Downtown San Diego is filled with urban symphonic expressions. Trolley bells echo down tracks. E-bikes hum. Joggers create a backbeat as they stride along sidewalks.
Meanwhile, nearly everyone moves about the city wearing earbuds, each person matching pace to a personal soundtrack. You’d never know what people are hearing if you didn’t ask.
So The San Diego Sun asked downtowners what they’re listening to.
After finishing work, Amanda Ernst wandered toward her yoga class with Arlo Parks’ “Caroline” playing through her headphones. Having recently moved to San Diego from just outside Philadelphia, she said the city’s endless sunshine has naturally shifted the music she reaches for.
“I lean towards more positive beats,” Ernst said. “Things that just make me want to be in the sun.”
If she had to choose one song to capture this chapter of her life, it would be Olivia Dean’s “Dive.”
“I think it’s all about leaning into new opportunities and new moments,” Ernst said.
The song, she explained, reminds her of embracing uncertainty and building a new life in San Diego. For Ernst, music has become part of settling into an unfamiliar city, helping transform a simple walk after work into a moment of reflection.
Just a few blocks away along the waterfront, a group of Australians taking a break from their jobs aboard a yacht looked out across the San Diego Bay. Traveling the world means home is often thousands of miles away, making familiar songs all the more meaningful.
One chose “Running Away,” explaining that every listen brought back memories of home. Another settled on a Rufus Du Sol remix, not because of any particular lyric, but because it matched the feeling of spending an afternoon outside with friends.
“I’m just happy right now,” Sam White said. “Chilling with some mates.”
A few feet away, John Berg kept a steady rhythm on a makeshift drum kit set up along the sidewalk, tapping out beats between conversations. Music was something he listened to and created.
The California native, who recently returned after years in Seattle, said one lyric from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Black Summer” has stayed with him: “And no one stands alone behind the sun.”
Rather than describing the song itself, Berg spoke about what those words represent. The lyric reminds him that life is meant to be lived in community rather than isolation.
“It’s community,” Berg said. “I can still do things in community.”
Nearby, Noura Taha was making her way to the gym while listening to Egyptian artist Amr Diab. She described her playlists as constantly changing depending on the season, the activity and even the time of day.
“If you’re going to work out, if you’re going to go out, if you’re on the boat,” Taha said, “it just depends.”
That evening’s playlist matched the pace of the city around her – a medium tempo she described as feeling like “sunset on the bay.”
Like Taha, many people described choosing music less by genre than by vibe. The soundtrack changed with the weather, the destination or simply how they wanted the moment to feel.
Just down the sidewalk, Tarza Baban walked with Kurdish music filling her headphones. Rich with traditional instruments and love songs, she described it as deeply poetic.
Taken together, the playlists painted a portrait of downtown San Diego’s diversity. Within a few city blocks, Australian indie music, Egyptian pop, Kurdish love songs and British indie pop all blended into the same afternoon, each reflecting a different culture, memory or mood while sharing the same streets.
Asked what goes through her mind while listening to her music, Baban smiled.
“I’m just dreaming.”
Mission accomplished on a sunny San Diego day. SDSun
