Paradise Hills, San Diego, CA

Drive up many of the cross streets in Paradise Hills and the ocean shows up as a thin band to the west. This hilly neighborhood on the southeastern edge of San Diego borders National City and Lincoln Acres, with Paradise Valley running through the middle and Paradise Creek draining toward the bay. Homes went up from the late 1930s through 1959, and the neighborhood is almost entirely single-family houses with very few apartments. Many sit terraced into the slopes, and some were angled for the view. Backyards are common and gated developments are absent, which gives the streets an open, older-suburb feel. Reo Drive is the main street, with a couple of small shopping centers where neighbors pick up takeout and run quick errands. The street also hosts ReoFest and the Holiday in the Hills celebration, which draw neighbors out each year. For recreation, Parkside Park sits on Parkside Avenue, the Paradise Hills Recreation Center and Penn Athletic Field offer more room to play, and a skate park named for Charles L. Lewis III is on Potomac Street. The Paradise Hills Branch Library on Rancho Hills Drive is a compact building, and the city has a larger replacement on its project list, with no site picked yet. Errands mostly mean a short drive. The Ralphs on Alta View Drive in Bay Terraces handles groceries, and Plaza Bonita in National City covers bigger shopping. State Route 54 and I-805 are close, and MTS Route 963 links Reo Drive to the 8th Street trolley station in National City. Walking is harder than the views suggest. Grades are steep, sidewalks have gaps on many blocks, and streetlights are sparse after dark. Paradise Hills rewards people who like a house with a yard and a horizon, and who do not mind a car for most trips down the hill.