Del Cerro, San Diego, California

Del Cerro (Spanish for "of the hill") is an upper middle-class neighborhood with a small selection of high end homes in the eastern part of San Diego, California, USA and the Navajo community. It includes a few sub-communities such as Del Cerro Highlands, Princess Del Cerro,and Olde Del Cerro . It neighbors the communities of San Carlos, Allied Gardens, College Area, Grantville Lake Murray and the city of La Mesa. Over recent years a portion of the community has decided to oppose the expansion of San Diego State University, which is seeking to build affordable housing for university teachers and graduate students, on land currently owed by the university.

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Del Cerro Blvd. contains the community's only commercial area including Windmill Farms, a Chevron station, two liquor stores, a Mexican restaurant named Mi Guadalajara, a coffee shop, and a day spa and a corner store. Windmill Farms provides a portion of the community with groceries including organic foods and competes with near-by full selection grocery store Albertsons in Allied Gardens and Keil's in San Carlos.

History

Del Cerro began as an affordable housing project with the secondary purpose to develop eastern San Diego, securing a primary transportation path to San Diego proper. Del Cerro developed with surrounding communities into a diverse cultural center. During the 1960's and 1970's many Jews living in San Diego proper decided to migrate toward the Del Cerro area. This decision was based on a belief of racism and a desire to protect their cultural rights and persons from perceived abuse by other San Diego residents.

Today, as the Jewish community has generally migrated to northern coastal San Diego, few Jewish home owners still reside in their homes. Thus the community is losing its stereotype as 'Hannukah Hill.' Many residents of Del Cerro enjoy lush views from the hill that extend as far as the Coronado Islands.

Local Newspaper

* "Mission Times Courier", greater area community newspaper delivered to and covering Del Cerro news http://www.MissionTimesCourier.com

Local Public Schools

*Phoebe A Hearst Elementary School located in Old Del Cerro on Del Cerro Blvd.
*Patrick Henry High School located on Wandermere Ave. [http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd7/communities/pdf/delcerro.pdf]

Community Events

Annual Block Party
*Annually held in Lower Del Cerro on Glenmont Street and Marne Avenue. Live bands, food, and entertainment for children is included.

Fourth Of July
*The private Del Cerro Park Pool opens its doors for a Fourth of July party with food and games.
*A fireworks celebration is held in the neighboring community, Lake Murray, which can be seen by Del Cerro Highland residents. The fireworks celebration is partially funded by Windmill Farms in Del Cerro, and is attended by many people who live in surrounding communities.

Trivia

Professional Golfer Phil Mickelson was born and raised here [http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2005/news/litke081505.html] .

External links

*Del Cerro Action Council [http://delcerrocommunity.org/]
*The Foundation to Stop the SDSU Expansion [http://savedelcerro.com/]
*PGA News [http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2005/news/litke081505.html]

References

*Hearst Elementary "http://www.sandi.net/comm/schools/elem/hearst.html"
*Patrick Henry High "http://henry.sandi.net/"
*Government Community Listings "http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/index.shtml"
*San Diego Daily Transcript "http://www.sddt.com/Community/cityinfo_visitor.cfm?Com_ID=14&Cat_ID=5"