Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego

Carmel Mountain Ranch, sometimes shortened to simply Carmel Mountain, or abbreviated to CMR by local residents and organizations is a community of San Diego, California, United States, in the northeastern part of the city. Despite its name, Carmel Mountain Ranch is actually in the shadow of Black Mountain. Carmel Mountain proper is about 10 miles west of the Carmel Mountain Ranch neighborhood.

Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego
Community of San Diego
Carmel Mountain Ranch
Carmel Mountain Ranch and neighborhood boundaries
Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego Location within Northeastern San Diego Show map of Northeastern San Diego Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego (San Diego County, California) Show map of San Diego County, California
Coordinates: 32°58′40.27″N 117°4′45.26″W / 32.9778528°N 117.0792389°W / 32.9778528; -117.0792389
Country	United States of America
State	California
County	San Diego
City	San Diego

Geography

The community is bounded by the city of Poway to the east, and other communities of San Diego on all other sides: Rancho Bernardo to the north, Rancho Peñasquitos to the west, and Sabre Springs to the south.^[1]

Economy

 

At Home (formerly Kmart, later Sears Essentials), Petco, and Best Buy are among the biggest retailers in this shopping center; however, there are dozens of others, and a directory can be viewed on the referenced website below. It is the largest in terms of area of the centers.

Retail

Several shopping centers are located adjacent to one another:

• Carmel Mountain Plaza^[2]
• Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center^[3]
• Carmel Mountain Ranch Home Center
• Price Plaza (anchored by Costco Wholesale/opened as Price Club in 1992)
• The Courtyard at Carmel Mountain Ranch

Commercial

The Carmel Mountain Ranch/Rancho Bernardo submarket is the fifth-largest office space submarket in San Diego County, with over 6 million square feet of office space.^[4] It is part of an "I-15 edge city", edge city being a major center of employment outside a traditional downtown.^[5]

The Carvin Corporation is headquartered near these centers.^[6][7] The Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club is a closed golf course located in the community.

In 1993, the United States Postal Service opened the Margaret L. Sellers Processing and Distribution Center.^[8] The facility is over 15 acres and employees over 1,500 people.^[9] Sorting mail destined as far north as Fallbrook, and as far east as Tecate, during the holiday season the facility processes over 300 million items.^[10] It replaced the Midway Processing and Distribution Facility, in the Midway neighborhood, which opened in 1972 and stopped processing regional mail in 1993;^[11] that facility was built on the site of the Dutch Flats Airport, once utilized by Charles Lindbergh prior to his transatlantic flight.^[12]

Transportation

 

A Ralphs grocery store, banks, and retail shops are located here.

Thoroughfares

I-15 runs along the western edge of Carmel Mountain, and a noticeable stone marker, complete with sign and flags, is visible from the northbound lanes to act as a gateway immediately before the Carmel Mountain Road exit, which is the primary road serving the community.^[13] The eastern terminus of SR 56 becomes Ted Williams Parkway as it enters the community; however, it retains its freeway characteristics until it crosses Rancho Carmel Drive. Transportation access from the eastern end of State Route 56, the Ted Williams Parkway and I-15 express lane exits make this community attractive to area commuters.^[14]

Public

There are local bus routes.^[15] While Carmel Mountain does not share in the name, the Sabre Springs / Penasquitos Transit Station, which provides direct access to the managed express lanes on I-15, is adjacent to the community.^[16]

Community events

 

Costco Wholesale is the main anchor here; however, there are also smaller stores, such as eateries and a bank.

Every year the local Chamber of Commerce, headquartered within the community,^[17] hosts a fall festival at which local businesses, community organizations, and school representatives set up information booths and interact with attendees.

