Sunbow, Chula Vista, CA

Most of Sunbow's streets came out of a single plan. The Sunbow Planned Community took shape in Chula Vista in the late 1980s on about 700 acres east of the older neighborhoods around Third Avenue, mapped as a blend of houses, apartments, condos, shopping and open space, and that mix still defines the area along East Palomar Street. Homes range from established detached houses and condo complexes to some of the newest construction in town. Lennar has been adding three collections of attached homes around Zulu Road and Obediah Loop, two to four bedrooms each, with a shared pool, spa, clubhouse, fitness room and courts for pickleball and half-court basketball. The older tracts sit on curving residential streets off East Palomar Street. Veterans Park is the neighborhood's big public space, 12 acres on East Palomar with ball fields, a gymnasium inside the recreation center, a skate park and a fenced dog park. Sunbow Park on East Naples Street is the smaller, quieter option, and Lennar's own paperwork points buyers to kayaking at Otay Lake farther east. Dining inside the boundary comes down to a couple of shopping centers on East Palomar. Lolita's has a Sunbow location at 601 East Palomar, part of a South Bay chain going since 1984 and known for carne asada fries, super quesadillas and mini tacos. Third Avenue, west of here, is the place to go for a longer list of restaurants and coffee shops. Ralphs at 659 East Palomar is the grocery store, with a Starbucks in the same center, so the weekly shop rarely takes more than a short drive or a walk. Medical Center Drive also runs through the neighborhood, and East Palomar carries traffic east toward Heritage and Otay Ranch. If you want independent restaurants on your block, look elsewhere. Sunbow trades that for a park with a real gym and skate park, a full grocery store within reach, and homes that run the span from the first plan to buildings still going up.