The big condominium and rental projects get all the glory, but it is the smaller low-rise projects that add color and panache to the Downtown housing scene. The giants look great in the aerial photos, but from street level, where most people are, it often is the smaller projects that attract the eye and provide variety and aesthetic interest.

Fortunately, Downtown is blessed with a panorama of low-rise housing that is the saving grace in an area destined to be nearly overwhelmed with high-rise development. Admittedly, towers greatly enhance densification and create a setting wherein retail, entertainment and service firms can prosper. If Downtown were to offer nothing but low-rises, the number of people living and working in the area would be insufficient to allow the retail and service market to flourish.

Nonetheless, it would be a dull Downtown without the low-rises.

My new best low-rise find is Olson’s CityWalk in the Marina District at Union and Market streets. This 109-unit, five-story project certainly isn’t small by most measures, but in an area that is going to be blanketed with 30-plus story buildings, it is a midget. Sherm Harmer, under whose baton the project was built, should be congratulated for his sensitive attention to detail and wonderful street scene. Martinez and Cutri, the architects, have designed what may become a landmark.

Somewhat closer to the Gaslamp Quarter, Intracorp has developed two quality low-rise projects: Crown Bay and Pacific Terrace. Crown Bay, with 86 units, faces Children’s Park and provides a strong front without overwhelming the green space. Pacific Terrace, just about complete, is a 57-unit project at a scale appropriate for the historic district.

On the rental side, it is worth a walk up to State and Fir streets to see two rather interesting architectural monuments. The first is Ted Smith’s steamer-reminiscent smoke-stack Essex Lofts apartments and the other, Jonathan Segal’s Titan. In both cases, the architect also was the developer. I can see both from my office window. Smith’s is, by far, the most unusual in terms of elevations and I often scratch my head and wonder what he was trying to accomplish. Titan, although highly creative and very well done, almost looks dull next to Smith’s project. But it’s not. And its townhome units with two-story living rooms are a joy to behold.

Segal is a gutsy and creative entrepreneur who ventured into Downtown development well before it was fashionable. He recently was named a Fellow by the American Institute of Architects. Segal’s first successful effort was 7 on Kettner, developed a decade ago tangential to the trolley tracks near Harbor Drive. The townhome units originally sold for $259,000 to $549,000. A rare bargain.

Yet another interesting success for Segal is a very courageous entry into East Village, before it was called East Village. This 36-unit Moto rental loft project at Ninth Avenue and G Street is highly contemporary and very functional. Most units are 600 square feet and have a Pullman kitchen. The bedroom area is in the upstairs loft. It was the first rental project in East Village to exceed $2 per square foot in rent, something that the other new projects Downtown are now trying to achieve.

While in that neighborhood, take a look at the Rowhouses on F between Tenth Street and 11th Avenue. Kevin deFreitas, architect and developer, created the 18 three-story single family detached townhomes on a 20,000-square-foot site. The structure is concrete, built with pre-formed walls trucked to the site. The units are three inches apart and, when the windows are closed, are soundproof. Notably, the units, which are now worth more than $500,000, are principally occupied by 30-something bachelors, although one owner is nearing 50. Each unit has a one-car garage, each seemingly replete with a BMW convertible. (It’s possible that the homes were delivered with the BMW already in the garage. I must ask about that.)

Back to Segal for a minute: He is responsible for wrapping the legendary Waterfront Bar on Kettner Street with 42 rental units. This wonderfully creative effort should be applauded for its strong contemporary flavor and for leaving in place one of San Diego’s most cherished hangouts.

Segal also pioneered the human-sized condominium project Downtown, although defect litigation has soured him on building more. To date, he has built three four-story condominium projects, all in the 15-20 unit range, and all, in Segal style, contemporary. As you walk around Downtown, the Segal condos can be seen at Columbia and Fir streets, Second and Island avenues and The Brickyard on the trolley tracks near Harbor Drive.

Although not exactly Downtown, three highly creative small projects in the Bankers Hill/Mission Hills area deserve mention. The first is Joe Sapp’s exceptionally creative redo of the old and seriously ugly San Diego County Water Authority Building at Fifth Avenue and Spruce Street. Talk about turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse, or gold, in this case. With 5th Avenue Lofts, the developer has created 24 loft units in the 800-1,000-square-foot range and loaded each with hardwood floors, high-quality cabinetry and a sea of granite countertops.

The Commons at Mission Hills is a 50-unit rental, condominium and retail project on Washington Street developed by Carter-Reese and ConAm. Designed by Carrier-Johnson, it perfectly mirrors the architecture in Mission Hills and has the obligatory Starbucks as its first retail tenant. The project also has six 2,200-square-foot townhomes affixed to its eastern perimeter. The townhomes sold last year for $660,000 each. One has just turned over for $800,000.

The third project worthy of mention is Mayfair Homes’ seven-townhome Bristol Square in Mission Hills at Lewis and First. With garages off the street, tucked into arched courtyards, and with generous tropical landscaping, the street scene is unusually pleasant. I would like to see a lot more housing of this genre in our urban areas. They would even fit into our City of Villages concept.

Finally, stroll up to Cortez Hill for a tour of CityMark’s 16-unit Cortez Hill Condominiums. Built in 2001 with minimal fanfare, this charming project sold out in a timely manner to an audience that appreciates its 1,400-1,940-square-foot townhomes at the then-unusually reasonable price of $370,000 to $550,000. Needless to say, the project could never be repeated at those prices, but those who bought are, no doubt, reveling in their intelligent acquisition prowess.

Fortunately for Downtown, several other small projects are in the planning stage or under construction. In Little Italy, there is Bella Via by Carrier-Johnson Architects and Lambert Development, the team that gave us the classy high-rise Renaissance towers. It, no doubt, will win a Gold Nugget and an Orchid. Also in Little Italy, Hawthorne Place, with 24 units, is under construction at India and Hawthorne. It will occupy a prominent corner and, as we go to press, all units already are reserved.

Still to come in the “It’s A Small World” category are AVRP’s Avion at 15th and Market; and Graham Downs’ Neuhauf Ateliers and Tenth & G Haus projects.

San Diego’s urban core continues to evolve into a more interesting place to live, work and visit. Some weekend soon, take a walking tour of Downtown, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills and Hillcrest. Little by little, each is gaining an increased sense of place and attracting the yuppie and empty nester market that, until now, has had scant opportunities to become part of a “big city” vibrant urban scene.

Alan N. Nevin is director of economic research with MarketPoint Realty Advisors (www.marketpointra.com), a consultancy providing real estate and demographic statistics, feasibility studies and litigation support to the California land use industry and legal professions.