Fairway Village, a neighborhood division of Carmel Mountain Ranch running east-to-west on Stoney Gate Place, parallel to Ted Williams Parkway and crossed by Shoal Creek Drive, presents an annual Christmas light show called "Holiday Magic at Fairway Village."^[18] The neighborhood lights more than 85 homes from December 1 to January 1. Each year on the Saturday before Christmas, the neighborhood holds an evening block party that is open to the public, where visitors can walk through the neighborhood, enjoy the lights and festivities, and partake of snacks and hot drinks offered by many homes. This event has been featured in several San Diego Family magazine articles.^[19][20] The neighborhood is also very popular at Halloween due to it being a large cul-de-sac street with no hills.^[21]

Parks and recreation

Carmel Mountain Ranch Community Park is located just north of Ted Williams Parkway on Rancho Carmel Drive, just east of the 15. Highland Ranch Park is located north of Eastbourne Road and slightly northeast of Highland Ranch Road.

The former Carmel Mountain Ranch golf course sprawls much of the community and has closed its failed business.

Schools

 

The Home Depot is the anchor of this center; however, there are multiple restaurants and smaller shops as well.

Carmel Mountain Ranch is served by the Poway Unified School District.^[22]

High schools

Middle school students at Carmel Mountain Ranch's three middle schools feed into Mt. Carmel High School, Poway High School, or Rancho Bernardo High School.^[23]

Middle schools

Elementary students feed into Bernardo Heights Middle School in Rancho Bernardo, Meadowbrook Middle School,^[24] or Black Mountain Middle School^[25] in Rancho Peñasquitos.^[23]

Elementary schools

• Highland Ranch Elementary^[26]
• Shoal Creek Elementary^[27]
• Creekside Elementary^[28]
• Morning Creek Elementary^[29]

Sports

There is a baseball league for kindergarten - 8th grade. There are also a youth basketball league and other recreational sports.^[30]

References

1. "Carmel Mountain Ranch | Councilmember Marni von Wilpert (District 5) | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
2. "Carmel Mountain Plaza". Carmel Mountain Plaza. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
3. "Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center". Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
4. . Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
5. Garreau, Joel (1991). Edge City. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 436. ISBN 9780385424349. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
6. "Carvin Corp - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
7. "Kiesel Guitars Contact Us".
8. unestidstwern (February 22, 2007). "All roads lead to CMR regional mail center". Pomerado News. Poway. Retrieved July 14, 2018 – via San Diego Union-Tribune.
9. Bouvier, Geoff (February 1, 2007). "Where the Mail Goes When it Doesn't Get to You". San Diego Reader. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
10. Himchak, Elizabeth Marie (December 13, 2017). "Postal Service is in the midst of 'busiest' time". Pomerado News. Poway. Retrieved July 14, 2018 – via San Diego Union Tribune.
11. Hall, Matthew T. (February 23, 2012). "USPS Midway processing plant set to close". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
12. Schwab, Dave (January 29, 2014). "Mammoth Midway postal facility back on sales block". San Diego Community News Group. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
    Freeman, Paul (October 11, 2016). "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California: Northern San Diego area". California Pilots Association. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
    Monteagudo, Merrie (2018). "Never-before published photos of Charles Lindbergh test flying the Spirit of St. Louis". Hoy San Diego. Retrieved July 14, 2018 – via San Diego Union Tribune.
13. Street View of the gateway marker maps.google.com
14. "Community Profiles: Carmel Mountain Ranch | Planning Department | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
15. "bus routes through Carmel Mountain Ranch" (PDF). Retrieved March 28, 2024.
16. "Service Notices". May 22, 2015.
17. . Archived from the original on January 30, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
18. "Christmas – Fairway Village News".
19. . Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
20. . Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
21. "Halloween – Fairway Village News".
22. Schools powayusd.com
23. "Feeder Schools Report" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on November 19, 2020.
24. "Poway Unified - Meadowbrook Middle School (MBMS)".
25. "Black Mountain Middle School".
26. "Poway Unified - Highland Ranch Elementary".
27. "Shoal Creek Elementary School".
28. "Creekside Elementary School".
29. "Morning Creek Elementary School".
30. "Carmel Mountain Ranch Little League > Home". www.cmrll.org. Retrieved March 28, 2024.

External links

• Carmel Mountain Ranch Residential Community Association
• San Diego Community profile
• Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center
• Scouts BSA Troop 667 (boys only)
• Scouts BSA Troop 1667 (girls only)