When asked about the community, most people’s first reactions are, “Where is Bay Park?” Although it’s mostly known for cool breezes and proximity to Downtown San Diego, Bay Park is still a growing community. Bay Park is a relatively new neighborhood in the northern area of San Diego. Built on hilly terrain, Bay Park is bordered on the North by Bay Ho, on the East by Claremont and Linda Vista, Mission Bay and Pacific Beach to the West, and Morena to the South.

Neighborhood Facts

•    Bay Park sits atop hills that overlook Mission Bay, which was first named “False Bay” by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542.
•    Median listing price for Bay Park homes is about $510,000, with
•    Median selling prices around $420,000.
•    The average household income is around $45,000 per year.
•    Bay Park schools include Toler Elementary School, School of the Madeleine, and Holmes Elementary School.

Home and Design

The home architecture in Bay Park is typical of most homes in the San Diego area. Some homes adopt a classic California Spanish style. Other homes incorporate aspects of the beachside cottage, allowing for exposure to beautiful sunsets and cool ocean breezes. Newer homes in Bay Park take into account coastal proximity and design trends of the day, with some touches that call back to the area’s Spanish roots. Because Bay Park is a developing neighborhood, potential residents can seek home contractors to bring their personalized home design to life, or update an existing home with a kitchen or bathroom remodel.

Coronado, often referred to as Coronado Island, is just one of the many beautiful resort cities located in San Diego County. Just a little over 5 miles south of downtown San Diego, Coronado is one of the most upscale places to live in the United States. The city is part of a peninsula connected to the mainland by a ten mile strip of land called the Silver Strand.

According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,697 – an increase from the 24,100 citizens reported in the 2000 census.  This resort town is probably best known for the historic Hotel Del Coronado, but the Crown City has its own rich history and culture.

A Brief History of Coronado

In the early nineteenth century, before Coronado was Coronado, the land was used as a harbor for whalers, who built hide houses in order to carry out their work. The land was still under Spanish control, but 1821 marked Mexico’s independence from Spain.

Land grants were issued and the peninsula we know today as Coronado changed many hands before it was purchased by Elisha Babcock, Jr., Hampton Story, and Jacob Gruendike on November 19, 1885. Babcock invited Heber Ingle, his brother-in-law, and a railroad stockholder named Josephus Collett to become mutual investors. These founders then organized the Coronado Beach Company on April 7, 1886, planting the seeds for current day Coronado.

Work on the new town began promptly with the division and landscaping of lots. Water and irrigations systems were constructed and railroad tracks were laid. The San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company was established on April 16, 1886 with the ferry completing its first run in August.

Lots were auctioned off in November. With the community finally coming together, the founders hired architects James and Watson Reid to design the Hotel Del Coronado in March of 1887. The hotel opened its doors February 19, 1888.

Construction and development continued in the area, eventually including a naval base in North Island.

The Hotel Del Coronado

The Hotel Del Coronado is a famous beachfront luxury hotel, officially designated as a historic landmark. The hotel has played host to many celebrities and persons of interest, including Prince Edward. The hotel was known as a playground for Hollywood’s finest by the 1920s and was the venue for numerous parties during the Prohibition era.

Schools and Education in Coronado

The school district includes several public schools:

-        Silver Strand Elementary School

-        Village Elementary School

-        Coronado Middle School

-        Coronado High School

The Coronado School of the Arts is a school-within-a-school, located on the Coronado High School campus.

Private schools in the area include Sacred Heart Parish School and Christ Church Day School.

Architecture, Design, and Style

Home design in Coronado embodies a unique style that reflects the town’s proximity to the sea. Homes features classic California Spanish design while incorporating aspects of the beachside cottage. The Hotel Del Coronado is a beautiful example of the wooden Victorian beach resort, a remnant of an American architectural genre that still stands out today.

There are many old homes in downtown Coronado, so remodeling is very popular and property values have held up well making home improvement a great investment.

Popular Coronado projects are Kitchen Remodeling, Major Home Makeovers, Second Stories, Room Additions, and View Decks.

La Mesa is a city in San Diego County and is inland, about twelve miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Because of this distance from the coast, temperatures are generally warmer and dryer than the weather that people might traditionally associate with San Diego.

The city is bordered on the west and north by the city of San Diego, Spring Valley and Lemon Grove on the south, and El Cajon on the east.

In Spanish, La Mesa means “the table” or “the plateau”, a reference to the area’s geography.

A Brief History of La Mesa

After Spanish colonization, the area that is now La Mesa became part of Mission San Diego de Alcala. Following Mexico’s independence and the division of Californian land, Robert Allison arrived in San Diego and purchased 4,000 acres of land, which is now part of south La Mesa.

The construction of railroads caused massive growth in 1885. John Harbison purchased 4,000 acres of land from the Arguello estate. In 1887, the San Diego Flume Company purchased Harbison’s land and filed a subdivision map. The area was named La Mesa Colony.

The year 1894 marked a major growth period. A.S. Crowder and Joseph Allison filed the La Mesa Springs subdivision map. Streets were graded. The La Mesa Store and blacksmith shop were built near current La Mesa Boulevard.

