Clairemont

The Kumeyaay people lived in this area before Europeans arrived. The Spanish reached the San Diego region in 1542, and Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded nearby in 1769. A settler known as Judge Hyde began farming in Tecolote Canyon in 1872, and farming and ranching continued here until World War II.

Some early subdivisions came well before the post-war boom. The 1,200-acre (490 ha) Morena Subdivision was mapped in 1887, and a train depot was built near Kane Street and Morena Boulevard the same year. The depot was torn down in the early 1920s. In 1936 the City Council approved the Bay Park Village Subdivision, with lots of 60 by 100 feet or larger, and Bay Park Elementary School was built at 2433 Denver Street in 1939.

The part of the community that took the Clairemont name was developed from 1950 by Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener. They named it after Tavares's wife, Claire. San Diego County approved and recorded the first map using the name on October 16, 1950, as Clairemont Unit #1, Map #2725. Residents began moving in during May 1951.

The land came from three holdings: the Peavey Cattle Ranch, Mission Bay Heights (the Hazard family) and Tecolote Heights (Jack and Dan Danciger). Before building any houses, the developers spent $125,000 on sewers, water lines and access roads. The streets wind instead of following a grid, which let the plan use the canyons and the bluffs above Mission Bay.

Burgener later recalled that seven homes were being built each day between 1952 and 1954. Within a few years the area had several thousand homes, a mix of single-family houses, duplexes and apartments, along with shopping areas, schools and libraries.

Tecolote Canyon Natural Park runs north to south through the middle of Clairemont. It covers about 903 acres (365 ha), is roughly 6 miles (10 km) long and was dedicated in 1977. A seasonal creek, Tecolote Creek, flows through it. San Clemente Canyon runs east to west along the northern border, and Marian Bear Memorial Park, about 467 acres (189 ha), lies along the south side of Route 52 with entrances at Regents Road and Genesee Avenue.

The native plants are mostly chaparral. Coast live oak and California sycamore grow in the canyons. Coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, owls and feral parrots all live in the area.

The community also has neighborhood parks. North Clairemont Community Park is at 4421 Bannock Avenue and covers 14.5 acres. Cadman Community Park is at 4280 Avati Drive and covers 8.36 acres. Mount Etna Neighborhood Park is at 4741 Mt. Etna Drive and covers 7.32 acres.

Clairemont was planned with its own shopping areas from the start. One piece of retail history began here in 1976, when the first Price Club opened on Morena Boulevard. Price Club merged with Costco in 1993.

The community also contains San Diego Mesa College, a community college, which makes education one of the larger local employers by kind of business. Morena Boulevard, on the western side, is where the old Morena Subdivision was laid out in 1887.

Three freeways frame the community. Interstate 5 is on the west, Interstate 805 on the east and State Route 52 on the north. Inside, the winding street pattern of the 1950s subdivision follows the mesas and canyons rather than a grid.

The community's canyons, Tecolote Canyon through the center and San Clemente Canyon on the north, separate the mesas from one another.

Public schools in Clairemont are run by the San Diego Unified School District. Clairemont High School and James Madison High School are the two senior high schools. Elementary schools named for the area include Alcott, Bay Park, Cadman, Field, Hawthorne, Holmes, LaFayette, Ross, Sequoia, Toler and Whitman.

San Diego Mesa College is the community college in Clairemont. In 2015 the Minato School, a weekend Japanese school, began holding classes at Madison High.