The Natural History Museum’s Delle Willett touts Balboa Park’s shopping. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

To jog or not? That’s the question that faces Cortez Hill resident Derick Stattin every time he wants exercise. But the steep hill around his home isn’t the best place for running, so like many Downtown residents he heads for Balboa Park. “There are so many trails there,” he says. “And it’s all nearby.”

Like many Downtown residents, Stattin is ready for some more parks even closer to his doorstep. He’s a lucky one, with a new neighborhood park soon to break ground on Cortez Hill. But while City Hall struggles to fund nearly 30 acres of fresh parks and open space on Downtown’s books, residents need look only to their collective back yard.

At 1,200 acres, Balboa Park serves up San Diego’s largest slice of entertainment, culture and recreation. In 1868, city fathers had the foresight to set aside the land. The 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition defined the park’s landscape with its Spanish Colonial Revival buildings.

Today, Balboa Park offers 15 major museums, a host of theaters, concerts, drumming sessions, museums, lawn bowling, hiking, a carousel and more. The gardens range from cactus and roses to the lily pond and palm canyon. Details are at balboapark.org, but suffice it is hard to attend and not find something enjoyable to do.

“I love to go to the Zoo and my husband enjoys the Aerospace Museum,” says City Front Terrace resident Judy Berger. “We both enjoy taking classes or attending lectures at the museums.”

“There’s such a range of things to do, from walking, concerts and picnics to restaurants, gardens and theater,” says Rob Sidner, director of Mingei International Museum, which uses its space to present changing exhibitions of traditional and contemporary folk art, craft and design. “And it’s all in Downtown’s backyard.”

Established in 1922, the San Diego Museum of Art is renowned for its collections and serves as a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Its executives are amazed by the diversity surrounding the elegant institution. “I know it sounds cliché, but there really is something for everyone here,” says Chris Zook, interim director of communications. “There’s recreation, arts and culture all in one quick, easy trip.”

In time, that trip will become even easier for Downtown dwellers. A bay-to-park link along Park Boulevard, connecting the park to the waterfront and passing by Petco Park, is under construction. Downtown’s master plan also calls for covering two blocks of Interstate 5 to better connect the park with Downtown. Even still, it is a short walk, bike ride, bus trip or drive for Downtown’s rapidly expanding population and the thousands who pass through each year as tourists or conventioneers.

“It really is easy for them to get here,” says Sue Varga, director of Balboa Park Marketing. “It’s as easy as taking a bus or just driving to the park.”

‘There really is something for everyone here,’ says Chris Zook of the Museum of Art. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

To take advantage of the geographic link, park institutions such as the Museum of Art are targeting Downtown in marketing programs. Zook distributes posters to city merchants and promo cards in coffee shops, galleries and boutiques.

“We also partner with Downtown businesses on events,” Zook says. “We’re definitely keenly aware of our neighbors Downtown. Traditionally, our audiences tend to be the baby boomer generation. But our mission is to attract younger people who may not be as familiar with a fine art museum.”

More than 140 years old, the San Diego National History Museum has been operating in the park since 1933. Its rotating exhibits, housed in a recently expanded and modernized building, have resulted in exhibits that are both educational and entertaining.

And like all of the museums in the park, the retail is unique. “The museum gift shops have stuff you can’t get in the mall,” says Delle Willett, marketing director of the National History Museum. “Plus, the stores here are never crowded like the mall.”

The park’s sheer size allows it to provide something for everyone.

“It is much bigger than most people think,” says Sidner. “There’s also Morley Field with a swimming pool, a disc golf course and a golf course. But there’s plenty of open space as well. The master plan for the park controls the growth. So the area is really huge. It’s really quite amazing what’s here.”

For example, few people know the Natural History Museum has the largest rattlesnake collection in the world, that the San Diego Model Railroad Museum is the largest permanent model railroad in North America with 1.25 miles of track, or that the Moreton Bay Fig near the Junior Theater shares the state championship for the largest tree.

The diversity of activities is underscored by international influences as well, from the Japanese Friendship Garden and the United Nations Building to the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages. The cottages are open every Sunday afternoon so visitors can learn more about other countries. “You can get a taste of a country this way,” says Sidner. “It’s also a way for people from those countries to hold on to their culture.”

The park also has its share of off-beat stories. One of Varga’s favorites goes back to when city police asked that addresses be painted on building roofs, then decided against it. A park employee used some of the paint purchased for the effort to write on the roof of the Museum of Art: “Wonderful things inside.”

Sidner’s favorite, little-known spot in the park is the magic carpet fountain between the House of Hospitality and the Museum of Photographic Arts. And after working in the park 12 years, Zook is a recent fan of the rose and cactus gardens, where he now walks during lunch.

“The park is just incredible,” says Berger. “You think you’ve learned it all and then there’s more to discover.”