City of La Mesa

I like La Mesa. It amuses me when people who don’t live here and aren’t even familiar with it make fun of it. I mean sure we don’t have all the corruption of San Diego or the violent crime they’ve got, I can see why it’s so much more desirable to live over there. And yes, we don’t have the huge income disparities that are prevalent in other parts of the county, so yeah, I can get why La Mesa is so much less desirable, uh huh.
Here’s what I do like though. It’s a smaller city of around 50,000 people with it’s own fire and police departments. No contracting out the sheriffs department, which imo is not a top notch lea. I’ll happily avoid the areas they have control over. We also have a good school district with a good amount of CA distinguished schools.
There are plenty of parks around town and you can enroll your children or seniors in classes at the community centers; they have programs that run all year long. The municipal pool is a great place to take swim lessons or just go for fun. The city of La Mesa offers safety classes for younger children as well taught by police, fire and park rangers. It’s an excellent community outreach program offered for free!

Highest property crime rate in San Diego second only to National City. (City Council Meeting Agenda 9÷8÷15 RN7653) Our neighborhood cars are constantly broken into on our street and in our gated parking garage. I’m surprised there is so much crime w/​the police station so close. I try to avoid doing much shopping after dark, once in awhile a panhandling out-​of-​towner will approach me in the parking lot when I’m near my car. Its a bit unsettling but most the local guys & gals are very nice. Its a nice little town during the day time. I’m looking forward to what they’re working on in Downtown La Mesa. I miss the trees:(Love the library and the new (er) post office.
GREAT place to shop if you like antique shopping & thrift stores:)

The person who answers you phone on the 619.667.1176 10:30am 8÷13÷15 (number listed on your website for help in building division). She is very RUDE. I got disconnected when trying to get a hold of the inspection department. I called back to see if she could transfer me back (she didn’t provide the direct line when I asked.). Upon asking she quickly said she has to walk back and fourth to answer the phone and how inconvenient it was because my voice sounded familiar. she didn’t asked me my name or anything. She in a rude tone said write this down for future reference and call them directly. then hung up. thought you guys should know so people don’t have to deal with her when they call. Also possibly add the inspection number to website.

The parking ENFORCEMENT officer is a royal pain in the butt. With the streets & sidewalks in various stages of development, parking is hard to find during the day. Lot’s of people work there, and have to park somewhere. Its free here, but not there. Its 2 hours here, but 4 hours there. No consistency. Ticketing those of us who work in the village is not the answer. I’ve watched him hide in the bushes to try to write someone a ticket. I’ve watched him mark tires on cars with handicap placards. Does he plan on ticketing them, too? If the city wants money, why not just ask us for a «donation»? Get the ticket ENFORCEMENT officer off our backs!

La Mesa, also known as the gem of east county. I think that the Grossmont Shopping Center is pretty nice. I think that Trinitea is a pretty cool place. Apparently Momentos Café is a really good mexican spot, I’ll have to try it. Too many things to try!
Gamestop is pretty close by it’s like across the street from the mall I think. Don’t forget to go to Beef N Bun, I usually have the urge to get a shake there. Wow apparently Gingham is gone, I wanted to try that, sounds like it went downhill though .(. Also La Mesa can be pretty hot sometimes.

Horrible customer service. I have called 619−667−1118 several times this week and left several messages requesting a copy of our Business License. I have not received a call back, I have also tried dialing 0 to reach the operator or a different department and once the automated service answers my call drops. HORRIBLE. I WONDER WHAT THEY DO ALL DAY? IF THEY ARE NOT EVEN AVAILABLE TO HELP CUSTOMERS. they do not even deserve one star.

What does the «L» stand for in La Mesa?
Lose the parking meters. I would like to shop there more — I go to San Filippo’s pizza if there is parking in the back. Otherwise– merchants need to revolt.

Seeing that I’m from Oceanside I’m really not used to this type of weather even in the winter La Mesa can be a little toasty. La Mesa seems a little old but has character and downtown La Mesa is really nice with hidden gems like Swamis restaurant, Aubrey tea house and Bo-​Beau kitchen. Okay so some parts of La Mesa are pretty rough but being from Oceanside I’m pretty used to that so if you’re not okay with that then you need to watch where you’re going and watch your surroundings. I do have a few favorite spots in La Mesa which are Swamis, JK’s Greek restaurant and the whole downtown area. So overall La Mesa is alright but it can be crazy hot so make sure wherever you go make sure you have A/​C.

