenna began dating, and were soon married. When City Front underwent a condo conversion, they debated on buying there but chose to purchase a larger unit at 235 Market.

"My family are all New Yorkers," Ian says. "And Jenna and I love big cities; the vitality, the nightlife."

"It's all about possibilities," said Jenna, who immediately caught the spirit of downtown revitalization and wanted to be part of it. Like two-thirds of their fellow downtown residents, the Fasacks are under 35 years of age. "Yes, we want to start a family now," says Jenna. "And we'll absolutely stay downtown."

Ian works for Cisco Systems in Sorrento Valley, but Jenna, a former Cisco employee, is content to be a small business entrepreneur. "Sam and I usually walk to work," she says. "He's one lucky dog."

EMPTY NESTERS DISCOVER A GRANDE NEW LIFE

Sue Welch shares one of the best-kept secrets in town: "If you go to Morton's before a Padres Game and order a drink and a food item - my girlfriend and I split a salad - the restaurant passes out free steak sandwiches. And they are the best anywhere."

It's just one of the delights of living downtown that Sue and her husband Glenn "Ace" Welch have discovered in their first year of living on the 20th floor at The Grande South, Bosa Development's 221-unit luxury high-rise development on Pacific Highway.

The empty nesters moved from their two-bedroom Coronado condominium where they had lived for 12 years. Prior to that, while raising their two boys, they lived in a Coronado "Country Club" home and earlier in Navy housing near the Amphibious Base, where Ace was base commander. Sue was the first to explore downtown, says Ace, but once he saw the view and upgrades at The Grande, he was ready to hop across the water.

Sue much prefers bay views over ocean. "At night the ocean is dark," she says. "But the bay is always full of life - sailboats, cruise ships, and the fireworks!"

Speaking of cruise ships, the Welches have decided it's time to climb aboard. They'll be departing with a bevy of Coronado friends on an Oceania Cruise in January with stops in Vietnam, Cambodia, Canton, China and Hong Kong. And they have no worries about security in their absence.

"It's turnkey here," says Sue. "We don't have to be home to receive packages or dry cleaning. Everything is taken care of for us."

Of all their moves, this is their first into a new home. "And now we have brand-new everything," says Sue. "Bosch and Dacar appliances, granite countertops, hardwood floors and surround sound for our HD rearprojection TV."

This summer, the Welches celebrated their 40th anniversary with a renewal of vows ceremony at their new home. Amid family and close friends, Coronado Community Church's minister Tom Warmer performed the ceremony with the couple standing in the balcony doorway, on the threshold of this new chapter of their lives, with the Embarcadero panorama spread out at their feet.