Vista, CA 1 of 6 Best North County San Diego Bicycling Retirement Locations


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Vista, CA 1 of 6 Best North County San Diego Bicycling Retirement Locations

Ivan Gillis

18 Retirement Locations for Bicyclists

STATE: California

CITY: San Diego North County--Vista (See videos at end of article)

Vista is a city in North San Diego County, California. It was incorporated January 28, 1963. Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a Mediterranean climate.

Vista has more than 25 educational institutions for youth, and a business park home to over 800 companies. Vista was listed as the seventh-best place in the United States for family life, based on factors such as jobs and business opportunities, education, climate, and cost-of-living in a 2008 review.

Vista is home to two city-supported theaters: the Moonlight Amphitheatre and the Avo Playhouse. The Moonlight Amphitheatre is an open-air theater that specializes in musical productions, performing several during the course of the summer, including one youth production per season. The Moonlight has a winter season at the Avo Playhouse, which, when not holding the Moonlight Winter Season, produces many different plays which are not run by a central Avo-based production crew. The 34-year-old Amphitheatre has recently been rebuilt. The previous amphitheater included a small concrete stage and a terraced seating area. The new amphitheatre will include a fly loft with an electronic rigging system for scenery and equipment, backstage restrooms and dressing rooms, rehearsal room, workshop, costume room, orchestra pit, permanent theatrical equipment infrastructure, lighting and audio/visual equipment packages. New restrooms and disabled access upgrades were also new features.

Vista houses one movie theater, a Krikorian Cinema which opened in fall 2003.

There is a lot of open land in Vista, especially in the north, and much of it is dedicated city parks. The two most well-known within the city are Brengle Terrace Park and Guajome County Park. Brengle Terrace Park houses the Moonlight Amphitheatre, a baseball field, a senior center, a playground, and the city community center, where the main offices of the city's day camps are held. Guajome County Park has 557 acres (2.3 km²) of land; part of this is in Vista and part is in nearby Oceanside. It features campsites, horse trails, and the Rancho Guajome Adobe, a National Historic Landmark.

Rancho Guajome Adobe and Rancho Buena Vista are two ranchos in and near Vista, built in the mid-nineteenth century. Both offer tours detailing the history of the ranchos and talking about life during the time they were built. Both landmarks are also available for special occasions.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department runs the Wave Waterpark, a small but well-equipped waterpark near the downtown area open from mid-spring to early fall. Vista also features the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum, an open-air museum featuring various pieces and demonstrations of agricultural equipment from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Vista is home of a Japanese-American Cultural Center and Buddhist Temple, one of only two in California, and over 75 other churches and temples of various denominations.

Bicycling Overview & Links:

http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ca/vista

http://mtbike.mountainzone.com/bikeshops/list-bikeshops.asp?dest=Vista+ca

http://local.yahoo.com/info-20853618-alpha-bicycle-company-vista

Income & Housing Costs Numbers:

Estimated median household income in 2007: $52,406 (it was $42,594 in 2000)

Vista:

$52,406

California:

$59,948

Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $507,700 (it was $188,700 in 2000)

Vista:

$507,700

California:

$532,300

Mean prices in 2007: All housing units: $504,650; Detached houses: $576,637; Townhouses or other attached units: $476,521; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $350,000; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $268,898; Mobile homes: $68,402

Median gross rent in 2007: $1,174.

2008 cost of living index in Vista: 148.8 (very high, U.S. average is 100)

Geographic:

Elevation: 340 feet

Land area: 18.7 square miles.

Population density: 4863 people per square mile

(average).