Bay Terraces, San Diego, CA

Paradise Valley Road cuts Bay Terraces in two, with North Bay Terrace on the slopes above it and South Bay Terrace stepping down toward State Route 54 and Bonita. It covers more ground than any other neighborhood in San Diego's Skyline-Paradise Hills area, and from its higher streets the view reaches across the South Bay toward Coronado. Most of the houses are tract homes from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The city annexed the land in 1969 and later opened a former canyon tract to building, and some sections sat half finished for years before construction picked back up, so a few streets look a bit newer than the ones beside them. Single-family homes dominate, with larger apartment complexes along South Meadowbrook Drive. The bridge that carries South Woodman Street over SR 54 has carried the names of Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz since 2015, and the freeway below it also carries the name Filipino American Highway. Bay Terraces Community Park, better known as Tooma Park, covers about 12 acres on Tooma Street with ballfields, half courts, a fitness course, a playground and a senior center. Boone Park adds more grass, and Sweetwater Regional Park sits just across SR 54 in Bonita. The village center where Alta View Drive meets South Woodman Street holds a Ralphs plus a strip of quick Chinese, pho and pizza counters. Over on South Meadowbrook Drive, Mi Familia Supermarket shares a corner with a cluster of taco shops near the Skyline Hills Village Center. The Skyline Hills Branch Library sits at 7900 Paradise Valley Road, Morse High School stands on the northern side of the neighborhood, and Bell Middle School is in South Bay Terrace. SR 54 is the fast way out, and most trips start in a car. Bay Terraces is built for driving. Iron bars and driveway gates are common on the houses, and the hills and scattered shopping centers make walking to errands rare. Drive up one of the ridge streets near sunset and the bay, Coronado and the downtown towers all line up in the gaps between rooftops.