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Eastern San Diego

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Nicely dressed bedroom communities of San Diego cluster in this region, where housing styles include two-story single-family homes, condos, apartments, and townhouses. Longing for a shopping mall in your backyard? San Diego’s shopping mecca, Mission Valley, steps up to the task.

Eastern San Diego’s neighborhoods include:

Allied Gardens
Del Cerro
Mission Valley
Serra Mesa
Tierrasanta

View healthcare facilities in Central San Diego

Allied Gardens
Part of San Diego’s first post-World War II subdivisions, the homes of Allied Gardens had a ready-made market when they appeared in the early 1950s. Not long afterward, in 1961, resident demand brought about the Allied Gardens Recreation Center.

Today, Allied Gardens’ two most defining attributes from its childhood years also are its most enduring—its homes and its rec center. Bungalows, cottages, and ranch-style homes from the 1950s and 1960s are complemented by more modern apartments. Amenities at the beloved rec center include basketball courts, tennis courts, a pool, and a playground.

The middle-class neighborhood sits within six miles of downtown San Diego. It also offers fields for Little League, soccer, and Pop Warner Football (a non-profit organization that provides football games for youth).

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Del Cerro
You might say that Del Cerro erupted onto the local real-estate market—nearly 120 million years ago. Back in those days, volcanoes spewed lava everywhere in the region. When the lava cooled, it became the dark volcanic rock that makes up the bulk of Del Cerro Hill.

Times are much calmer now on “the Hill,” as locals call it. Modern development, which began in 1960, placed Del Cerro’s more prestigious homes on the hill’s slopes for views east to mountains or west to the ocean. It’s no wonder that the hilly neighborhood’s very name means “of the hill.”

The Del Cerro Community Association operates Olympic-sized pools and children’s wading pools; courts for tennis, basketball, and volleyball; and a kids’ play area.

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Mission Valley
What’s the mission of Mission Valley? In 1769, it was religion, as home to the San Diego area’s first mission. Today, Mission Valley’s goal seems to be to appeal to every segment of the population.

Shoppers come for the multitude of malls and independent stores. Sports fans come for the Padres and Chargers games at Qualcomm Stadium, formerly Jack Murphy Stadium and San Diego Stadium. Nature lovers come for the 51-acre Mission Valley Preserve, which sandwiches the San Diego River that runs through the community. Overnight guests come off Interstate 8, which hugs Mission Valley, for the small herd of hotels. And the faithful can still attend the original Mission San Diego de Alcala, restored in 1931 as a functioning parish church.

Residentially, Mission Valley primarily offers apartments and condominiums, which feature inspiring views when located on the valley rim.

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Serra Mesa
A hand-me-down among neighborhoods, the acreage of Serra Mesa was given to the Catholic Church by the king of Spain. After winning independence from Spain, Mexico ended the system of missions and decided in 1834 to sell the lands of such. Don Santiago Arguello, the commandant of San Diego, was granted acreage that he divided and sold, the present-day Serra Mesa included.

The suburb’s modern history began with apartments that were built after the Korean War for U.S. Navy personnel. Current housing consists primarily of single-family units constructed from 1950 to 1980. Bordered by I-15 and I-805, Serra Mesa provides an easy commute to downtown San Diego. Access to healthcare is easy as well, thanks to the Children’s Hospital San Diego and Sharp Memorial Hospital in adjacent Kearny Mesa.

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Tierrasanta
With a name that translates to “holy land,” it must be good. And Tierrasanta doesn’t disappoint. This middle- to upper-middle-class community was San Diego’s first master-planned suburban community, founded in 1971. Its 2,321-unit Murphy Canyon Naval Housing development, once the U.S. Navy’s largest housing facility, accounts for one-fifth of the community’s dwelling spaces.

Utility lines run underground for an unspoiled view of the area’s hills, mesas, ravines, and canyons. Along with neighborhood parks, hiking trails, and essential businesses (such as grocery stores), the bedroom community boasts lushly landscaped housing developments with California-style ranch homes, well-manicured lawns, and sidewalks. Housing choices include one- and two-story single-family homes, townhouses, condos, and apartments.

Locals have nicknamed Tierrasanta “the island in the hills” for its well-defined borders. The community is bounded by Miramar Air Station, Mission Trails Park, Friars Road, and Interstate 15.

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Healthcare facilities in Central San Diego:
Alvarado Hospital Medical Center
Children’s Hospital San Diego
Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center/Kaiser Foundation Hospital
Scripps Clinic
Sharp Grossmont Hospital