120 Business View - December 2014
The Heart of San Diego North
Escondido finding innovative ways to lure development
The city of Escondido has some fans, and they’re both
in and out of California.
The doubling of its population over a generation be-
tween 1980 (64,355) and 2010 (143,911) is indica-
tive of the lure of a prime location just 18 miles from
the Pacific Ocean and 30 miles from downtown San Di-
ego. And commendations from publications like Mon-
ey (Best Places in the West to Retire) and Ladies Home
Journal (Top Ten Cities for Government) are evidence
that its reputation has stretched far beyond a nearly
37-square-mile footprint in San Diego County.
Mayor Sam Abed’s welcome message on the city web-
site labeled Escondido as “a diverse, vibrant commu-
nity with just the right mix of small-town friendliness
and big-city buzz,” and claimed more and more people
are making it their “city of choice” because “it is one
of the few remaining communities where people of all
income levels can enjoy the Southern California life-
style.”
Of course, with the celebration of progress comes the
realities of infrastructure and finding ways to effective-
ly pay for bettering it – which are the primary domains
PUBLIC SECTOR
