Chula Vista is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The population was 275,487 as of the 2020 census, up from 243,916 as of the 2010 census. Located about halfway—7.5 miles (12.1 km)—between the two downtowns of San Diego and Tijuana in the South Bay, the city is at the center of one of the richest culturally diverse zones in the United States. Chula Vista is so named because of its scenic location between the San Diego Bay and coastal mountain foothills.
The Gaslamp Quarter is a 16½-block neighborhood in the downtown area of San Diego, California. It extends from Broadway to Harbor Drive, and from 4th to 6th Avenue.
The San Diego Convention Center is the primary convention center in San Diego, California. It is located in the Marina district of downtown San Diego near the Gaslamp Quarter, at 111 West Harbor Drive. The center is managed by the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, a non-profit public benefit corporation created by the City of San Diego.
Chicano Park is a 32,000 square meter park located beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan, a predominantly Chicano or Mexican American and Mexican-migrant community in central San Diego, California. The park is home to the country's largest collection of outdoor murals, as well as various sculptures, earthworks, and an architectural piece dedicated to the cultural heritage of the community. Because of the magnitude and historical significance of the murals, the park was designated an official historic site by the San Diego Historical Site Board in 1980, and its murals were officially recognized as public art by the San Diego Public Advisory Board in 1987. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 owing to its association with the Chicano Movement, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016. Chicano Park, like Berkeley's People's Park, was the result of a militant people's land takeover. Every year on April 22, the community celebrates the anniversary of the park's takeover with a celebration called Chicano Park Day.
The written history of the San Diego, California, region began in the present state of California when Europeans first began inhabiting the San Diego Bay region. As the first area of California in which Europeans settled, San Diego has been described as "the birthplace of California."
Nathan Fletcher is an American politician serving on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for the 4th District since 2019, serving as chair from 2021 to 2023. On March 26, 2023, he announced he would seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. On March 29, 2023, news broke of a lawsuit by an employee of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System alleging that Fletcher had sexually assaulted her and that she was then fired after resisting his advances, and that evening, he announced his resignation from the Board of Supervisors, effective at the end of his medical leave.
Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and central business district of San Diego, with more than 4,000 businesses and nine districts. The downtown area is the home of the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Opera as well as multiple theaters and several museums. The San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, are also located downtown. Downtown San Diego houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments.
Cheryl Cox was the mayor of Chula Vista, California, from 2006 to 2014. She received both a master's degree in political science and a doctorate in education, and moved on to working for Chula Vista Elementary School District as a teacher, principal, and administrator. She is a Republican, and ran for mayor in November 2006 against the incumbent mayor Steve Padilla and Councilman Steve Castaneda, beating both in the election, and was re-elected in June, 2010, by defeating Councilman Steve Castaneda with more than 50% of the vote in the Primary Election.
Mary Casillas Salas is an American politician from Chula Vista, California. She is a former California Assembly member who represented the 79th Assembly District from 2006 to 2010. She ran for the California State Senate in 2010 but lost. In 2012 she was elected to the Chula Vista City Council, a position she previously held from 1996 to 2004. She was elected Mayor of the city of Chula Vista in 2014.
Stephen C. Padilla is an American politician, public policy, advocacy and communications consultant serving in the California State Senate since 2022. From 1994 to 2002, he served two terms on the city council of Chula Vista, California. He served as Mayor of Chula Vista from 2002 to 2006 and as a member of the California Coastal Commission from 2005 to 2007, and again since 2017. He served as a member of the Board of Port Commissioners of the Unified Port of San Diego, as Board Secretary and Vice Chairman-Elect from 2009 to 2011. In 2016, he was again elected to the Chula Vista City Council.
The San Diego Black Film Festival is one of the largest black film festivals in the United States. It was founded in 2002 as the Noir Film Festival and takes place annually in San Diego County, California, to recognize African American movies and production. The festival's motto is "Spotlight on African American and African Diaspora Cinema".
San Diego County, officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fifth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is San Diego, the second-most populous city in California and the eighth-most populous city in the United States. It is the southwesternmost county in the 48 contiguous United States, and is a border county. It is also home to 18 Native American tribal reservations, the most of any county in the United States.
Kevin Lee Faulconer is an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Diego, California from 2014 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Faulconer served as the member of the San Diego City Council for the 2nd district from 2006 to 2014.
David Alvarez is an American politician who is a member of the California State Assembly from the 80th district, which includes Chula Vista, National City, and parts of southern San Diego. A member of the Democratic Party, Alvarez previously served as a member of the San Diego City Council from the 8th district from 2010 to 2018 and was the Democratic nominee in the 2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election.
The Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District (APTHD), San Diego's historic Chinatown, is an eight-block district adjacent to and in part overlapping with the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District. The APTHD is bounded by Market Street on the north, 2nd Ave. on the west, 6th Ave. on the east and J St. on the south. 22 structures are considered historically contributing.
Shirley Weber is an American academic and politician serving as the secretary of state of California. She was previously a member of the California State Assembly for the 79th Assembly District, which includes portions of San Diego, Chula Vista, and National City and all of Lemon Grove and La Mesa.
Chris Cate is an American elected official in San Diego, California. He served as a member of the San Diego City Council representing City Council District 6 from 2014 to 2022. He is a Republican; although city council positions are officially nonpartisan per California state law.
The Callan Hotel is an historic structure located at 502 5th Avenue in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, in the U.S. state of California. It was built in 1878.
Josephine "Josie" Talamantez is a historian from San Diego, California. She co-founded Chicano Park in 1970 and helped develop it into a cultural National Historic Landmark containing the largest collection of artistic murals in the United States. Talamantez was also the Chief of Programs for the California Arts Council, served as the director of the Centro Cultural de la Raza, and was on the board of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.
Ammar Campa-Najjar is an American politician and former official at the United States Department of Labor. Campa-Najjar has twice been a candidate for the United States House of Representatives. He lost in the 2018 election against incumbent Duncan D. Hunter. Campa-Najjar lost again in a 2020 campaign to represent California's 50th congressional district, which encompasses the northeastern segments of San Diego County, and a small section of Riverside County. In 2022, he unsuccessfully ran for the position of Mayor of Chula Vista, California.
