Otay Ranch is located in south San Diego County within the eastern region of the city of Chula Vista. The western boundary of Otay Ranch is approximately 14 miles southeast of downtown San Diego and about 5 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The Otay Ranch Information Center is located off of Telegraph Canyon Road at Heritage Road.

The 530-acre village of Heritage features 1,565 single-family homes and 1,134 apartment homes nestled around a lively village core that includes the 10-acre Heritage Park and community center, Heritage Elementary School, a Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Center, and Heritage Towne Center, a mixed-use center with 38,000 square feet of retail, including a child care center, in addition to community gathering spaces and affordable apartments for seniors.

Special streetscape and landscape features further distinguish Otay Ranch. A stately grove of olive trees, reminiscent of the California mission era, distinguishes the community's main entrance. Paseos, greenbelt corridors exclusively for pedestrians and bicycle riders, connect the village center to adjacent residential neighborhoods and offer "short-cut" paths for residents. Promenade Streets, the primary roads within Otay Ranch, have been designed narrower than customary to calm traffic. These roads feature extra-wide sidewalks flanked by colorful Chinese pistache trees to encourage pedestrian activity. Front porches and a reduced emphasis on garage visibility also contribute to a more pedestrian-oriented streetscape.

The village core is connected to adjoining residential areas by landscaped greenbelts, called paseos, and pedestrian-friendly promenade streets. These streets feature narrower roadbeds, 8-foot-wide sidewalks flanked by street trees and human-scale light standards, in addition to typical street lighting. Hiking trails and cart paths also encourage residents to leave their cars at home for everyday errands.