Tierrasanta, San Diego, California

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Tierrasanta, Spanish for "holy land," is a community within the city of San Diego, California.

The Tierrasanta sign located on Santo Road
The Tierrasanta sign located on Santo Road

[edit] History

Tierrasanta was originally part of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá mission ranch, which was active during the late 1700s and 1800s. The U.S. military purchased the land in 1941 as Camp Elliott, a Marine Corps training facility. In 1961, the area that is now Tierrasanta and a portion of neighboring Mission Trails Regional Park was declared surplus and sold. In the following year, the Elliott Community Plan was issued to serve as a roadmap for development going forward. Tierrasanta was founded in 1971. The current Tierrasanta community plan was issued in 1982, and included both the currently developed area and much of what is now Mission Trails Regional Park. By 1982 approximately one-half of the private residential area had been developed, with the area called Tierrasanta Norte, in the northeastern part of town, being one of the locations still to be developed. Tierrasanta has been fully built out since the early 1990s, and by the year 2000 had reached a population of 30,187 (Zip code 92124). It was one of the first master planned communities in San Diego, and the southernmost of a series of planned San Diego residential communities started in the same time frame along the I-15 corridor.

On December 10, 1983, three young boys were playing in an open space at the end of a cul-de-sac, when they found what appeared to be a rusty piece of metal. Two of the boys were killed when they attempted to knock the top off of this 37-millimeter high-explosive shell. Since then, a complete sweep has removed all remaining military ordnance. Families living in Tierrasanta had not previously been notified of the danger. After this accident, the fire department made annual visits to local schools until the ordnance sweep was completed. The developer and the city settled a lawsuit with the victims' families for a substantial amount. Later, the story appeared on the ABC-TV news magazine 20/20 with the title Bombs in Their Backyard by correspondent Tom Jarriel.

In October of 2003, Tierrasanta, among other communities in San Diego, was affected by what was known as ‘Firestorm 2003.’ This was a conglomeration of the Cedar Fire and numerous other wildfires that convened on Southern California. The residents of Tierrasanta were forced to evacuate. Nearly a dozen homes were lost to the blaze, which was a small number compared to the many homes burned to the ground in nearby Scripps Ranch. A similar scare swept through Tierrasanta in the fall of 2007, though residents were not required to evacuate.


[edit] Geography

Numerous green belts with walking paths run through the canyons. Tierrasanta is a thriving area of up-scale single family homes, condominiums, apartments, three shopping centers, a branch of the San Diego Public Library, and a research park. Also located in the community are several elementary and junior high schools rated in the to 10%, 20%, or 30% through Acadenic Performance Index (API) tests by the California Education Department, as well as Junípero Serra High School.

Tierrasanta is situated like an island, not directly bordered by any community. It is bounded on the north by freeway 52 and the sprawling southern fields of MCAS Miramar, on the east by 5800 acre Mission Trails Regional Park, which has many hiking and mountain biking trails, on the west by Interstate 15, and on the south by steep canyons overlooking the San Diego River and Mission Valley. Community activities focus on the Tierrasanta Recreation Center, which includes lighted ball fields, a large swimming pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium, and meeting rooms.

The elected Tierrasanta Community Council has responsibility for community planning and for advising the City of San Diego and other State and Federal government agencies.

Welcoming signs to the community refer to Tierrasanta as the "Island in the Hills," a reference to its clear boundaries surrounded by open public land. It is also commonly referred to by younger residents as "T-Town."

[edit] External links

Schools

Coordinates: 32°49′15″N 117°5′47″W / 32.82083, -117.09639

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