Mountain View, San Diego, CA

Mountain View takes its name from the open view east to San Miguel Mountain, and the neighborhood sits on one of the flattest plateaus in southeastern San Diego. The trolley tracks run along its north side, National Avenue along the south, while I-805 and State Route 15 frame the east and west sides, and Greenwood Cemetery and part of Mount Hope Cemetery sit along its edge. Homes line a level street grid. The flat ground makes walking and biking easier here than in the hilly neighborhoods nearby. Murals brighten walls along Ocean View Boulevard near I-15 and give drivers coming off the freeway a splash of color. Mountain View Park is the neighborhood's center of gravity. The 11-acre park borders Mount Hope Cemetery, was dedicated in 1914 and has a community center at 641 South Boundary Street, tennis courts and room for events. In the 1960s it was known for car shows. A few blocks away, the Mountain View/Beckwourth Library on San Pasqual Street, which honors the mountain man and explorer Jim Beckwourth, was dedicated in 1976 on land tied to the nearby Educational Cultural Complex and has an outdoor reading area. National Avenue handles groceries, with Foodland Mercado at 3550 National stocking the weekly basics alongside a few small shops. For chain errands, the Imperial Marketplace center off Imperial Avenue near I-805 has a Starbucks and several quick bites. Buses on routes 3 and 11 reach the library area, and both freeways are a few minutes from any block. The Orange Line runs along the northern edge, with stations just outside the neighborhood. Freeways on two sides and cemeteries on a third keep Mountain View somewhat cut off from its neighbors, and traffic noise reaches the edge blocks. Inside that frame, the park, the library and National Avenue's corner shops are all within an easy, level walk.