City, San Diego County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92096, 92078, 92069
Bedroom city east of Vista and Carlsbad. Home to a
community college and a California state university. Fast growing but
approaching buildout. A town where
first looks deceive. www.mccormacks.com
Named
by Spanish soldiers who ventured into region on feast of St. Mark, San Marcos
started as a farm town sustained by a rail line and station. Situated on the
main thoroughfare between Escondido and Oceanside, the town also attracted
commercial firms and light industry. Much of San Marcos sits in wide bowl. The
rail line runs down the middle of town, parallel to the main boulevard, Mission
Road, and to the freeway, Highway 78.
Viewed
from the freeway, San Marcos presents some of its new (homes, schools, large
stores and a civic center).
Click for regional or detailed map
And
a lot of its old and worn: shops, storage yards, mobile home parks, cottages
and apartment buildings constructed decades ago. For people shopping San Marcos
for housing, the Highway 78 vistas may be dispiriting.
Away
from the freeway, the housing jumps up the scale and takes on the look of
modern suburbia. The city has been steadily improving its older sections but
not driving out its businesses or long-time residents. The old section has some
gems, including a restaurant row, about 18 establishments, many white tablecloth,
that any city would love to have. Movie complex and shops nearby.
San
Marcos incorporated as a city in 1963, relatively late, with a population of
fewer than 4,000. At that time, this part of the county was still The Sticks. www.mccormacks.com
In
the 1970s, suburbia reached San Marcos and by 1980 it counted 17,479 residents
and by 1990 about 39,000. In the last decade, the population jumped 41 percent
and now stands at 84,391. San Marcos may look old in parts but more than nine
of every ten residential units were erected after 1970.
With
growth so rapid, San Marcos has spent the last 30 years or so trying to make
sense out of its planning, sprucing up the old town, badgering the state to fix
Highway 78 and its access ramps (much done, more needed) and welcoming new
homes, businesses and major institutions.
Over the next six years, one of the
largest master-planned jobs in the history of the county will be built: San
Elijo Hills, 3,398 homes on 2,000 acres on the south side, in hills behind Lake
San Marcos. About half have been constructed along with a K-8 school and a
19-acre park and community center.
To
relieve crowding at Dunn, Carrillo and Paloma elementary schools, the school
district is building another elementary and hopes to have it open by fall 2007.
But legal difficulties may push this date back.
Another
big project, called the Sprinter: passenger trains over the rail line, from
Oceanside to Escondido with a spur to the university. Service may start in
December 2007. www.mccormacks.com
Many
young families. Many playmates for the kids. SANDAG in 2006 placed 28 percent
of the residents under age 18. These numbers define some of the town's
ambitions, notably paying attention to recreation and schools.
Education
by the San Marcos Unified School District, enrollment about 16,000. School rankings
range generally from the 50th to 90th percentile. Except for high schools, the
schools run on year-round schedules. See Schools.
School
district in 1996 passed $22 million bond measure to build and modernize
schools. Combining bonds with developer and state funds, the district has built
three elementary schools and converted another elementary to a middle school. A
second high school, Mission Hills, was opened in 2004. San Marcos High School has been
modernized — high-tech wiring, labs, etc.
In 2005, the San Marcos Middle school
renovated its multi-purpose room and purchased gym lockers. San Marcos High
installed artificial turf and added classrooms.
Palomar
Community College, enrollment 30,000 full and part-time, is located on the
northwest side of San Marcos and a California State University, enrollment
8,000, on the southeast side. www.mccormacks.com
Both
wave the flag for academics and make easy for residents to take a great variety
of classes — art, literature, how to rear children, computers, business
— and activities (without getting on a degree track, although they
welcome degree students.)
Both
have libraries and events — lectures, exhibits, plays — open to the
public. Community colleges offer many activity classes — swimming,
gymnastics, exercise and so on — that can easily be joined. Palomar has a
strong performing arts program. High-school students can take advanced classes
at the community college. In the summer, Palomar offers classes for the kids.