The City of La Mesa recently spent some significant money to improve my neighborhood and allow me to now walk my son to school. My neighborhood didn’t have sidewalks and was dangerous to walk in. The City of La Mesa put in sidewalks and entirely changed the streets to make the neighborhood safer and more walkable. These infrastructure improvements have improved my family’s quality of life!

The City of La Mesa Parking Division are complete crooks. They sold me the wrong city parking permit, costing me $ 60. When I told them that I only needed the $ 40 parking permit, they refused to exchange my $ 60 permit for the $ 40 permit. Anyone can refund money, but these criminals will not. They also wouldn’t return my calls for weeks.

I would like to highly recommend the La Mesa community center and utilizing their buildings for your next event. They offer three-​four buildings for consumers to rent with low deposits. Their location is off Memorial Drive in La Mesa, CA. They have plenty of parking for over one hundred vehicles. The staff takes care of the grounds and offers beautiful grounds for guests to enjoy while using their building for your next event!
I highly recommend you contact the La Mesa community center through phone or email. You can request a tour and ask all your questions during your tour. Know what you want and the staff will help you meet the needs of you and your guests. Great communicating staff in person, via phone and email so book them today!

The city of La Mesa has so many different hidden treasures that you really need to seek out. They have wonderful places to eat and shop! There is also a very awesome culture brewing in the «old downtown» area. They have wonderful dessert places as well as places to drink both wine and beer! Please make sure to also visit the different venues that have live bands and jazz entertainers playing there. La Mesa is the hidden jewel that needs to be rediscovered. I love La Mesa!
PS: Please make sure to ALWAYS stop at every stop sign for the full 3 seconds and never run the red lights! Even at the do not turn on red turns. The La Mesa police do not pay around and you will get busted!

I miss living here! I’m in PB now and thinking about moving back! La Mesa is very suburban but has everything you would want (even nightlife in Downtown La Mesa). You are also within like 20 minutes from most places in San Diego like someone here mentioned.
I found the restaurants here are great, good selection of grocery stores (Costco, Fresh and Easy, Trader Joe’s, etc.), lots of trees and greenery, and a lake! I also like how in downtown you have truly everything you need right next to each other (library, fire station, court house, police station are seriously within half a block of each other). Public transportation is good too.
–1 for a couple of things…
1. The 91 942 part of La Mesa is very nice (price reflects that!). The 91 941 part which is near the Burlington Coat Factory starts to become a shithole on El Cajon Blvd (or it’s University I forgot). Also 70^th St. is ghetto. If you take the Lake Murray exit, it’s very, very pretty and nice (I lived off Lake Murray and Baltimore).
2. The nice area is the same price for rentals if not more than living at the beach in PB or OB… I thought everything in East County would be cheaper than San Diego proper but not the nice part of La Mesa. Expect a 1bedroom to run you at least $ 1000, much more if it is renovated (roughly $ 1200). In OB and PB a 1 bedroom with a parking spot with no renovations (I don’t like how most places near the beach have no garbage disposal!) starts at $ 900 to be within a 2 mile walk from the beach…

October fest. Wasn’t bad, but could have been patrolled better.

The area I live in within the city of La Mesa is the ghetto. I have asked the Mayor and City Council to addess the issues of blight within my city and I have yet after 15 years to have any real response. This city is crumbling and needs some major infusion of cash to help reinvent itself. Mayor Madrid you need to go and move on allow someone in that can affect real change. This city can be amazing but you do nothing to improve and allow that growth.

La Mesa has great stores especially when it comes to antiques. Also the food truck Fridays is awesome. Cool city to hang out in. The octoberfest that happens here too is great as well.

