On September 22, 1998 at 13:30, the district and its surroundings were impacted for 10 minutes by the most damaging tornado recorded in the country, with 179 damaged houses, affecting 600 people. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional still catalogued the event as weak.
Geography
It is located in the Greater Metropolitan Area, in the central valley of the country, its borders are to the north with the Barva and San Pablo districts of the Barva canton, to the east the Ángeles district of San Rafael canton, to the south the San Josecito district of San Rafael canton, and to the west the Mercedes district of the Heredia canton. Santa Lucía has a mean elevation of 1200 meters. Three quebradas cross the district from east to west: Seca creek, Burío creek and Palmar creek, the last two converge as tributaries that form the Burío river in the southern limit of the district.
Residential areas
There are several residential area completed projects: Urbanización Jardines de Santa Lucía, Urbanización Antiesquivo, Residencial Jardines del Beneficio, Residencial Malinche Real, Urbanización Villa Esmeralda, Residencial La Ronda, Urbanización Don Álvaro, Urbanización Doña Iris, Urbanización El Tajo.
The district is mostly a residential area, with small businesses to attend the necessities of its inhabitants. There is an still operating coffee receiving and processing plant, the Beneficio de Café Juan León e Hijos, and small coffee orchards.
Education
Public education
There is one Centro de Cuido y Desarrollo Infantil named Sueños de Algodón, and also one public primary school named Escuela Domingo González Pérez. There are offsite research facilities of the Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias of National University of Costa Rica, called the Finca Experimental Santa Lucía. Also the Instituto de Investigación y Servicios Forestales of UNA is located in the district.
Private education
There are two private preschool and daycare centers, Centro Educativo Bilingüe Cosquillitas and Little Monsters Creative Preschool Network. There is a private education center, Centro Educativo Montealto, that teaches preschool, primary school, and high school.
There are plans to build the Centro Cultural de Bandas in the district, however there are allegations of corruption in the contracting procedures.
Leisure
There is a Salón Comunal, several urban parks and a public soccer pitch. The Centro de Recreo of the workers union of the National University of Costa Rica is also located in the district.
Religion
In 2002 the Catholic church of the district, Iglesia de Santa Lucía Virgen y Mártir which was a filial church of the Parroquia de San Bartolomé Apóstol in the Barva district, became the Parroquia de Santa Lucía Virgen y Mártir, a parish with its own filial church of Iglesia de la Medalla Milagrosa in the neighboring Barrio Peralta of San Josecito district, in the San Rafael canton.
Health Care
There is one Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral en Salud which provides basic first line health care, managed by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. Also a Hogar Crea for the rehabilitation and treatment of young persons with addiction issues.
The Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia, ESPH, is the main provider of electricity and potable water in the district. There are two water wells to extract water for their users in this and other districts, the Pozo Santa Lucía and Pozo Malinche Real, and two water tanks of their network, Tanque Antiesquivo and Tanque Santa Lucía. There are plans by ESPH for a sewage treatment plant for this and neighboring districts, as the community relies on residential septic tanks, which is common in the country. Telecommunications include fiber optic to the home, cable television and full cellular telephony coverage by ICE Kölbi, Claro and Movistar.
