Chula Vista, city in San Diego County, on San Diego Bay in southwestern California. The city is located near the Mexican border and in the metropolitan area centered on San Diego. It is a retail and manufacturing city. Aerospace is the major industry; others include the production of clothing and metal. Several firms have maquiladora (twin-plants) facilities, with manufacturing and assembly plants in Mexico and distribution and corporate headquarters in Chula Vista. The city also has the Chula Vista Nature Center, the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, and a community college. Chula Vista Harbor is the southern home port for the Californian, the state's official tall ship. The city's ARCO Olympic Training Center is a permanent facility dedicated to training athletes for the Olympic Games.
The city, once known as the lemon capital of the nation, was laid out in the late 1880s and incorporated in 1911. Its retail sector has expanded significantly since the early 1970s, and an economic redevelopment program has revitalized the downtown area. The Border Environmental Commerce Alliance was formed in the mid-1990s to assist businesses providing environmental goods and services. Also in the mid-1990s plans were announced to build a facility in the city to produce products for biotechnology companies to use to conduct clinical trials.
