Fletcher Hills, El Cajon, CA

Fletcher Hills takes up the northwest side of El Cajon, from the hills developer Ed Fletcher laid out in 1927 and 1928 down to Parkway Plaza and the runways of Gillespie Field. It mixes hillside streets, a regional mall, a college campus and a working airport inside one set of lines. Homes in Fletcher Hills are largely single-level ranch houses and midcentury designs, many built in the 1950s and early 1960s, with the occasional Mid-Century Modern house showing off walls of glass. The streets of the Fletcher Hills Highlands climb highest, and plenty of homes up there look across the valley toward Mount Helix. Townhomes and duplexes fill in elsewhere. Bill Beck Park on North Pierce Street has a fitness course and playground, Hillside Park has a big grassy field and walking trails beside its recreation center, and the city's Fletcher Hills Center adds a public pool. For a real hike, the Cowles Mountain trailhead on Mesa Road in Santee is close by. The Barbecue Pit on Fletcher Parkway is the old-school pick, known for slow-smoked beef ribs, brisket, pulled pork and baked beans. Errands mostly happen along Fletcher Parkway, where Aldi, Smart and Final and a long row of chain restaurants sit near Parkway Plaza and its Regal theater. The Fletcher Hills Library is on Garfield Avenue, and Grossmont College sits on the western edge. The Copper Line trolley stops at Arnele Avenue and Gillespie Field on its run between Santee and the main transit center, and Interstate 8 and Highway 67 frame the south and east. Gillespie Field, a busy county airport with several flight schools, is the neighbor everyone mentions. Small planes in the pattern can be loud over parts of the neighborhood, and some residents have pushed for limits on low-flying traffic. On the bright side, the San Diego Air and Space Museum keeps an annex on Kenney Street. Up on the Highlands streets, the whole valley spreads out below, a view the flat parts of El Cajon cannot offer.