Bonita

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish, Kumeyaay lived in the area around Sweetwater Valley, and called it Apusquel. After the establishment of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the valley was used for cattle raising but was not significantly settled. The ranch itself was used to cultivate lemons, which were first grown in the area beginning in 1871. During the early years lemon industry was thriving, where it became the originator of the Bonnie Brae Lemon variety, named after the first lemon ranch in the community. In 1888, Sweetwater Dam was built, creating Sweetwater Reservoir and forever changing the geography of the region. Soon after, in 1906, the dam broke as a result of extensive rains which overfilled the reservoir, and the Lower Sweetwater Valley was completely flooded. Bonita has experienced minor flooding throughout history, generally as a result of high seasonal rains attributed to El Niño. The floods most affect the Central Avenue river crossing, as no bridge has ever been built, unlike the Bonita Road and Willow Road crossings which are bridges, the former of which was rebuilt in the late 1990s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the development of State Route 125 (The South Bay Expressway) became a major issue to Bonita residents, much as Interstate 805 and State Route 54 did during their development. Opponents argued that Bonita's rural nature would be compromised without benefit while proponents argued that the highway would reduce the significant increase in surface-street car traffic the community had seen since the 1980s when the eastern Chula Vista communities surrounding Eastlake were developed. The tollway opened in November 2007 and sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 22, 2010, when the cost of litigation over the construction of the road threatened to…

Geography

Bonita is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, Bonita has a total area of . of it is land and of it (2.71%) is water. While Bonita is politically designated as an unincorporated community, bounded by the incorporated cities of Chula Vista, San Diego and National City, it is closely associated with the geography of the Lower Sweetwater Valley. Thus considered, Bonita occupies about a five-mile (8 kilometer) stretch of the Sweetwater River, its valley, and surrounding hills on either side, bounded upstream (east) by Sweetwater Reservoir, and downstream (west) effectively by Interstate 805. The community crosses west of I-805—an area less than —reaching as far south and west as East H Street and Hilltop Drive. Its northern boundary is State Route 54 and its southern extent reaches approximately one-mile (1.6 km) south of the river. Large portions of modern Bonita consist of housing tracts built throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including: * Bonita Verde Estates * Bonita Downs * Bonita Fairways * Bonita Glen * Bonita Highlands * Bonita Long Canyon * Bonita Woods * Bonita Woods Park * Emerald Ranch * Lynwood Hills * Ames Ranch * Villas de Bonita * Rancho Robinhood The Bonita area is populated by coyote, racoon, fox, rabbit, squirrel, bobcat, opossum, and skunk, among other wildlife.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Eastlake High
  High · Chula Vista · 2,783 students · 25.3:1 ratio
• Sweetwater High
  High · National City · 2,679 students · 24.8:1 ratio
• Henry High
  High · San Diego · 2,607 students · 27.2:1 ratio
• Helix High
  High · La Mesa · 2,502 students · 24.3:1 ratio
• Otay Ranch Senior High
  High · Chula Vista · 2,491 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Olympian High
  High · Chula Vista · 2,341 students · 24.6:1 ratio
• San Diego Workforce Innovation High
  High · National City · 2,332 students · 24:1 ratio
• San Ysidro High
  High · San Diego · 2,316 students · 23.9:1 ratio