El Cajon
El Cajon is located in East San Diego County, midway between Downtown San Diego on the coast, and the rural mountain and desert communities that make up the County’s large eastern region.
From early 1800 until the 1950s, El Cajon’s historic Downtown community in the East County was a thriving community . In the years that followed, extensive suburban development hindered El Cajon’s ability to thrive. For about a 40 year period, between 1950 and the 1990’s, the proliferation of low-income housing on the fringes of the downtown district, malls and strip malls attracted shoppers away from downtown El Cajon resulting in a decline of a once thriving community to a near desolated condition.
In 1996, working side by side, both residents, business owners and the county government created a revitalization plan, that turned things around, and in May 2002, El Cajon received certification as a National Main Street Community, making Downtown El Cajon part of the national movement to revitalize America ’s decaying urban centers. Since August 2002, El Cajon has received several Housing and Urban Development designations and is now recognized as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and a Community Based Development Organization (CBDO).