Mira Mesa (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for " Table View") is a community and neighborhood in the city of

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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The city-recognized Mira Mesa Community Plan Area is roughly bounded by

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

on the east,

Interstate 805 Interstate 805 (I-805) is a major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass auxiliary route of I-5, running roughly through the center of the Greater San Diego region from San Ysidro (part of the ...

on the west, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon on the north and

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the av ...

on the south. Most of the community plan area is referred to as Mira Mesa; the community plan area also includes the neighborhoods of

Sorrento Valley Sorrento Valley is a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is located about 17 mi (27 km) north of Downtown San Diego and its main airport, Lindbergh Field. It is roughly bounded by Interstate 5 and Interstate 805, Camino Santa Fe t ...

and Sorrento Mesa. The Mira Mesa neighborhood, as defined by the San Diego Police Department's neighborhood map, is roughly bounded by Interstate 15 to the east, Camino Santa Fe to the west, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon to the north and Carroll Canyon to the south.

History

Prior to European settlement, Mira Mesa was inhabited by 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 ...

peoples who lived along Penasquitos Creek. After Mexican independence, the land became part of the

Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos was a Mexican land grant in present-day southwestern San Diego County, California given in 1823 to Francisco María Ruiz. The name means "Saint Mary of the Little Cliffs". It encompassed the present-day c ...

land grant to Francisco María Ruiz in 1823. Around the time of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the area now called Mira Mesa was used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

as a test area. Just west of

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

(now Interstate 15) was a

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

auxiliary landing field, known locally as Hourglass Field because the layout of the runways was a single piece of

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

in the shape of an hourglass. The Navy also used the surrounding area as a bombing range. Starting in 1969 there was a housing boom in the area that now extends from the I-15 freeway in the east to I-805 in the west and is approximately 10,500 acres (42 km²). This was one of the earliest areas of urban sprawl along the I-15 Corridor. Hourglass Field became the site of

San Diego Miramar College San Diego Miramar College (Miramar) is a public community college in San Diego, California. It is part of the San Diego Community College District and the California Community Colleges System The California Community Colleges is a postsecon ...

and Hourglass Field Community Park. The area was built so quickly that it lacked schools, shopping centers, or other services for its thousands of residents. In 1971

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...

started his political career running for mayor with the slogan "No more Mira Mesas!" as a promise to stop quick, unplanned growth in San Diego. Since its inception, Mira Mesa was largely influenced by the military located at the adjacent NAS Miramar. Mira Mesa was the northernmost "real community" of San Diego, and was separated from the rest of the city by NAS Miramar for many years. By the late-1990s, the Mira Mesa area had undergone extensive expansion to accommodate the thousands of new residents attracted by its proximity to major employers like the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, ...

, and dozens of biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Several commercial and industrial centers have been built within the Mira Mesa area.

Demographics

Mira Mesa has about 80,000 residents, including students, families, and single people. There are over 23,000 homes in the community, averaging 3.09 people per household. The median age is 32.4 years.

Arts and culture

* The Mira Mesa Street Fair is held the first Saturday in October on Camino Ruiz on the block just north of Mira Mesa Boulevard. The fair is sponsored by the Mira Mesa Town Council. * Annual San Diego Tet Festival is held at Mira Mesa Park on Lunar New Year Weekend.

Sports

* Mira Mesa girls' softball, for ages 12 and under, won the state championship in 1999, 2005 and 2006.

Education

It is in the

San Diego Unified School District San Diego Unified School District (formerly known as San Diego City Schools) is the school district based in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1854. As of 2005 it represents over 200 institutions and has over 15,800 employee ...

; Elementary schools * Ericson Elementary School * Hage Elementary School * Hickman Elementary School * Jonas Salk Elementary School * Mason Elementary School * Sandburg Elementary School * Walker Elementary School ; Middle schools * Challenger Middle School * Wangenheim Middle School ; High schools *

Mira Mesa High School Mira Mesa Senior High School (MMHS) is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District. The school is recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and a California Distinguished School. The school has an overall rating of 9.6/10 accor ...

Private schools

* Christ the Cornerstone Academy * Good Shepherd Catholic School (

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego The Diocese of San Diego is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Southern California, United States. Its ecclesiastical territory includes all of San Diego and Imperial Counties in Southern California, wi ...

) * Mira Mesa Christian School * Rainbow Kids Integral Preschool

Community colleges

Miramar College San Diego Miramar College (Miramar) is a public community college in San Diego, California. It is part of the San Diego Community College District and the California Community Colleges System The California Community Colleges is a postsecon ...

Weekend education

In the early 1990s the Minato School (a Japanese weekend school) held its classes at Wangenheim Junior High. However it moved to

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

in 1996.

Media

* ''Mira Mesa Living'', a community newspaper publishing local news and events, started publishing bimonthly in July 2010. The previous community newspaper, the Mira Mesa Scripps Ranch ''Sentinel'', stopped publication in July 2009.Mira Mesa has a community radio station at 87.9 * The ''Mira Mesa Times'' newspaper

Infrastructure

Emergency services

The

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of San Diego, California, United States. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is the second-largest municipal fire department in the s ...

provide fire services to Mira Mesa through Fire Station #38 and Fire Station #44. Fire Station #38, which includes Engine 38, Truck 38, and Paramedic 38, is located on New Salem Street near the main Mira Mesa Park and Recreation Center. Fire Station #44 is located at the corner of Black Mountain Road and Maya Linda Road. It includes Engine 44, Truck 44, and HAZMAT 1 and 2. Mira Mesa is served by the Northeastern division of the San Diego Police Department. A police storefront located adjacent to the Epicentre along Mira Mesa Boulevard serves the local area including Scripps Ranch.