Linda Vista is taken from the Spanish for "beautiful view." The University of San Diego sits atop one of the area's tallest hills and is often mistaken for the San Diego Mission.  This strategically located neighborhood of San Diego overlooks Mission Bay, the Pacific Ocean on the west, and Mission Valley on the south, with Tecolote Canyon on the northwest. It offers its residents city and ocean views.

Once an olive grove, Linda Vista came to life in just three months as part of a government project in 1940 to house aircraft workers.  Linda Vista was the direct result of the lobbying of Consolidated Aircraft Corporation and its CEO Rueben H. Fleet for more housing for the aircraft workers who were pouring into San Diego County to build the aircraft needed for the war. 

Three thousand homes went up so quickly that infrastructure was not in place to support the residents. The area was the first neighborhood built beyond the then northern limits of the City of San Diego.  There was only one road and it was too steep for the school bus to drive up it.  There was only one grocery store--residents remember standing in line for over an hour to buy food.

Many of the original houses remain, but the area now has plenty of infrastructure.  Currently the Linda Vista Shopping Center--the oldest in San Diego is under renovation.  A community center is in the planning stages as well.