Barrio Logan

Just south of downtown San Diego, you’ll find the neighborhood of Barrio Logan. In its heart you’ll find Chicano Park which is unique for at least two reasons: it’s situated under freeway overpasses and these overpasses are covered in massive murals. Take some time to wander through the pillars to admire the absolutely enormous likenesses of the Virgin of Guadalupe and other Chicano-themed art. After checking out all the murals, stroll a few blocks north for arguably the most filling Mexican food in town at the restaurant Cuatro Milpas. Be sure to get there before the lunch time crowd when the line often stretches down the sidewalk.

The massive support structures of the Coronado Bridge fly over the old Mexican settlement now known as Barrio Logan. Over time, artists decided to reclaim their barrio and invasive bridge supports now host a vast gallery of unexpected and astonishingly beautiful murals! Some have political overtones, but most celebrate the rich Chicano culture - which includes of course the Virgin of Guadalupe, Zapata, Cesar Chavez, and Cuauhtémoc. It is definitely worth a visit!

Take a “blighted” area south of downtown San Diego, decide to put a massive bridge across to Coronado Island, and you have what could be the destruction of an historic Chicano enclave coupled with a massive concrete eye sore. Then along come the locals and they cover the bridge supports (over a fairly long period of time) with astonishingly beautiful murals. The result is Chicano Park - a shady (thanks to the bridge) open green space with surprising images everywhere! Definitely worth a visit!

While we were wandering around under the Coronado Bridge, admiring the many murals painted on the bridge support structures, we came across one of the artists at work! This is not the greatest photo, but it might give you a sense of the scale of these murals and the devotion of the local neighborhood and its artists to not be silent in the face of bureaucracy. Talk about making lemons into lemonade!