In 1906, Sherman Grable purchased 100 acres of land in the Date Avenue area from David Collier, a local land developer. Along with Charles Park, Grable formed the Park-Grable Investment Company, developing 200 acres into 1000 lots. The city was officially incorporated February 16, 1912.

Population Over the Years

• La Mesa began with a mere handful of people. By the time it was incorporated, the city boasted a healthy 700 residents.
• After World War I, the population grew to 1,600.
• With the business area’s further expansion east and west after both World Wars, the city became home to 11,000 people in 1950.
• By 1960, the population more than doubled to 30,000 citizens.
• Today, nearly 60,000 live in La Mesa.

Style of Homes

Much of the city still retains the look and design of its Spanish-Californian roots. The homes are no different, reflecting the history of the land and the traditional functionality of the times. Many home design and contracting companies draw off of these historical influences while still including a modern look and feel.

Popular home remodeling projects are room additions for growing families, second stories and major kitchen remodeling.

La Jolla is a seaside community, occupying seven miles of coastline along the Pacific Ocean, and home to hundreds of beachside residences and a variety of businesses.

A Brief History of La Jolla

La Jolla was originally settled by the Kumeyaay. Research and archaeological findings show that these natives settled the coastline about 10,000 years ago.

La Jolla’s land eventually became incorporated into San Diego in 1850, though the area lacked any permanent settlers. Nineteen years later, two brothers, Daniel and Samuel Sizer, each bought a plot of land. These 80 acre plots were sold to the brothers at $1.25 an acre.

Frank Botsford joined the brothers in 1886, purchasing his own plot of land and developing it. Botsford proceeded to survey, subdivide, and auction pieces of land.

In 1890s, the railroad brought even more growth and development. Real estate developers took interest in the town’s coastal property and built resorts to attract visitors. La Jolla became an artist colony, bringing newspaper heiress Ellen Browning Scripps, who was generous with her wealth. Today, we see her name on several landmarks in La Jolla and beyond, such as the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Ellen Browning Scripps Park.

Population Over the Years

Over the years, La Jolla has seen quite a boom in population growth.

• At the beginning of the twentieth century, La Jolla had a modest 350 residents.
• Between 1900 and 1920, La Jolla’s economy strove from tourism, and at the end of World War I, the town grew to 4,000 citizens.
• The stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression devastated development in La Jolla with only a few new homes built. When World War II began, La Jolla was home to 7,700 people.
• After World War II, service members settled in La Jolla. Large subdivisions sprouted up on mountain slopes, while old horse trails were cemented over for further development. By 1960, over 17,000 people lived in La Jolla.
• Today, La Jolla is home to well over 40,000 people.

Style of Homes

The look and design of La Jolla’s homes has been affected by the area’s coastal environment as well as the trends of the day. Mixing the beach cottage look with a California Spanish style and sleek, modern trends, construction companies and architects sometime preserves La Jolla’s historical designs, but often design and build to current trends.

Most of the homes in La Jolla are constructed well structurally.  A large number of homes are in the coastal zone, but exempt as long as 50% of the existing exterior walls are maintained.  Popular projects are major home renovations where all but the minimum amount of walls are left, and the entire home is rebuilt.  This often includes second stories and walking view decks.  Being that the home values are very stable in La Jolla, the area is one the most consistent areas for home improvement in San Diego County.

San Diego has several different regions and communities, some coastal and others far inland. If you move to San Diego, you can choose a cool coastal breeze or a hot desert landscape. But, there is one specific area where you can have the best of both worlds, Scripps Ranch. The city is smack dab in the middle of San Diego County and has a climate that is not too hot and never too cold. It is not a mountain town that freezes over or a desert landscape full of cacti. In fact, the city is famous for its abundance of shady Eucalyptus trees, popular lake, and numerous annual events that bring the community together. Residents can go boating and fishing in the Miramar Reservoir which provides a fun alternative to driving out to the famous San Diego beaches that are only 20 minutes away. Scripps Ranch is such an attractive place to live that even members of the NFL own homes in the area.

Scripps Ranch is located just east of Interstate 15, north of the Miramar Air Force Base, and south of the city of Poway. In a 30 minute or less drive, residents can be downtown, at the beach, in the mountains, or even in wine country. The approximate population is 32,476 but the city still feels like a small town community. There are four elementary schools, one junior high school, and one high school in Scripps Ranch, all of which are high performing institutions. The area is primarily residential and is very family friendly. The majority of the homes in the area have between two and four bedrooms and the median income is $124,438. Seventy-eight percent of the households are family households and the crime rates are significantly lower than the rest of the state and country, making Scripps Ranch a great place to raise a family or retire.

With construction costs and interest rates low, it is a great time to remodel.  There are several sensible remodeling options that will increase the value of your home.  Some popular Scripps Ranch projects are remodeling outdated kitchens and/or bathrooms, room additions for growing families, and total home makeovers.

Exterior remodeling can include new doors, windows, stucco and re-roofing with fire rated materials.  Customizing your home’s interior and exterior will create a fresh and modern look that will give you pride in ownership.

Many Scripps Ranch homes are still at risk during fire season. The most important projects to consider for fire protection include roof replacement, exterior renovation, new paint, landscape remodeling and outdoor spaces.