Neighborhoods, City of San Diego
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92117, 91711, 92110
Large
middle-class neighborhoods situated
between Interstates 5 and 805, east of Mission Bay, north of downtown San Diego
and the international airport. Clairemont is also called Clairemont Mesa. www.mccormacks.com
Good
commutes. Many homes have views of Mission Bay and Mission Valley. School
scores generally land just above or below the 50th percentile.
Clairemont
had zero homicides in 2005, one in 2004 and zero in 2003, 2002 and 2001, Linda
Vista-Bay Park, one in 2005, zero, zero, zero and one. See Crime.
Many
streets are well maintained. Good places to shop for homes if your budget is
tight and you want to be near the job centers: the airport, the downtown,
Kearny Mesa, Sorrento, UC-San Diego, driving distances 5 to 10 miles.
Populations
2006: Clairemont Mesa, 79,892; Linda Vista and Bay Park, 33,216.
After
1900, San Diego started to move north out of its downtown and erect homes on
lands that had scattered housing but were mostly empty. This land was typical
San Diego: mesas, hills, ravines, in many places steep. www.mccormacks.com
The
first housing went into Bay Park, which overlooks Mission Bay, probably in the
1920s. Small, built on sometimes narrow streets, the homes were marketed to the
middle class and, in design, many recognized the motor vehicle by incorporating
a small garage into the house.
Came
World War II and housing boomed and the boom continued after the war. General
Dynamics had large plant in area.
Veterans
took advantage of the G.I. Bill to buy their first homes. Developers carpeted the
hills and mesas with three-bedroom homes: one story, family room, often two
bathrooms, garage large enough for the monster cars built in the 1950s.
Schools,
parks, churches and stores and commercial strips followed. Also churches,
libraries, social clubs, rec centers, restaurants, the pleasures, comforts and
solaces of any neighborhood. About 12 neighborhood parks, two regional parks,
one of which, Tecolote Canyon, travels for miles through Clairemont. Two golf
courses.
In
1949, the University of San Diego (Catholic) was opened, a beautiful campus
built on a hill. The post war era also saw the opening of Mesa Community
College, current enrollment about 22,000.
Colleges add zest to their surroundings because they offer classes and
activities open to local residents. www.mccormacks.com
Freeways
rounded out the picture. They made it possible for residents to get around
easier and to get to work faster. Besides Interstate 15 and Interstate 805,
there's Highway 63, which cuts through Clairemont and merges into Interstate
805. Interstate 8 runs along the south border, Highway 52 along the north. If
you want to find a freeway fast, this is the place.
All
the neighborhoods are crisscrossed by four-lane arterials, the most important
of which are Balboa Avenue, east to west, and Genesee Avenue, north-south.
The
building continued into the 1960s before the empty parcels started to run out.
A few homes are still going up, mostly in small lots that were bypassed in the
boom. In 2006, SANDAG counted in Clairemont Mesa 20,852 single homes, 11,538
multiple units and 317 mobiles. Linda Vista tallied 3,451 single homes, 7,585
multiples and 220 mobiles.
In
the 1950s, planners were figuring out the basics of suburban building.
Clairemont illustrates some of their mistakes. Many homes are built along the
arterial streets; people have to back out into heavy traffic. The planners
built for families with one car, not three.
Parking
at the neighborhood shopping centers comes up short. You can make left turns on
arterial streets; you also can get a haircut or a manicure in the time it takes
for a left-turn “window” to open. www.mccormacks.com
For
these reasons, the housing showing neglect tends to be found on some arterials.
Away
from the arterials, the homes are well-maintained: lawns mowed, bushes clipped,
paint presentable. The overall feeling is one of stability. Many of the
original families remain. And you can see their sons and daughters buying in
the neighborhood. Also many newcomers. “Affordable” (by today's standards)
prices bring in newcomers.
The
“view” streets seemingly encourage people to fix up and put in more money. Bay
Park has some quaint streets that have been lavished with attention.
Miscellaneous:
•
Many cul-de-sacs. When the streets hit the ravines, often they stop. Ravines
too steep to build on.
•
Housing quality varies by neighborhood. Some very old homes look very much
their age. The same for the initial postwar housing. But in a different
neighborhood the same-type housing shows much care. Drive the arterials and
side streets for a few hours and you will see the diversity. www.mccormacks.com
•
Short drive to the Pacific and to Balboa Park and many downtown San Diego
amusements. Also just a few miles from Qualcomm Stadium, home of the Chargers.
•
Balboa Avenue is getting a facelift: bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks, more
crosswalks and trees and shrubs.
•
Both neighborhoods place about 22 percent of their residents under age 18, an
indication of many singles and empty nesters.
