Morena, San Diego, CA

Morena takes its name from a land subdivision mapped back in 1887, but today it reads as a busy commercial seam of San Diego between Mission Bay and the mesas. Interstate 5 and the boulevard of the same name run along its western side, Bay Park climbs the hill to the north, Linda Vista rises to the east, and Mission Valley opens up to the south. Food along Morena Boulevard is the main reason locals pass through on purpose. Sardina's has served Sicilian cooking there since 1970, under the same family since 1986, and people come for the house-made pasta and chicken parmigiana. A few doors up, Morena Provisions mixes a lunch counter, a wine shop and shelves of local artisan foods, and the Bird Rock Coffee Roasters cafe on the boulevard pours coffee from a roaster with a long run of Good Food awards. Small taco shops, a Greek grill and several bars fill in the rest of the strip. Housing is mostly attached. Condo and townhome complexes line Friars Road, among them Presidio Place, The Courtyards and the hilltop Friars Village, most with shared pools and tennis courts. The University of San Diego campus also falls inside the neighborhood's lines, which brings a steady flow of campus traffic. Tecolote Canyon Natural Park starts here, at the nature center on Tecolote Road, with miles of trail heading north up the canyon floor. Tecolote Community Park, with a recreation center, sits a little farther along the same road. Mission Bay's eastern shore is just across the freeway for running and biking. Transit is a real strength. Trains on the Blue Line call at the Tecolote Road station on West Morena Boulevard, with trains south to Old Town and downtown and north through Clairemont to UC San Diego. Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 both pass close by. Choice of home is narrow. Anyone set on a detached house with a yard will usually look up the hill in Bay Park or Linda Vista instead. For a condo owner, though, Morena puts the trolley, the canyon trail and a plate of Sardina's pasta within easy reach of one another.