Colina Park, San Diego, CA

Two of the busiest commercial streets in Mid-City frame Colina Park, the slice of San Diego's City Heights that sits between El Cajon Boulevard on the north and University Avenue on the south, east of Euclid Avenue. Talmadge rises to the north, El Cerrito lies past 54th Street, and the blocks in between are some of the most built-up in the area. Homes run from older single-family houses on the interior streets to multi-family buildings that fill in closer to the boulevards. City Heights began as East San Diego, its own small city until 1923, and suburban houses filled these streets in the decades that followed. Food is the strong suit. El Cajon Boulevard through Colina Park is lined with Vietnamese counters serving pho, fresh rolls and banh mi. Along the same stretch, World Foods Supermarket stocks Asian groceries, and its sister store, Vien Dong on University Avenue, covers the other edge of the neighborhood. In between you will find Ethiopian and Peruvian kitchens, Mexican bakeries and taco shops, plus a handful of halal and African markets. Open space is thinner than in the canyon neighborhoods of southern City Heights. The closest small park is Wightman Street Neighborhood Park, a few blocks south across University. For longer walks, the City Heights Canyons Loop starts in Azalea Park, an easy bike ride away. Getting around is easy without a car. Buses run along El Cajon Boulevard and University Avenue, and the freeway-level transit stations on State Route 15 sit a short ride west. Interstate 15 and Interstate 8 are close for drivers. Traffic and noise from the two boulevards carry onto the nearest blocks, and parking can be tight on streets with apartments. The payoff is a neighborhood where a bowl of pho, a full Asian supermarket and a bus stop are all within a walk of most front doors.