Santee, California

and bikeability. The remaining gaps in the city’s riverfront trail, which total less than a mile, are expected to be completed within the next five years. Among the most popular and scenic is the 1-mile-long Walker Preserve Trail, which connects to two miles of additional trails on the city’s eastern border. The city is also working to make it even easier to walk and bike throughout the community. It has promulgated the Active Santee Plan, which will provide a roadmap for safer and more connected places, including new sidewalks, safer intersections, and new bike trails. Santee has nurtured a vibrant local economy by providing for a balance of retail, commercial, and residential uses. Its 700-acre Town Center district forms a downtown core comprised of business parks, high-density residential, and retail businesses that feed off the synergy of the Santee Trolley Square shopping complex and the Metropolitan Transit System trolley station, which allows residents and visitors to commute to Echo Park, downtown San Diego and, soon, to UC California San Diego. Maertz reports that the city