University City, San Diego

Geography

The campus of the University of California, San Diego, from which the area derives its name, is to the west of the center of the neighborhood. Many of the professors teaching at UCSD live in the UC neighborhood.

There are two distinct parts of University City divided by Rose Canyon, featuring the Rose Canyon Open Space preserve, and railroad tracks passing through it. South of Rose Canyon lies the older part of University City, built in the 1960s and historically referred to as University Square, centered on Governor Drive. It is a mostly residential neighborhood along Governor Drive with many single family homes. Just southwest of the Governor Drive exit from I-805 is a commercially zoned area containing office parks with low-rise buildings. South UC was developed primarily in the 1960s and 70s.

The topography of University City includes mesas and canyons such as Rose Canyon, San Clemente Canyon, and finger canyons that provide much of the open space. The canyons provide wildlife habitats with about 100 bird species migrating through the area plus natural views and opportunities for hiking, biking, and birding. The canyons are fire-managed and thus present small wildfire risks. In addition, motorists drive around the canyons, with I-5, Genessee Ave, and the I-805 being about 1 mile apart from each other.

Neighbors

University City's neighbors include:

Fauna and flora

The wildlife in Rose Canyon has over 99 species of birds including the California gnatcatcher and California least tern which are considered endangered and listed federally as threatened species. The flora of the Rose Canyon is known for its vernal pools. The pools are located on the east end of the canyon adjacent to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar). Endemic endangered species have included the Orcutt's brodiaea (Brodiaea orcuttii), San Diego button celery (Eryngium aristulatum parishii), San Diego golden star (Muilla clevelandii), spreading navarretia (Navarretia fossalis), prostrate navarretia (Navarretia prostrata), California adder's tongue fern (Ophioglossum californicum), California Orcutt grass (Orcuttia californica), and San Diego mesa mint (Pogogyne abramsii).

Economy

University City's economy is anchored by the University of California, San Diego campus which forms the north part of the community. Southern areas of University City are composed of a mix of single family homes, a retirement community, and a few condominiums. The north-central area, known as the "UTC" area is composed of a dense mix of condominiums and apartment complexes.

Besides containing three local shopping centers, there is also a large regional shopping mall referred to as UTC. This University Towne Center shopping mall is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Genesee Avenue and La Jolla Village Drive in University City. It is anchored by Sears, Nordstrom and Macy's. The north-eastern mesas of University City started to be developed for industrial and corporate use in 1991, and are home to several biotech, computer and financial companies. The northern part of University City also contains two major hospitals, Scripps Memorial and UCSD's Jacobs Medical Center, with surrounding medical office buildings. North University City was developed primarily in the 1980s and 1990s, and rapid growth and development continue. The UTC region was the site of a 2003 fire bombing of a condominium complex, causing 50 million dollars in damage to the La Jolla Crossroads apartments The ostensible reason for the bombing concerned the overdevelopment of the UTC area.

Housing prices average in the 500,000s, ranging from about 300,000 to 1+ million University City also has some parks, three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and a police and fire station.

The shopping center at Governor and Genesee is anchored by a Vons grocery store and a Rite Aid pharmacy. Another shopping center anchored by Sprouts Marketplace is to the west at Governor and Regents. The third shopping center is located in the "La Jolla Colony" area in north University City, and it is also anchored by a Vons grocery store.

Infrastructure

The Rail Authority has mentioned University City as a possible location for a California High-Speed Rail station. However, the location has been removed from current consideration.

Currently, the only major public transit infrastructure in this area is the SuperLoop bus rapid transit which circulates through the area, and local bus service provided by San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District. The Mid-Coast Trolley extension will provide San Diego Trolley service to this community by 2018. Also, the University City Tunnel has been proposed for existing Pacific Surfliner and Coaster service. However, with an estimate cost of over $450 million, it is not considered a high priority.

The only connection between UTC and South UC (not including the bordering 8-lane freeways Interstate 5 and Interstate 805) is the four-lane Genesee Avenue. The City of San Diego also wants to extend Regents Road by building a bridge over Rose Canyon This plan has been strongly opposed by a local group calling itself Friends of Rose Canyon. The argument has been going on for years.

Regents Road bridge

During the original planning of University City, Regents Road was planned to be connected by a bridge running through Rose Canyon. With so much construction going on at the same time, Regents Road was put on hold and was not connected from Governor Dr to Nobel Dr. 40 years later, the canyon is now surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

Some residents want the bridge constructed due to the time it takes for emergency vehicles to be transported between southern and northern University City. The fire department claimed that: "A bridge or the widening of Genesee Avenue would shorten response time for emergency vehicles in the neighborhood. It has one of the slowest response times in the city." Along with emergency centers nearby, Rose Canyon provides the perfect environment for wildfires in UC. An emergency such as that would require evacuation, which for the citizens of UC would only leave one escape route, Genesee, already one of the busiest streets in the city.

Other residents want to cancel the construction of the bridge due to the disruption to wildlife and the community. The proposed bridge would be across Rose Canyon.

History

On March 10, 1989, a pipe bomb attached to the minivan of a woman exploded while she was driving near the University Towne Center mall. She was the wife of Will C. Rogers III, the captain of the USS Vincennes (CG-49) who gave the order to shoot down Iran Air Flight 655. She escaped the blast. Initially, it was suspected to be a terrorist retaliation for the downing of the airliner, but the investigation shifted away from this hypothesis. At this time, the bombing is still unsolved.

The San Diego California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was completed in 1993. It is the 45th operating temple of the LDS Church in the world.

On August 1, 2003, arson, alleged to be eco-terrorism, destroyed a housing complex under construction at the east side of UTC. Many residents awoke to find popcorn-shaped ashes littering their backyards and streets.

Intuit's consumer tax group was located here until August 2007, when they relocated elsewhere in the city of San Diego.

On December 8, 2008 at approximately 11 AM (PST) a military F/A-18 bound for the nearby military base crashed into several homes destroying them on the southeast corner of Cather Avenue and Huggins Street. The pilot ejected and was not injured. There were four civilians killed on the ground by the impact and fire that followed.

Education

There are five public schools in University City:

Culture

Recreation

Several golf courses are recognized as children-friendly, unique in the area:

Some parks and recreation centers are also available: