Page 32 - April's Relocation Guide

South County
OVERVIEW
South San Diego County has all the ingredients for success. It has nearly half of the remaining business acreage in the County. Multiple public entities are working together to meet the needs of both employers and their workforce via new roads, transit, schools and trade. The result: using smart growth to transform undeveloped mesas into a city
within a city.
From here, Downtown is just a 20 minute drive away! And, housing costs are far lower than smaller Downtown lofts or similarly sized homes a half hour to the north. Why? It’s new, it’s pioneer country and it’s coming along in stages. But make no mistake - South County is where tomorrow begins today.
The Area is split upon Interstate highway lines. Closer to the coast, Interstate 5 links the more established South Bay Communities. Interstate 805 has newer development. On I-5, it’s only 20 miles from Downtown to the Mexican border. Along the way, you’ll drive past manufacturing and shipping yards, tourist and marina sites, and a pristine estuary. You’ll find great mom and pop restaurants serving up Mexican, Filipino, Black and Asian specialties. You’ll see the trolley line sprinting past you. And you’ll be at the San Ysidro border crossing, the world’s busiest, in just twenty minutes. Cross the border into Tijuana and, within 90 minutes, you’re in the sleepy fishing town of Ensenada.
But if you take Hwy 905 East before the last U.S. exit, you’ll glide eight miles east into the future. Here, you find dozens of large Japanese corporations who have maquiladora operations just across the second border crossing at Otay Mesa, two minutesnorthofRodriguezInternational Airport.
Cross onto Highway 805 going north, and you’ll find new community developments like Otay Ranch and Eastlake plus the Olympic Training Center, a massive Amphitheatre and several new schools.
South San Diego County is considered the crossroads of our region’s future. Tailor-made for families, it is where tens of thousands of residents will help shape our city in the next generation. It’s an exciting place to live!!
Master-planned communities here are seamlessly blending homes, shops and schools to create neighborhoods with personality. Commuters who work in the South Bay find themselves in the enviable position of going against the grain of traffic both morning and evening.
SOUTH COUNTY
IMPERIAL BEACH
Bordered to the South by Tijuana and the west by the blue Pacific, Imperial Beach is San Diego’s southernmost coastal city. Nestled south of Silver Strand State Park and the city of Coronado, “IB” is quickly becoming more upscale as prospective homeowners realize that it is the County’s least expensive beach community.
Thus, many plain-Jane tract homes are getting facelifts and second stories. The town’s annual sandcastlecompetitionisakey summer event and there’s a great fishing pier, too. Plus, there’s an estuary nature center and ample park land.
31