Like many neighborhoods, Rockridge has had its ups and downs. Prior to the completion of Highway 24 in 1964, Miles Avenue and several other streets were laid out differently. Residents living in the area at the time, once known as "Little Italy" because of a large number of Italian immigrants, saw the decline of the neighborhood's human scale into the 1970s due to the separation of the neighborhood caused by the SR-24 freeway. In the mid to late 1970s, some storefronts on College Avenue were boarded up. However, due to the success of a number of new businesses, who together formed a "critical mass" of commercial attraction, the Rockridge commercial district began to thrive again.