North Clairemont, San Diego, CA

North Clairemont runs along the top edge of the Clairemont mesa in San Diego, where the land falls away into San Clemente Canyon and State Route 52 runs just beyond. It was part of the original postwar plan that Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener sold as a village within a city, and the community name itself came from Tavares's wife, Claire. Homes here are mostly what that plan delivered through the 1950s and into the 1960s, which means single-story ranch houses on curving streets, many since updated with new rooflines or added rooms. A few apartment complexes and attached homes sit near the commercial corners. The blocks closest to the canyon rim feel the most tucked in, with brush and oaks behind the back fences. Marian Bear Memorial Park takes up the canyon below, with 467 acres and about three miles of shaded creekside trail plus steeper paths that climb back to the mesa. MacDowell Park on Arvinels Avenue is one of the easiest ways down to it, and Gershwin Park on Conrad Avenue has tennis and basketball courts for closer-to-home exercise. The north entrance to Tecolote Canyon Natural Park is also in the neighborhood. Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Clairemont Drive hold most of the places to eat. Aladdin Cafe on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard has a big vegetarian menu alongside Mediterranean plates such as Turkish tajine. Arely's French Bakery on Clairemont Drive is the local coffee stop, with French pastries, tarts and cream puffs baked fresh each day, plus a sit-down breakfast and lunch menu. Clairemont Town Square, where the neighborhood's two main boulevards cross, covers the errands, with a Vons, discount stores and plenty of quick food. The North Clairemont Library is on Clairemont Drive just south of the center. Getting out is easy by car, with State Route 52 along the north edge and Interstate 805 to the east, while the trolley is down the hill on Morena Boulevard. Walking is limited outside the shopping centers, and most trips involve a car. Still, the canyon is close to everyone, and in North Clairemont a weekday lunch break can turn into a creekside walk under sycamores without leaving the neighborhood.