Mira Mesa (Spanish for "Table View") is a community and neighborhood in the city of San Diego, California. The city-recognized Mira Mesa Community Plan Area is roughly bounded by Interstate 15 on the east, Interstate 805 on the west, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon on the north and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on the south. Most of the community plan area is referred to as Mira Mesa; the community plan area also includes the neighborhoods of Sorrento Valley and Sorrento Mesa. The Mira Mesa neighborhood, as defined by the San Diego Police Department's neighborhood map, is roughly bounded by Interstate 15 to the east, Camino Santa Fe to the west, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon to the north and Carroll Canyon to the south. History Prior to European settlement, Mira Mesa was inhabited by the Kumeyaay peoples who lived along Penasquitos Creek. After Mexican independence, the land became part of the Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos land grant to Francisco María Ruiz in 1823. Around the time of World War II the area now called Mira Mesa was used by the United States Army as a test area. Just west of U.S. Route 395 (now Interstate 15) was a Navy auxiliary landing field, known locally as Hourglass Field because the layout of the runways was a single piece of asphalt in the shape of an hourglass. The Navy also used the surrounding area as a bombing range. Starting in 1969 there was a housing boom in the area that now extends from the I-15 freeway in the east to I-805 in the west and is approximately 10,500 acres (42 km2). This was one of the earliest areas of urban sprawl along the I-15 Corridor. Hourglass Field became the site of San Diego Miramar College and Hourglass Field Community Park. The area was built so quickly that it lacked schools, shopping centers, or other services for its thousands of residents. In 1971 Pete Wilson started his political career running for mayor with the slogan "No more Mira Mesas!" as a promise to stop quick, unplanned growth in San Diego. Since its inception, Mira Mesa was largely influenced by the military located at the adjacent NAS Miramar. Mira Mesa was the northernmost "real community" of San Diego, and was separated from the rest of the city by NAS Miramar for many years. By the late-1990s, the Mira Mesa area had undergone extensive