If diverse Queens is the “world’s borough” of the East Coast, City Heights may take the title for the West. Cruise El Cajon Boulevard or University Avenue between the 805 and 54th Street for a mini world tour: Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Chinese, and Thai restaurants; salons for African hair braiding and shops vending colorful kente and ankara fabrics; Mexican mercados hawking hats and boots; the sweet, warm scent of panaderias mixing with the aroma of Salvadoran pupusas; banners waving from colorful Buddhist temples all side by side, all distinct, all meeting in San Diego. It’s widely believed that more languages are spoken here than in any other neighborhood in the city.
Affordable housing in City Heights made it home to thousands of Southeast Asian refugees in the 1970s and ’80s; this legacy continues in the Little Saigon district on El Cajon between Euclid and Highland Avenue. The ’90s and 2000s brought immigrants from Kosovo, South America, and Africa. With numerous organizations like International Rescue Committee, New Roots Community Farm, Nile Sisters Development Initiative, and Bridge of Hope supporting its immigrant communities, the neighborhood opens its arms to newcomers from dozens of countries.
“City Heights residents are active participants in their neighborhood,” says Ricardo Catano, a City Heights native and co-founder and community engagement coordinator at Foodshed Cooperative, which brings fresh SD produce and farming knowledge to urban areas. Neighbors and business owners organize pop-up events like markets and swaps, monthly guided strolls through Little Saigon, native garden planting parties, clean-ups, and open mic nights where all are welcome.
Facts about City Heights, CA
- More than 30 languages are spoken in City Heights.
- Twenty percent of San Diego’s population lives within a five-mile radius of El Cajon Boulevard, one of the main corridors through City Heights.
- From 1912 to 1923, City Heights seceded from San Diego and called itself East San Diego, a separate city where alcohol was prohibited.
- The iconic Art Deco Tower Bar on University Avenue was built in 1932. It started out as a drive-in soda fountain and is now a beloved watering holes that jams live bands into the corner.
- Zillows reports the average home price in City Heights at $669,000.
Locals’ Guide to City Heights, CA
“There are so many little places [to explore here],” Catano says. “At Foodshed, we make an effort to support local businesses and vendors, and they support us.” For cafecito, there’s Cafeina Cafe on 46th Street—go for the Mexican mocha and stay to hear DJs spinning vinyl, see what’s new in the art gallery, catch a film screening, or try your hand at crafts. The café also hosts pop-ups at City Heights Farmers Market. For a full menu of vegan Vietnamese dishes made from scratch, hit Thanh Tinh Chay on El Cajon Boulevard. Every guest gets a glass of sweet, cold water brewed with apple juice, lemon, mint, and lychee, a blend said to detox your liver.
“Then there’s El Salvador Pupuseria on University [Avenue]—I like the broccoli or queso con loroco,” Catano says. Super Cocina, also on University, kills it on the chile rellenos, and the menu changes daily, depending on what the crew of abuelitas has in mind.
The woman behind Clementina’s Sweets has a cult-like following when she sells goodies at Foodshed’s market on Saturdays—claim your share of lemon pistachio croissants, fruit tarts with seasonal local produce and edible flowers, guava cheesecake, pecan empanaditas, or whatever surprise combo she cooks up next.
In keeping with Foodshed’s ethos of reusing and repurposing as much as possible, Catano’s top places to shop in City Heights are its thrift and vintage stores, including Mayah’s, Puss In Boots Vintage, and Pack Rats Records and Junk. For a glimpse into what City Heights is all about, Catano recommends a visit to volunteer-run Bikes Del Pueblo, a Sunday pop-up on El Cajon Boulevard offering free access to donated tools, parts, and education for bicycle tinkering.
One of Catano’s favorite aspects of life in City Heights is the feeling of escape you get by ducking into the neighborhood’s many canyons for a quick hike, “right in the city,” he says. For a taste of nature without hitting the trails, head to City Farmers Nursery on Euclid Avenue, established in 1972. Stroll the rambling grounds amidst thriving plants or ask the friendly staff for gardening advice. Don’t miss the resident goats, chickens, and mini donkeys; free seed distribution; and kid-friendly onsite eatery, Nate’s Garden Grill, with the best red sangria and chicken tacos. On the same lot find Inecui Flowers, a tiny yet mighty florist where all the stems are San Diego-grown.
What’s About to Happen
It’s been more than 25 years since City Heights saw an update to the Mid-City Communities Plan, but that’s about to change. A new plan is in preliminary phases, with goals of including affordable housing, equitable transit solutions, walkable streets, new trails, urban forestry, and blue and green infrastructure.
“We’re also really pushing density on [El Cajon] Boulevard,” says Tootie Thomas, executive director of the area’s business improvement district (BID). City Heights wants to bring housing to its main thoroughfares, and new developments are already in the works. The organization Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) is planning a refugee housing hub on University Avenue near Chollas Parkway, with a global marketplace on the first floor and more than 160 affordable units above. Serenade on 43rd is a new 65-unit community for low-income families and people in transition from homelessness, with artistic flourishes and murals throughout. Cuatro at City Heights offers 117 new apartments on University; The Teralta on El Cajon Boulevard is a stylish structure with a “beautiful new office building across the street, which is different for City Heights,” Thomas says.
Something else completely new for the neighborhood: Developer Danny Fitzgerald is planning a six-story building near Winona Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard with a rooftop restaurant—a San Diego staple this area doesn’t have yet.
Also keep your eyes peeled for more public art, Thomas says. Adding to 37 murals that have gone up between the 805 and Fairmount Avenue in the past five years, Love City Heights is partnering with the El Cajon Boulevard BID for more. Next up is a piece focused on the Somali community.
Where to Eat in City Heights
Birrieria y Menuderia Guadalajara
Where to Shop in City Heights
Folk Arts Rare Records & Tapes
More Things to Do in City Heights
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