This is MY hood, bay-​bee! Thaz right, thaz right, I’m representin’! Spring Street, Lemon Avenue… where you at?
No? OK, I heard that somewhere…
I guess I’ll just do the Regular Joe review.
We came to SD in 2007 and wanted to live near the water. With home prices so low, we figured we could just buy a place in PB for like a hunnert bucks. Shoot, you can’t even live in IB for that!
We checked out community after community, hoping to feel the vibe of a town. North Park: Maybe. Chula Juana: Nope. IB: No way. Temecula: Are you kidding me? Alpine: Uh, no. City Heights: BANG, BANG, BANG!
After a lot of research (we ran police reports for the areas we considered) and 8 grueling days of hardcore house hunting, we threw in the towel and planned to rent for a while. We mentioned to the real estate agent that we’d always liked La Mesa — while visiting family from out of state, we would often shop for antiques and eat in the downtown area. I still remember her face: «La Mesa? Uh, let’s look at South Park again…»
Well, she found 3 or 4 places and we checked them out.
Long story short, we found a cool place that met our needs and decided to call La Mesa home. My dad: «Isn’t that ‘the table’ in Spanish?»
Here are some factors we considered, in no particular order, and how they rate almost 5 years later:
DEMOGRAPHICS: The neighborhood where I live (Windsor Hills) is comprised mainly of retired or end-​of-​career folks. Most homes are of the 60’s or 70’s variety, but there are new homes and remodeled 50’s homes. I know almost all of the neighbors on my block, and speak to them regularly. We are the newest residents (except for a family of renters). Home values have not dropped as much as many other locations (CV, El Cajon), and places that go on the market are selling for respectable amounts. It’s fairly diverse without being obviously so. My neighbors are of various ages, lifestyle preferences and ethnic/​cultural backgrounds and we all meet for occasional house parties without a noticeable separation.
STUFF TO DO: I like most of the (limited) bars and restaurants within walking distance (I’ve reviewed several of them). I frequent the local merchants as often as possible, but how often can one patronize Sanfilippos and Por Favor? And it’s close enough to the other stuff we like to do. Grossmont Center is clean and close and good enough for most of my needs,
CRIME: We’re not immune to the house and car break-​ins that plague other parts of SD. LM PD are 3 for 4 in catching the culprits… none were local denizens. There was a rash of assaults a year or so ago, attributed to «trolley crime» but that stopped. I feel safe here. I don’t worry about locking my doors and bolting down the stuff on my porch. The local PD are pleasant, visible and accessible (they actually respond quickly when called). I have only called them once, but have interacted with them on several friendly occasions.
COMMUTE: I’m not a fan of traffic and did not want to be a slave to the drive from North County (or worse). It takes me less than 20 minutes to drive about 11 miles into downtown SD. I can access the major freeways (I-​5, I-​805, I-​8, 163, 52, 125, etc.) quickly and easily.
VIBE: Look, this is my favorite thing about La Mesa. It truly has a homey, small-​town feel. The locals are warm and friendly and pretty cool. Maybe not as hip as Gaslamp and North Park dwellers, but I like them a lot. You can join a conversation at a bar (yo, Pete’s!) without getting ‘tude. People walk slower in the downtown area (LM Blvd.) than they do downtown.
Wanna see what I mean? Stop by Centifonti’s for dinner during the week, or Mario’s for breakfast on a Sunday morning, or Hoffers on a Thursday afternoon or Pete’s and Johhny B’s anytime. You’ll understand why I love this town.

Good little city.
They like their car shows +
They are fully crazy about maintaining certain look in the downtown area… c’mon, if that’s history it SHOULD be rebuilt.

I have been a renter in La Mesa since 1989, and I really like my location near Lake Murray, where it is usually quiet, low crime, and provides great access to freeways to go anywhere you like.
As for our city government, the mayor and city council seem to like to fight with each other over all kinds of stuff, but still manage to do a good job running the city. My few contacts with city hall have been positive.
I’m sure La Mesa Police do their job, but their driving skills need improvement. I have seen them make right through reds, run stop lights, and many other illegal maneuvers. (no lights or sirens, just in a hurry) I had a motorcycle officer make a right on red and almost hit me as a pedestrian crossing legally and correctly in a crosswalk with signal.

I’m a native San Diegan who bought a house with my partner about 1 year ago. I love the small town feel of this city. We’ve had dealings with City employees (building permits, police, etc.) and they have always been pleasant and helpful. I believe the city deserves it’s title of «the Jewel on the Hill». I am excited to own in such a wonderful community.
I just completed the La Mesa Police Department’s Citizen’s Academy and it was an awesome experience. If you are a La Mesan, keep your peepers out for the next class because it is really revealing about the caring, dedicated and professional police department we have.