Neighborhood, City of San Diego
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 92129
New and
fairly new community near Interstate 15 and Poway. Also called Peñasquitos
(Pain Ya Skeetos) or RP or Rancho P. www.mccormacks.com
Middle
class leaning to upscale. Family oriented. The 49,546 residents live in 15,057 units. Of these 11,122 are single
homes and 3,839 are apartments or condos. Zero mobiles.
Still
building, particularly on its west but it unclear whether the new tracts will
forge separate identities or be considered part of RP.
Highway
56, one the longest construction jobs in the history of the county, was
completed in 2004 and has spurred the construction of more homes, stores and
businesses. This freeway, named after baseball star Ted Williams, connects
Interstate 15 to Interstate 5 and speeds the drive to Sorrento Valley, UC San Diego
and downtown San Diego, major job centers.
With the
opening, builders have been hammering and nailing the land between Del Mar
Heights and Rancho Peñasquitos and it looks like the two communities will one
day come together.
Rancho
Peñasquitos is located south of Rancho Bernardo, and west of Poway and Scripps
Ranch. www.mccormacks.com
To a large
extent, these communities resemble one another. All have academic rankings in
or near the 80th and 90th percentiles, among the highest in the state. Rancho
Peñasquitos kids attend schools in the Poway district, one of the highest
scoring in the county. See Schools.
Except for
a few older homes, they all came to life about the same time: the 1960s or
1970s. Downtown San Diego and its surrounding neighborhoods were filling up.
These communities were the logical next stage out.
With
exceptions, they follow the same family of housing designs, which might be
summed up as middle-class, ranch-style suburban modern: tile roofs, stucco,
plenty of light, large closets, kitchens with gourmet touches, utility lines
buried.
Residents
express themselves artistically through interior decorations, flowers and
landscaping — often in their backyards. In some sections, homeowner
associations take care of front yards.
All are
relatively safe. They are not free of crime but have much less than older urban
neighborhoods. Rancho Peñasquitos has a storefront police station. One homicide
in 2005, zero in 2004, 2003, 2002,
2001 and 2000. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com
All have
rotten commutes to downtown San Diego, one penalty for living so far out, 20 to
25 miles in Rancho Peñasquitos’ case. But the opening of Highway 56 has made a
big difference. Many residents have local jobs. All are not far from the coast
(15 miles), and valleys let in Pacific breezes.
Although
they have their wealthy and some custom homes, all were built mainly for the
middle-class affluent. All are built around or near golf courses.
Differences
are several but probably not major. Poway is a city; the others are
neighborhoods of the City of San Diego and protected by San Diego cops and
firefighters (But they have town councils that advise on community affairs).
Scripps Ranch has a university. Rancho Bernardo has many elderly.
Rancho
Peñasquitos’ defining characteristic is kids — not scads but more than
typical suburban communities, about 26 percent of total population (and
slipping as the original families mature and the kids grow up).
When kids
are plentiful, schools get a lot of attention and so do kid sports and
activities. At one point in the
1990s, Rancho Peñasquitos supposedly had the largest Little League in the U.S.
Rancho Peñasquitos still fields a lot of playmates and games and for some
parents this is a big selling point. www.mccormacks.com
Another
point if you're a young parent: opportunities to meet and make friends with
people your approximate age and holding your approximate interests (kids).
Annual
fair gives people an opportunity to meet neighbors and elect members to the
town council. Library group raises money to encourage kids to read and sponsors
cultural events. YMCA offers swimming lessons at neighborhood and family pools
and programs for teens.
Just about all, if not all, the schools
in the Poway district have won awards for being well managed and the
high-school kids often win science and music and academic awards. The district
wins praise for its computer and technology programs.
Strong
academic push from parents, reflection of values. Census data indicates that 45
percent of residents (over age 25) have college degrees. School district offers
classes for parents to help them prepare kids for school.
In 2002,
Poway district passed a $193 million bond to build and renovate schools. In
recent years, elementary and middle schools and a high school have opened.
School district offers intensive summer academics at two local schools but the
program opened to all students in the district. See Poway for more on schools. www.mccormacks.com
Rancho
Peñasquitos is “master planned.” See Rancho Bernardo. In appearance, Rancho P
comes across as suburban tidy and, on some streets, shiny new, on others, that
have been around for 20 years, fairly new. Lawns are mowed, shrubs trimmed,
bougainvillea planted and now spilling over fences and delighting the eye.
Hills and mesas. Views of countryside from many homes.
On the
south side, a large, long canyon has
been turned into a park. Pocket parks scattered throughout. Large sports park
on hill near school. Skate park near freeway. More parks and stores are coming
with the new housing.
In 2005, a
30- acre park with playing fields opened on the west side, near new tracts.
Traditional sports. Annual Summer fiesta: music, dancing, arts and crafts,
carnival rides.
In 2006,
the local soccer team won a state championship.
Mira Mesa,
another neighborhood of the City of San Diego, borders Rancho Peñasquitos on
the south. With all the new construction, the communities just about flow into
one another but they insist upon their separate identities. See profile on
Carmel Valley. www.mccormacks.com
See
profile on Mira Mesa in this chapter for comments on helicopter noise from
Miramar Marine Air Station.
Chamber of
commerce. Phone (858) 487-1767.
• In 1983,
Ken Marsh of Rancho P was sentenced to 15 years to life for the beating death
of a three-year-old-boy. Even
after 21 years in prison, Marsh proclaimed his innocence, saying the toddler
died after falling from a couch. Prosecutors countered that the fall could not
have caused the death. The case
was reopened when it was discovered that the boy suffered from a blood disorder
that made the fall fatal. Marsh was released in 2004 and in 2006 the state paid him $756,900 after conceding he was wrongly
convicted.
• Opened
community park in 2005. Playground, basketball courts, fields. Next to a 10
acre site that will be used for an elementary school. Other parks on the way,
skate park in 2006 on Carmel Mountain Rd,. near the freeway. Black Mountain
Ranch community park, open in 2006, 30 acres, baseball and soccer fields, and
eventually a pool and a gym. At the end of Black Mtn. Rd., just past the south
side of Rancho P.