Two homicides in 2007, three in 2006, zero in 2005, one in 2004, three in 2003, one each in 2002 and 2001, zero
in 2000 and 1999. The counts for the previous years are one, six, one, two,
two, four, three, two, three, one, three, one. See Crime.
The
new or fairly new subdivisions favor stucco and tile roofs, mildly
Mediterranean. Country-club homes and golf course off Twin Oaks Valley Drive on
the north. San Elijo neighborhood, hidden from view, favors modern designs,
mixes single and cluster homes and includes a village center with a coffee shop
and a few stores. Many view lots.
The
east portion borders Escondido, which has two large shopping malls (San Marcos
bites into one.) The west, which has several mobile home parks, borders the
City of Vista. www.mccormacks.com
Here
you’ll find Lake San Marcos, an unincorporated community built around a lake
and two golf courses. Many elderly, average age 71, reports census. But
families are moving in.
The
state in 2010 counted 27,741 housing units in San Marcos: 14,311 single-family
detached, 1,085 single attached, 8,685 multiples and 3,660 mobile homes.
Owner-occupied units outnumber rentals 66 percent to 34.
A
long and wearying haul to downtown San Diego but many jobs have opened in the
Interstate 15 corridor, between Rancho Bernardo and Miramar Air Station. Also
many jobs at Carlsbad, which has a busy airport, and at Oceanside (the Marine
base).
Transit center near Palomar College.
Consists of bays for buses, covered area, benches and restrooms. Commute train
runs along coast runs to downtown San Diego and up to Orange County.
Eleven
parks, five tot lots, two community swimming pools, three golf courses in
region. Two more parks to be built in 2007 and a third expanded. City plans to
have 24 parks. www.mccormacks.com
Movie
complex. Soccer, football, Little League, girls softball, gymnastics, 4-H,
scouting, karate. Music, dance and exercise classes. Chili cook-off. Sunflower
County Fair. Public gym, one of largest in county; three basketball courts,
community room. Boys and Girls Club. Seniors center. Civic center includes
library, community center, city hall. Miniature golf.
Escondido,
which borders San Marcos, has a performing center that presents plays,
musicals, dance recitals and other events.
Costco,
Home Depot, Fry's Electronics, Wal-Mart, Kohl's department store. Discount
stores, malls on east side of city and in Escondido. Regional mall with Nordstrom
in Escondido.
Kaiser
outpatient clinic in San Marcos. Escondido is rebuilding its Palomar Hospital.
Although
well inland, San Marcos catches breezes from the Pacific and this takes the
edge off of summer heat. www.mccormacks.com
Chamber
of commerce, (760) 744-1270.
•
In 2005, Cal State San Marcos began offering a bachelor's degree in
biotechnology, the first or one of the first colleges in the state to teach
this degree. Like many counties, San Diego is working to attract bio-tech
firms. In 2006, the city began review of a proposal to build a research and
development park on 25 acres near the university.
Also new at the
university: a nursing program and a building for business programs.
Construction began in 2006 on a building for childcare and child studies.
In 2006, the San Marcos
school district and the university worked out procedures to make it easier for
the kids to move up to the university.
•
The commute train, the Sprinter, between San Marcos and Escondido will run 22
miles on the existing freight line and 1.7 miles on new track laid to the
university. The service will stop at 15 stations, three of them in San Marcos. www.mccormacks.com
•
Fall tradition. Ramble through the 40 miles of trails that run through and
around the town. All or part, up to you. Bike, horse or foot. Called San Marcos
Trails Day.
•
Opened in 2006, another mini-mall, just south of Highway 78: Petco, Elephant
Bar, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Nordstrom Rack.
•
In 2006, the city council restricted home building on ridge lines.
•
Down Under. In 2006, the bands from Mission Hills and San Marcos high schools
visited Australia and played at the Sydney Opera House.
City web
site: www.ci.san-marcos.ca.us
