El Cerrito, San Diego, CA

The little hill that gave El Cerrito its name still sits at its center, ringed by Overlook Drive, and the streets around it climb and curve in a way the flatter grid of City Heights does not. This Mid-City neighborhood of San Diego runs from 54th Street east to College Avenue, with Baja Canyon on the north and University Avenue along the south edge. Orange and lemon orchards covered the area until El Cajon Boulevard was cut through in the 1920s, and houses followed the new road. Today most of El Cerrito is single-family homes on suburban lots, and the business frontage stays on the streets around the edges and along the boulevard. El Cajon Boulevard cuts through the middle, and it carries much of daily life. Scrimshaw Coffee, at 5542, roasts its own beans and stays open all day, pouring natural wine and local beer alongside the coffee and a food menu. Farther east, Alforon serves oven-baked Lebanese cooking at 5965, and the strip near College Avenue fills in with ramen, sushi and Korean fried chicken spots that sit close to the San Diego State side of the boulevard. Northgate Market, at University Avenue and 54th Street, is the big grocery stop on the south side. Parks are scarce inside the neighborhood, so walking here mostly means the hill itself, where Overlook Drive makes a natural loop, and Baja Canyon forms a green edge along the north. Chollas Lake, a few minutes south in Oak Park, has a lakeside loop trail. Schools in the neighborhood include Horace Mann Middle School and Crawford High School. Bus routes follow El Cajon Boulevard and University Avenue, and Interstate 8 sits just north of Baja Canyon. Traffic on El Cajon Boulevard is heavy, and the homes closest to it hear it day and night. Around Overlook Drive the sound fades, and the climb back from a coffee on the boulevard is the closest thing to a workout most mornings need.