Otay Mesa, San Diego | |
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Community of San Diego | |
Otay Mesa | |
Location within Southern San Diego | |
Coordinates: 32°33′30″N 116°56′33″W / 32.5583913°N 116.9425228°W | |
Country | United States of America |
State | California |
County | San Diego |
City | San Diego |
Otay Mesa is a community in the southern section of the city of San Diego, just north of the U.S.–Mexico border.
It is bordered by the Otay River Valley and the city of Chula Vista on the north; Interstate 805 and the neighborhoods of Ocean View Hills and San Ysidro on the west; unincorporated San Diego County on the north and east including East Otay Mesa and the San Ysidro Mountains; and the Otay Centenario borough of Tijuana Municipality, Mexico on the south.
Major thoroughfares include Otay Mesa Road/California State Route 905, Otay Valley Road/Heritage Road, Siempre Viva Road, and California State Route 125. Otay Mesa is the second-least walkable neighborhood of San Diego.
Otay (pronounced Oh-Tie) is derived from the Kumeyaay language. Although its meaning is disputed, possible derivations include "otai", meaning "brushy"; "Tou-ti" meaning "big mountain"; or "etaay" meaning "big".Mesa is the Spanish word for plateau, table or tableland.
Aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery made the first controlled flights in the western hemisphere using a series of gliders from the west rim of Otay Mesa in 1883/1884.,
The area which now includes Otay Mesa was annexed from San Diego County along with other portions of South San Diego in 1957. Additional annexation of almost four thousand acres was approved in 1985.