Cherokee Point, San Diego, CA

Cherokee Point is the wedge of City Heights in San Diego that sits south of University Avenue, with Interstate 805 along its west side and State Route 15 along its east until the two freeways meet at its southern tip. A ZIP code line runs down an alley near 37th Street, so some listings call the western blocks North Park, but people who live here tend to treat the 805 as the real dividing line. Homes are a dense mix of older houses and apartment buildings on small lots, the same pattern you see across City Heights. Front yards are modest, curbs stay parked up, and one block can mix detached houses with multi-unit buildings. For its size, the neighborhood has a surprising amount of park land. Park De La Cruz on 38th Street covers almost seven acres and includes a large city recreation center, and the smaller Cherokee Point Park sits farther north on the same street. Cherokee Point Elementary opens its fields to the public through a joint use agreement, which adds another patch of grass to the mix. Food runs along University Avenue. Super Cocina is the name most people know, a cafeteria-style room where the stews change daily, staff let you taste before ordering, and the chile rellenos have a following. Sabores Colombianos, a few doors east, serves bandeja paisa, empanadas and arepas con queso. Small produce stands and corner markets fill in for quick errands, and Barons Market, just west of the neighborhood line on University, is the closest full grocery. Getting around is easy by bus or car. Routes 7 and 10 run the length of University toward North Park and Hillcrest in one direction and deeper into City Heights in the other, and both freeways have ramps at the edges of the neighborhood. Those same freeways wrap two sides of Cherokee Point, and the blocks closest to them hear traffic around the clock. University Avenue is busy and commercial rather than pretty. Still, a rec center, two parks and a daily changing pot of guisados all sit within walking distance of most front doors here.