Neighborhoods of La Mesa: Summit Hill

This is part of a series on the neighborhoods of the area I primarily work, which includes La Mesa, San Carlos, El Cajon and Santee. For this one, we're in the central part of La Mesa, just uphill from and wedged between The Village (aka Downtown La Mesa) and the Normal Avenue Neighborhood. I've heard this area called Windsor Hill and Pasadena Hill as well, but I'm going to use the name I learned growing up near there. Some people think it's even part of the Village, but it is a distinct neighborhood, and property values are mostly higher than The Village.

Something Unique: The public staircases for pedestrians, so they're not limited to the street routes:

The opposite end of that one:

Another one down the west side (there are five)

Summit Hill is mostly a professional neighborhood, and is bounded by Normal Avenue on the west, Fairview Avenue, all the houses above Acacia Avenue, and a line running up the hill to the Intersection of Summit Drive and Eastridge, and thence back down to Normal Avenue at the Windsor and Avon intersections. I understand that this neighborhood was the original area for La Mesa's well-to do. Most of the houses were built in the 1940s and before. They are built high enough up the hill that if there's a property without a great view in the neighborhood, I don't know about it, and the ones near the top have panoramic views of the entire area, whether they're on the western side looking towards the ocean and Mt. Soledad or the eastern side looking towards the mountains, and a lucky few get both. There isn't a better view in east county, and there may not be a better one anywhere in San Diego.

This is from about halfway up, on Pasadena looking west. I could see Mt. Soledad, but it didn't come out in the picture.

From across the street from that spot, a view of the higher parts of the hill

There are no commercial roads within the area. It's all residential, and with the exception of a few two unit places on Fairview, they are are single family dwellings. There are commercial areas all around, but nothing within the neighborhood itself.

House on Pasadena

House on Summit

Physically, the houses are mostly single story 3 bedroom or more, 2 bath or more houses from around 1500 square feet going from there on up to maybe 2500, sitting on lots of anywhere from 7000 square feet up to maybe 12000 or so, with a very few smaller than that added as fill in after most of the neighborhood. The houses are pretty much all individual. Most use the older pier support, but you there are concrete foundations in a few. The hill is essentially bedrock, so foundation issues and settling were rare in former times, and those that existed should have long since been dealt with. As of this writing, asking prices start at about 400,000, but three of the five properties for sale are asking over $600,000 and one is over $900,000. It's usually tough to find a property for sale on Summit Hill, and people earning San Diego Area Median are going to need a six-figure down payment or a major fixer (extremely rare).

There are lots of cul-de-sacs like this one, roughly 2/3 of the way up

This picture was taken by turning 180 degrees in that same exact spot. It was still a little misty, or visibility would have been better

The neighborhood elementary school is La Mesa Dale. The Middle School is La Mesa Middle School (formerly La Mesa Junior High) an SDSU partnership school, and the high school is Helix Charter. Helix, in particular, has a long record of academic achievement. Here's the most recent account Helix Accountability Report Card

La Mesa Dale School

La Mesa Middle School, an SDSU partnership school

The closest community college is Grossmont, the closest four year college is San Diego State University, which is actually closer.

view east from top of Beverly Drive (about 3/4 of the way up)

Internal view on Vista Drive (about 2/3 of the way up)

The Summit Hill neighborhood is a prestigious place to live, but it does have good transportation access. 94 can be accessed via Yale Avenue or Massachusetts, Spring Street goes to Interstate 8 and 125 as well - You should be on the freeway within five minutes of leaving your driveway. You have your choice of several major supermarkets within a mile or so. You can get to Mission Valley in fifteen minutes, downtown even quicker. The San Diego Trolley runs close to the neighborhood, although not within it - lots of people park in the lot at the Spring Street stop and ride it downtown. Major shopping centers are found at Grossmont Center (Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's, Theaters and dining), and College Grove (WalMart, Sam's Club), and there is La Mesa Springs Center just down hill from the neighborhood as well as all sort of other stores in many avenues nearby.

Three pictures of the view from Summit and Eastridge, near the top. This one looks directly west, and would include an ocean view if the mist had burned all the way off

This one is looking north from the same spot. The hill in the near right is Del Cerro Heights.

This one is looking east from the same spot on the street level. You can see Mt Helix and Grossmont, but the mist was limiting visibility. When it's good, you can see Cuyamaca Mountain.

If you'd like to talk more about Summit Hill or any other neighborhood of La Mesa, Contact me. I will be happy to discuss which neighborhoods might be right for you, or the marketing of your current property for an advantageous sale.

Caveat Emptor