The symbol of Tierrasanta is an encircled Conquistador cross, similar to one atop Montserrat mountain near Barcelona, Spain, though it no longer holds any religious meaning.

Tierrasanta was originally part of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá ranch, which was active during the late 18th and 19th centuries.

In 1961, the U.S. Government sold the area that is now Tierrasanta and a portion of neighboring Mission Trails Regional Park to the City of San Diego.

[citation needed] The original Community Plan called for an eastward extension of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, with connections to Jackson Drive on the south and Route 52 on the north.

[4] The military has performed clearance operations as recently as 1994 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to investigate the area every five years under its FUDS Formerly Used Defense Sites program.

[citation needed] The developed part of Tierrasanta, which rises from west to east and includes numerous canyons, is situated like an island, not directly bordered by any other community.

It is bounded on the north by the Mount Soledad (52) Freeway and the sprawling southern fields of MCAS Miramar; on the east by the 8,000-acre (32 km2) Mission Trails Regional Park, which has numerous hiking and mountain biking trails; on the west by slopes overlooking the wide Interstate 15 corridor running from Friars Road to Route 52, and on the south with homes overlooking the Admiral Baker Golf Course and the San Diego River.

The elected Tierrasanta Community Council (TCC), which includes members from each of five geographic areas, plus representatives for commercial, Village Mission Valley Apartments, and Canyon Hills High, has responsibility for community planning and for advising the City of San Diego and other government agencies on local issues.

Dedicated open space areas and landscaped medians are maintained by the Tierrasanta Maintenance Assessment District, which was established in 1972 and most recently approved by voters in 1997.