Gearing up for an urban lifestyle requires a mixture of mental preparation and stockpiling of a new type of essentials. Going straight to the experts, we spoke with established Downtown residents and asked them to supply a list of must-haves for newbies. All say that, armed with tolerance and understanding, the adaptation from suburbia can be smooth.

Nancy Caine and her husband, Paul, moved Downtown 11 years ago from Bonita. The desire for a lifestyle change began six years earlier when she started to volunteer at the Downtown Information Center. People were telling her how much they enjoyed the lifestyle and she was intrigued by the changing landscape. “I was looking for city interaction,” she says. Caine admits her husband thought he was moving for the benefit of taking the trolley to Padres games at Qualcomm. He later realized the move put the couple four blocks from Nordstrom. Then the Padres moved into the hood.

Caine says the most significant change for many households will be the shrinkage of space, both inside and out. This requires getting smarter about how space is used, maybe even turning to a company like California Closets, she suggests. “(You need) something to increase storage, because it doesn’t exist down here,” she says.

Space also is alloted in different configurations, as Julie Dillon discovered when she realized her bedroom closets were jumbo sized while other storage space was limited and small. To make use of tiny balconies, Dillon suggests a little gas barbecue. Dillon also suggests using earplugs temporarily. “There is noise from trains, fire engines and people,” she says. “Some people say earplugs are the answer. After a short time, I no longer noticed it.”

Get a few good pairs of walking shoes, because walk you will and more than you expect. “Be prepared for the ability and the freedom to walk everywhere,” says Dillon. “Be prepared for freedom from the car.” Dillon and her husband, Jim, are temporarily living in Point Loma while their condo at The Pinnacle is being completed. (They previously lived at CityFront and Horizons.) The couple already misses being able to walk out their front door and go to dinner or a Padres game. They have season tickets, but for now found themselves spending nights at home watching on television. “We usually never have to worry about a traffic jam or where to park,” Dillon says.

That brings to mind the baseball schedule. No Downtown resident should be without one. For residents who don’t work Downtown, the schedule is a reminder to get back home early or maybe stay out later. Another pocket necessity is the little fold-out map of Downtown. One resident says he enjoys being able to hand it out to tourists and visitors, making them feel at home.

While skates and skateboards are used by some to weave their way through 92101, Wayne Metlitz promotes a bicycle along with a helmet as a way to easily navigate construction traffic and general congestion. Because sometimes you have to drive, or have visitors who must, don’t forget the parking meter cards that can fill a meter then recover unused minutes.

Metlitz, who now works in sales and marketing for the Douglas Wilson Cos., purchased a unit in the Harbor Club in 1996 as a second home. Later, he moved to Parkloft, where he resides today. Metlitz has worked as an on-site project manager for Park Place and was a member of the Centre City Advisory Committee. New residents need to understand the movement of freight trains, he says, not only for the noise but for the realization that it may make crossing into different parts of Downtown difficult at certain times of the day.

Closer to home, new residents should read up on homeowners associations. Metlitz says new residents should be active participants in their HOAs and get to know their counterparts in other buildings. “People have an obligation to be on their board,” he says. “They should know what they can and can’t have on their balconies and they need to realize they may give up some rights and have to share some things with their neighbors.”

But it’s not all HOA rules and regulations. “One of the best things,” Metlitz says, “is to have friends in other condos that have amenities you don’t have.” His development has a gym but not a pool, so he visits friends and spends time with them at their pools while they may come work out with him in the gym.

Along with the furniture, Downtown residents encourage new neighbors to bring their spirit and enthusiasm for living together in an exciting new space.