When Alvarado Estates (AE) was founded 75 years ago in 1948, families were celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas side-by-side, just as they do today.

For our milestone Anniversary this year, the History and Social Committees worked together to plan nice activities for residents to celebrate the holiday season together, including a first-ever lighting and decorating contest, a holiday cookie exchange, and a holiday party and home tour.

Back in 1948, however, it wasn’t always the case that neighborhoods welcomed all families. While a 1948 federal law prohibited housing discrimination, affluent San Diego neighborhoods like La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe were adopting real estate covenants to prohibit the sale of homes to non-whites and non-Christians. In contrast, the AE Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions originally adopted in 1952, contain no exclusionary language.

Instead, diverse families found community in Alvarado Estates. Most of the homes in AE were built in the 1950s and 1960s. Many Jewish families were among the first builders of the Mid-century Modern homes in this enclave and served as founding community leaders.

Beginning in the 1950s, more Jewish families in America started to celebrate Hanukkah as it became a more popular holiday in the States. As the celebrations became more elaborate, Jewish Families in AE lit menorahs, exchanged presents, prepared special holiday foods, hosted parties and decorated their homes.

Families past and present have always enjoyed their connections in College Area and greater San Diego, building community at places of worship and fellowship throughout the region. Beth Jacob Congregation on College Avenue, SDSU Chabad House on Montezuma and Temple Emanu-El in Del Cerro are some nearby synagogues and centers of Jewish student and family life.

Alvarado Estates continues to be a welcoming place where resident diversity is embraced. In the coming year, the AE History Committee will implement its plan to complete a Home History Project which will document and archive information, photos and stories about both the architectural history of the neighborhood and the interesting residents who have called Alvarado Estates home.

Chad Hanukkah sameach, Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to all the residents of AE and College Area. Best wishes for many joyful celebrations of cherished family and neighborhood traditions.

COLLEGE VIEW ESTATES

By JEAN HOEGER

When San Diego State Teachers College moved to its new and remote location “on the Mesa” in 1931 there was no other development in the immediate area.

Faculty and students remember rabbit hunting in the hills and canyons of what is now College View Estates. Development of CVE began in 1954 when developer Leonard Drogin began building his “Harmony Homes.” Young families flocked to post-WWII developments such as CVE and produced the baby boom. Don and Roberta E., who moved to CVE in 1956, recalled that their children had many neighborhood playmates and that wildlife from the surrounding countryside was a regular sight on the street. In the early days, residents watched small private planes landing at an airstrip in Alvarado Estates. A creek ran along the south side of CVE which subsequently became College Gardens Court.

This lovely “cul de sac” community was fully developed by 1965 and is a vibrant community of San Diego.

El Cerrito

By LAURA RIEBAU

At our November El Cerrito Community Council meeting we reviewed Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) for submission to the City by our Eastern Area Communities and College Area Planning Groups. Jefferey Nguyen, our great District 9 Council representative, was in attendance as usual, and will also give the list to our City Councilmember, Sean Elo Rivera.

The main projects are for undergrounding and street repaving on 54th Street, north of the Collwood Blvd/54th Street split as well as traffic calming and better lighting for 58th Street. Both streets are main access streets for the neighborhood and are heavily used by community members. Repaving for 59th Street between Estelle Street and Adelaide Avenue and completion of paving on 56th Street were also included.

Jefferey also updated the timeline for our El Cajon Blvd & 58th Street HAWK crosswalk which is scheduled for August, 2024.

Our new San Diego Police Department Community Relations Officer, Joshua Cummings, gave us an update on crime in El Cerrito, which is elevated as it is throughout the City. There has been an increase in gang activity in our area, so graffiti and tagging is being seen more now, too. Catalytic converter thefts are up, so you may want to consider installation of a protective shield on your car.

Officer Cummings also gave us information tips for holiday safety and guidance to request more police patrols if we are concerned about a neighborhood street, residence or business – patrol information is available at https://www.sandiego.gov/police/services/request-additional-patrol.

The holiday season always seems to bring an increase in criminal activity, so here are some of the main reminders to help keep your holiday safe, calm, merry & bright.

Holiday season reminders for all of us in the community:

· Thieves are often opportunists who walk down a street, look into car windows and pull on car doors or even walk up to a home and try the front door. Let’s not make it easy for them!

· Lock your doors! A locked door moves them along. Remove everything from your car when not attended and lock the doors when parked and even when in use. Secure home windows and doors as necessary for added safety and lock your front door, even when you are at home.

· Do not have packages left on the porch, arrange for delivery to be out of sight or to a neighbor’s home.

· Keep bikes and scooters out of sight.

· If you will be out of town, have your mail placed on a vacation hold – it’s easy to do at the post office or online.

· Take note of suspicious cars and people in your area, write down license plates and descriptions.

· If you are hosting a gathering at your home, be sure you meet everyone coming in so you will recognize new faces later.

A big yay & thank you to all who are decorating and making our neighborhood so magical this time of year.

We wish all of our great El Cerrito community members a wonderful holiday & very happy New Year!

Mesa Colony

By SUSAN GRANT

Mesa Colony Community Group (MCCG) has spent the last few months trying to develop a set of goals and objectives that will respond to the needs of the neighborhood. It is officially recognized as one of the six distinct neighborhoods in the College Area, but like many neighborhoods, suffered tremendously due to the effects of the COVID pandemic and the resulting postponement of normal activities.

Bringing the MCCG back to life has been an interesting and worthwhile exercise and we hope that what we do will serve to re-energize the community after a long period of relative detachment. To achieve our goal of renewed engagement and to increase our membership, we decided to do two things. The first was to reach out to our current members by emailing them a survey to ask what they would like to see happen during the upcoming year. The second was to ask for community members’ opinions about new ways to increase our membership.

Here is what we found out in the responses to the survey.

The younger folks said they want to stay informed, but don’t have the time to come to monthly meetings on weeknights. They also said that frequent emails had become too much to keep up with and were often ignored until it was too late to make use of the information. Both young and old agreed that an informative monthly calendar or comprehensive newsletter might be the way to go, but to be sent no more than one time each month.

Everyone recommended that we use “Next Door College East” and Facebook as alternative ways to reach out to new residents and share information. We also discovered that residents who responded to the survey are more likely to attend an informal gathering, than a formal meeting. They want to be able to bring their children or grandchildren and enjoy chatting with their neighbors in a more relaxed atmosphere. With all of the information we gathered we were able to completely revise our calendar for 2024 and create an effective plan for recruiting new members.

We are embarking on the next phase of our outreach and will soon be distributing flyers, posting events on Nextdoor and Facebook and taking advantage of the local College Times Courier newspaper publication to help keep our residents informed and to, hopefully, increase our membership. We hope that all of our efforts will be rewarded by both an increase in membership and a long-lived and thriving community for the years to come.

Look for us on the Rolando/Mesa Colony/SDSU Neighborhood Activities and Information Facebook page.

We will also be listed on the College Area Community website in the near future.

Rolando

By KIRSTIE WILSON

Rolando Park kicks off the Annual Holiday Home Contest in December

Rolando is widely known as a Halloween hub due to the amazing decorations and friendly community, but did you know they have an annual Holiday Home Decorating Contest?

Houses will be nominated early in the month and then voting will begin. Come cruise down and around Rolando Boulevard to enjoy the trees lit up like candy canes, the beloved beachy ornaments, and the front yard snow machines. If you love a lit Christmas tree in a front window, you’re going to love Rolando in December.

Follow the Rolando Community Council on social media for holiday highlights.

(Courtesy image)