Rancho Bernardo is a

master-planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in the northern hills of the city of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

Geography

The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

s and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral biomes of Rancho Bernardo are

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

, Southern California

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and freshwater marsh/ riparian habitat. The community is a sprawling community with shopping centers, golf courses, and office parks typical of San Diego development located about north-northeast of downtown

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, immediately east of 4S Ranch, north of Carmel Mountain Ranch, northwest of the city of Poway, and south of the city of Escondido.

Climate

Rancho Bernardo has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( Köppen ''Csa''). Rancho Bernardo has warm, dry summers and mild winters. Rainfall is relatively sparse, and most rain falls between December and March.

History

Pre-Colonial

The pre-colonial history of this area is divided into an early (prior to circa 900 BCE) and a late period. The period of habitation is from around 850 CE to 1790 CE. The peoples believed to have occupied this site are the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

(formerly known as Diegueno/Ipai), although there are strong traces of Luiseño as well. During the late period, the Westwood Valley complex was a village located along an intermittent stream bed. This village was likely known to the Kumeyaay as ''Sinyau-Pichkara.'' The area the village occupied is now under the western section of Ranch Bernardo near Duenda and Poblado Roads.

Post-Colonial

Rancho Bernardo is located on the Rancho San Bernardo Mexican land grant made between 1842 and 1845. In the 1960s, Rancho Bernardo was annexed by San Diego. The area was developed by AVCO Community Developers until their involvement ceased in 1984. On October 22, 2007, the

Witch Creek Fire The Witch Creek Fire, also known as the Witch Fire and the Witch-Guejito–Poomacha Complex Fire, was the second-largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season, and the largest one of the October 2007 California wildfires. Although the ...

burned through Rancho Bernardo and several other populous areas of

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

, destroying hundreds of homes, and completely destroying several entire neighborhoods, particularly ones that firefighters had trouble accessing due to rugged terrain and rapidly advancing flames pushed by strong

Santa Ana winds The Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) "Scholars who have looked into the name's origins generally agree that it derives from Santa Ana Canyon, the portal where the Santa Ana River -- as well as a congested Riverside (CA-91) Freeway -- leav ...

. The highly unpredictable flames pushed into the northeast section of Poway during the day, prompting evacuation of Palomar-Pomerado Hospital. The neighborhoods of the Trails, Montelena and Westwood were the main areas hit in Rancho Bernardo.

Economy

The Carmel Mountain Ranch/Rancho Bernardo submarket is the fifth largest office space submarket in San Diego County, with over 6 million square feet of office space. It is part of an "I-15 edge city",

edge city ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or rura ...

being a major center of employment outside a traditional downtown.

Tourism

There is an annual carnival-type street fair, ''RB Alive!'', during the summer. Rancho Bernardo is also home to the oldest-operating winery in the region, the Bernardo Winery, established in 1889 and family-owned and operated since 1927.

Industry

Rancho Bernardo is home to the corporate headquarters of Sony Electronics, Inc. and a major office of Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC. Other companies with a presence in the area include

General Atomics General Atomics is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, specializing in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion energy. Th ...

, Broadcom,

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

, Renovate America,

Teradata Teradata Corporation is an American software company that provides cloud database and analytics-related software, products, and services. The company was formed in 1979 in Brentwood, California, as a collaboration between researchers at Caltech ...

LSI Corporation LSI Logic Corporation, an American company founded in Milpitas, California, was a pioneer in the ASIC and EDA industries. It evolved over time to design and sell semiconductors and software that accelerated storage and networking in data center ...

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

, ASML,

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

. Located in a business park, there are approximately 50,000 workers employed by these companies.

Education

The area is part of the

Poway Unified School District Poway Unified School District is a school district located in Poway, California. The district operates 26 elementary schools (grades Preschool–5), seven middle schools (6–8); five comprehensive high schools (9–12); and one continuation hig ...

Schools

Primary * Creekside Elementary School * Highland Ranch Elementary School * Shoal Creek Elementary School * Turtleback Elementary School * Westwood Elementary School * Chaparral Elementary School * Painted Rock Elementary School Secondary *

Bernardo Heights Middle School Poway Unified School District is a school district located in Poway, California. The district operates 26 elementary schools (grades Preschool–5), seven middle schools (6–8); five comprehensive high schools (9–12); and one continuation hig ...

* Rancho Bernardo High School

Notable people

* Bob Miller (baseball, born 1939), former baseball pitcher

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

, St Louis Cardinals,

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

References

External links

San Diego North Chamber of Commerce
(formerly Rancho Bernardo Chamber of Commerce)
Rancho Bernardo Historical Society Web siteScouts BSA Troop 667 (boys only)Scouts BSA Troop 1667 (girls only)
{{authority control Neighborhoods in San Diego North County (San Diego County) Planned communities in California Edge cities in the San Diego metropolitan area