Southcrest, San Diego, CA

A freeway that was never built shaped Southcrest. State Route 252 was planned to run through this San Diego neighborhood toward Interstate 5, older houses were cleared in anticipation, and when the route was dropped the land turned into tract homes and, later, parkland. Until the 1980s the area was considered part of Shelltown, and some residents still use the old name. Single-family homes first appeared in the 1950s and 1960s, and the tract houses built on former freeway land filled in the gaps. National Avenue and 40th Street are the main roads, Mountain View wraps around the north and east, and Chollas Creek passes through on its way to the bay. The old freeway corridor is now the best outdoor space. Southcrest Trails Park, at Beta and Birch Streets, reopened in 2018 on 2.6 acres with trails lined with exercise stations, a skate area, a basketball court, gazebos, grills and an amphitheater. The 252 Corridor Park keeps a stretch of Chollas Creek as natural habitat, Dorothy Petway Neighborhood Park sits on Acacia Court, and the Southcrest Recreation Center on Newton Avenue hosts the local recreation council. Groceries are easy. Northgate Market, at 1410 43rd Street, is the full-size supermarket, and taco shops line 43rd Street near it. For something sweet, Paleteria La Michoacana on National Avenue, a few blocks north in Mountain View, sells paletas and mangoneadas. Neighbors also turn out for yearly block parties. Interstates 5 and 15 meet near the western edge, and 805 is a short drive east, so commutes start fast. The western side faces freeway traffic and the industrial edge of Barrio Logan, and that noise carries. Still, Southcrest has something unusual for an older neighborhood: a long green corridor where a highway was supposed to go, now used every day by people walking, skating and grilling.