Eastlake – growing pains

Larger than Chula Vista, Otay Water District, foreclosures, South Bay Expressway, Eastlake as prison

Barney Reed and Jay Silverstein, looking across Olympic Pointe development toward Otay Lake
  • Peace east of Eastlake

  • It was inevitable that there would be development. The Olympic Training Center sits on land donated by Eastlake, the sprawling development to its immediate west. Every time I pass through Eastlake, there are new streets, new traffic lights, more shopping centers, and more people. If Route 125 ever gets extended south to Chula Vista, even more people will come, and we'll probably have to change the name of Chula Vista to "West Eastlake."
  • By Patrick Brassell, Dec. 30, 2004 Read full article
  • Otay Water District's Pump Problem

  • A member of the EastLake community familiar with the 980-2 pump station project tells me that the district may still have to spend more of its own money to get everything completed. He wishes to remain anonymous out of fear that his identity might lead to recriminations against district employees he knows.
  • By Joe Deegan, Aug. 17, 2006 Read full article
Since the early 1990s, new home construction has been a constant in Eastlake. (Howie Rosen)
  • Nine Miles of Nothing

  • The South Bay Expressway traverses nine and a half miles of eastern Chula Vista, linking SR 125, northwest of the Sweetwater Reservoir, to State Route 905, which runs south to the Otay Mesa border crossing. The ten-minute trip costs a car, light truck, or motorcycle $4.50. A three- or four-axle vehicle pays double that, and a five-axle vehicle pays triple.
  • By Susan Luzzaro, Nov. 18, 2009 Read full article
  • Let the bank cut the lawn

  • EastLake, EastLake Greens, and Otay Ranch are among the many large planned communities located in eastern Chula Vista. As new houses in these developments went on the market, subprime loans were becoming popular, a coincidence that has resulted in the high number of foreclosures in Chula Vista. However, brand-new homes in planned communities weren’t the only houses affected by the market downturn.
  • By Dorian Hargrove, June 11, 2008 Read full article
  • The Walls Are Closing In

  • During my last year at Eastlake high school, my peers and I discussed dreams of living on our own, away from our parents and each other- away from everything we knew. We wanted to find ourselves in the world. This place was the epitome of a love-hate relationship. I loved it, because it was my home for four years of my life. I hated it, because it walked the slim, sometimes questionable line between a family friendly community and a prison.
  • By Thomas Nieto, May 25, 2011 Read full article
Map indicating area of new proposed development
  • What am I doing in Eastlake?

  • The western end of the loop consists of a series of shopping centers, all butted up against Eastlake Parkway, and all bearing names that declare their neighborhood allegiance: Eastlake Terraces, Eastlake Village Marketplace, Village Walk at Eastlake, Eastlake Village Center, Otay Ranch Town Center, and Marketplace at Windingwalk.
  • By Elizabeth Salaam, July 31, 2013 Read full article
  • 600 more families for Otay Ranch?

  • “When I moved into Eastlake in ’98, Olympic View was our only elementary school available, and my daughter went there for kindergarten. Had she been allowed to stay for first grade, there would have been over 900 students, because the city didn’t plan [for] the number of families with children."
  • By Barbara Zaragoza, Apr. 24, 2015 Read full article
  • Big trouble in Eastlake III

  • Conflict began for the EastLake III association in 2012, when large residential developments, which were not in Chula Vista’s master plan, began to be shoehorned into the Otay Lakes area. As quality-of-life issues such as traffic and parking became aggravated and developer’s promises of amenities failed to appear, members of the association began to ask the seated board to take a stand on these issues.
  • By Susan Luzzaro, Sept. 25, 2015 Read full article
Elias Gallego used to be a bodyguard and kidnapper for the drug dealers. (Matthew Suárez)
  • Aggressive people and panhandlers move in on Eastlake

  • “The last time I heard about a big crime [here in Eastlake] was in 2006-2007 “when all of those houses were getting broken into around here,” said Calderon, the assistant general manager of the Eastlake Tavern and Bowl, a mile east. “And then there was that drug bust last year or the year before, but you don’t hear about those things anymore.”
  • By Mike Madriaga, April 18, 2018 Read full article
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