One of my first calls when I launched Uptown 11 Studios was to the Adams Avenue Business Association.
I told them about my company’s connection to the neighborhood, explaining that I’m a Normal Heights resident and that I started my business on the patio of neighborhood café bica.
Uptown 11 Studios, itself, is named after the #11 train that used to bring residents from the Santa Fe Depot up to Adams Avenue in the early 1900s.
Long story short: I had a stake in Adams Avenue and wanted to support the AABA’s efforts to revitalize the neighborhood. And I wanted to start by building them a new website.
Life and business have taken plenty of twists and turns since then. The AABA wasn’t yet ready to commit to a redesign. Still, they set me off on another important project: building branded partnerships for the organization while spending the year documenting their flagship events.
We set out in early 2024 to start building relationships with groups that cared about San Diego’s neighborhoods and wanted to invest in their futures. In 2024, we helped the AABA raise almost $100,000 of new revenue while connecting with some of San Diego’s leading community-minded organizations, who helped to underwrite events like the Adams Avenue Street Fair.
The best part? We got to tell some amazing stories along the way.
We worked for months on the redesign, integrating images from the AABA’s amazing events, as well as photography that documented the neighborhood and the shop owners and personalities that comprise the city’s historic business district.
We’re proud to be able to support the neighborhood in this effort. The AABA’s site is a place to learn more about Normal Heights, Kensington and Antique Row. It’s a destination for anyone searching for a local business or looking to discover what’s happening in the area’s governance. It’s a place to market and share details on some of San Diego’s favorite events and for the organization to collect revenue to support them.
The Adams Avenue Business Association’s success is all of our success. Its staff, contractors and volunteers are responsible for everything from hanging street light banners to trimming the trees, to ensuring the conditions are in place for businesses to thrive along Adams Avenue and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The front page of the new site invites you to “Discover and Explore Adams Avenue.” Taking a trip through the pages of the website is just the first step to accepting that invitation.
The real fun begins when you start to discover and explore the Avenue in real life.
