Shadowridge, Vista, CA

Shadowridge got its start in 1981 as a master-planned community in the southern hills of Vista, and the whole plan was drawn around a golf course. That fairway backdrop is what separates it from the older grid near downtown, and the neighborhood keeps a tidy, landscaped look on its curving streets close to the Carlsbad and San Marcos lines. Homes range widely, from small studio condos up to big custom houses. Plenty of them sit in association complexes, such as Shadowridge Sunrise, where single-level houses built in 1989 back onto the golf course and share a pool and spa. Other streets hold detached homes with no association at all. Outdoor time centers on the parks along Lupine Hills Drive. Thibodo Park sits inside the neighborhood at 1150 Lupine Hills, and Shadowridge Park is just past the eastern edge at 2101. Buena Vista Park, a pond with open space around it on Shadowridge Drive, is a few minutes west, and South Buena Vista Park off Mountain Pass Circle sets aside off-leash hours for dogs. The southern end of the neighborhood takes in part of the Vista Business Park along La Mirada Drive, and that is where the drinks are. Hidden Hive makes its own mead and pours it from twenty taps at The Saloon, its tasting room at 2332 La Mirada Drive, which it shares with Wild West Mead Company. Mother Earth Brew Co. runs a taproom close by on Thibodo Road. With more than twenty breweries across the city, a fair number of them sit in the business park blocks around here. For groceries, Shadowridge residents head to the Albertsons at 1601 South Melrose Drive, just west of the neighborhood, or to Stater Bros. on Sycamore Avenue. Errands mean driving, and State Route 78 crosses the city to the north for trips toward Oceanside or Escondido. Warehouses and truck traffic on the business park side share the southern edge with homes, so the quiet depends on which street you are on. On the residential side, though, many back windows open onto fairways and ridgelines instead of a neighbor's wall.