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

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

Geography

Australian Shepard on Rancho Bernardo Hiking Trail

The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, 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 t ...

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

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

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 dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and

freshwater marsh A freshwater marsh is a non-forested marsh wetland that contains shallow fresh water, and is continuously or frequently flooded. Freshwater marshes primarily consist of sedges, grasses, and emergent plants. Freshwater marshes are usually found ne ...

/ 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 coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, immediately east of 4S Ranch, north of Carmel Mountain Ranch, northwest of the city of

Poway Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city had a population of 48,841 as of the 2020 United States census. Poway is part of San Diego's Eas ...

, and south of the city of Escondido.

Climate

Rancho Bernardo has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''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 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the 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 Uni ...

(formerly known as Diegueno/Ipai), although there are strong traces of

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

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 San Bernardo (also, Rancho San Bernardo) is a village in Chihuahua, Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the ...

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

made between 1842 and 1845. In the 1960s, Rancho Bernardo was annexed by San Diego. The area was developed by

AVCO Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

Community Developers until their involvement ceased in 1984. The Rancho Bernardo Inn opened at the center of the development in 1963. On October 22, 2007, the

Witch Creek Fire The Witch Creek Fire, also known as the Witch Fire, was the second-largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season, burning of land in San Diego County. Fanned by powerful Santa Ana winds, the Witch Creek Fire rapidly spread westwa ...

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 southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

, 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, occasionally referred to as the devil winds, are strong, extremely dry katabatic winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California. They originate from cool, dry high-pressure ...

. 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 An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...

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 campus of

Petco Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. is an American Pet store, pet retailer with corporate offices in San Diego and San Antonio. Petco sells pet food, products, and services, as well as certain types of live small animals. Founded in 1965 as ...

, which is 300,000 square feet and includes a dog park and other play spaces and habitat for wildlife. The neighborhood also has an office 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 (GA) is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion en ...

Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data cen ...

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, Renovate America,

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

LSI Corporation LSI Logic Corporation was an American company founded in Santa Clara, 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 dat ...

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

, ASML,

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

and

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

. 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 based 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 hi ...

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 *

Rancho Bernardo High School Rancho Bernardo High School (RBHS) is a public high school in San Diego County, California. It is part of Poway Unified School District. The school was opened in 1991 as the district's third high school. Enrollment For the 2019-2020 school ...

In popular culture

The Rancho Bernardo Inn was used as a movie set for the film ''Traffic''.

Notable people

Bob Miller (baseball, born 1939) Robert or Bob Miller may refer to: Business * Robert Hugh Miller (1826–1911), American publisher * Robert William Miller (1879–1958), founder of Australian coal mine and shipping company RW Miller * Robert Warren Miller (born 1933), America ...

, 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

St Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central Division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

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