Normal Heights was named for the San Diego Normal School, a teacher’s college that was the forerunner to San Diego State University. Book ended on the west by University Heights and Kensington on the east, Normal Heights completes the Adams Avenue neighborhood trifecta along the main corridor. Diverse apartment dwellings on the south side of Adams, quiet single-family homes on the north side.

What’s “normal” today is to find antique stores, book stores, coffee shops and restaurants stretched out for blocks in the Adams Avenue central business district.

University Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the City of San Diego. It is located on the southern rim of Mission Valley between SR-163 and I-805. A pedestrian friendly area with retail shopping and residential areas in easy proximity of each other. It is home to a diverse group of entrepreneurs and professionals who enjoy its urban environment.

There are a number of historical architectural gems located here that have been restored and preserved. Community activism created Trolley Barn Park, set up a successful Graffiti Busters program and renovated the aging commercial strip.

The footbridge spanning over Washington St. connects Hillcrest to University Heights. It has quotations from many people who have influenced the history of San Diego, including landscape architect Kate Sessions, children’s book author Dr. Seuss and Irving Gill. Architect Irving Gill’s words are reiterated on the bridge, “What idle or significant sentence will we write with brick and stone, wood, steel, and concrete upon the sensitive page of the earth?”