San Clemente - what's the low down?

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Patience_IHB

New member
<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've only lived in the OC for a couple of years but I know various cities have certain reputations - for attracting certain groups of people, for new/old housing, etc. I never hear much about San Clemente (or San Juan Capistrano for that matter). Anyone willing to enlighten me with the common stereotypes for San Clemente? Is the real estate heading down there just like it is in the rest of OC?</p>

<p>Thanks,


Patience</p>
 
Those use to be my two favorite places in Orange County because they have character and aren't overrun with chain stores. People aren't snobs and you can walk around without having to get in your car just to go to the store. However, I recently read an article in the Register about the gang problem there, so maybe it's not as nice as I thought.





<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/news/gang-members-court-1923983-injunction-prosecutors#slComments">www.ocregister.com/news/gang-members-court-1923983-injunction-prosecutors#slComments</a>
 
The nice areas of San Juan are very nice - as in multimillion dollar houses. Excellent place to live - one of the great parts is near Marbella Country Club, but there are many. The bad areas are not good. Those tend to be run-down condos.





San Clemente is also a nice area, and you have two distinct parts. The "older" houses tend to be closer to the beach and have been there for a while. Again, some amazing houses there. The newer part is Talega, which is tucked into the hills. Also some nice houses. Someone I know lives in Talega, and he mentioned before that there was kind of a feeling that the older parts of SC were not too happy with all the new houses being built because they felt they were hurting the quality of life - but from what I've experienced, SC has a great vibe. SC High is very overcrowded, but I believe the new high school will fix some of that.
 
<p><em>"It's not right, wherever we go now, police are going to stop us and think we're up to something,'' added his 24-year-old brother, Julian. </em></p>

<p>Well cry me a river.</p>

<p>No Vas....I hardly think one gang in each of S.C. and S.J.C. constitutes a major issue. They'll just eventually kill each other off. </p>

<p>I'm sure they are the root of most of the crime though. FYI: The teardrop tattoo, well ok...he has two, signifies that you have killed someone. It's a twisted "gang badge of honor". </p>

<p> </p>
 
I spend just about every other Friday and some Thursdays down in San Clemente. As a solo female I have never felt unsafe there. I have walked to the bank and back to my vehicle (which is a soft top Jeep), even at later hours. I've never had any issue. I find the locals to be fairly nice people and it has a bit of a small town feel to it. My general take is it's a bit of a marine suburb town where Marine families live. I imagine very similar to what Lake Forest was when El Toro was open. I actually have a good friend who has a high and tight haircut but is non military, and without fail, every time he's in San Clemente with me someone assumes he's Semper Fi.
 
<p>Thank you all for the info! I really appreciate it. </p>

<p>The link to the gang story was interesting. I did notice though that there was a Mission Viejo gang mentioned in there ("Varrio Viejo gang in Mission Viejo") and Mission Viejo was just named the safest city.</p>
 
<p>San Clemente is one of the last beach towns left that still has a small town atmosphere. Dana Point has changed dramatically with the large hotels, Monarch Beach area, and the Headlands projects. I moved to the area in 1977 and Watched SC change from a military town to a really nice coastal vllage. Dana Point changed from a party, surfer, boating type town to an upscale beach community that still is underpriced compared to Corona Del Mar to the north and Del Mar to the south. There are great beaches, parks, Dana Marina, and true downtown areas. One of the things that I most enjoyed is the history of San Clemente, Dana Point, and San Juan. They evolved as part of the history of California rather than have been put together by land planners and developers. Master planned communities have their place but I don't care for the lifestyle in them. To put it in perspective, the Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1776. That is the same year as the the Declearation of Independance was written on the east coast. </p>

<p>There are two distinct lifestyles based on the older more 'beachy" areas in contrast to the newer master communities on the east side of the I-5. The older beach homes sell for $700 to $1000 per foot. The area is not affordable to everyone. Only a few of the newer master communities have Mello-Roos. The Downtown and Pier Bowl areas, as in all tourist towns, is very busy and has timeshares, restuarants, and a pier where you can have dinner with the surf rolling under your table. Winter is a nice time to visit since it is less crowded. Downtown has buildings constructed in the late 1920s and lots of small business rather than the large chains that make most of Orange County look the same. They have a great Farmers Market on Sundays on Del Mar Street and several times a year they have large events where they close down Del Mar Ave and have bands, parades, chowder cook offs, and other small town activities. </p>

<p>If you have not spent a day enjoying the area I would highly reccomend it. It is a short drive from Irvine/AV area but has a very different feeling. I feel fortunate to have lived in the area when it was a true beach town with lots of surfing, boating, and friendly people. As nice as it is, in my opinion, the introduction of The Reserve and Talega changed the demographics to be more like the rest of OC. Like all things in life there are some people drawn to that lifestyle and others who want the more controlled enviornments and "perfection" of planned communities. I recently moved to a much smaller community in the moutains of Arizona and traded the beaches for forests, lakes, clean air, and less population-but that is another story. </p>

<p><strong>Have a Happy Thanksgiving!! </strong></p>
 
"San Clemente is one of the last beach towns left that still has a small town atmosphere." Agree completely. I've also wondered as well about why Dana Point can be less expensive than, say, Newport. The one downside is that DP can be relatively far from the freeway, which can be an issue if you work in Irvine or farther north.
 
<p>caliguy,</p>

<p>Dana point is not far from the freeway. The I5 is less than a half mile away. I commute from Irvine to San Clemente twice per week and it takes rougly 23 minutes to get all the way back to the Pico business park just before Talega.</p>

<p>Patience,</p>

<p>Concerning San Clemente stereotypes, here are my two cents. But first, some background about me. I moved to Capistrano Beach (sandwiched between san clemente, san juan, and dana point) when I was 8 and lived in Capo/SC for 13 years. I went to Palisades elementary, Shorecliffs middle school, and SCHS. I graduated from SCHS in '99, moved onto Palizada in '01, moved to Linda Lane in '02, and Talega in '04.</p>

<p>Let the stereotypes begin:</p>

<p>1) The public schools in San Clemente border somewhere between pathetic, rediculous, and horrid. Shorecliffs is a cattle farm: you are a number, not a person. SCHS is a prison. They call themselves a prep school, but it consists of several underpaid unionized teachers whom the board cannot fire. Want specifics? Ask anyone about Mrs. Lovemark, an excellent example. On the bright side, there are excellent teachers for many of the AP courses.</p>

<p>2) Gangs are not a problem. There were some gang members at SCHS who call themselves the SCVS, but they were mostly immature mexicans who liked to pinch each other in the ass in the hallways, giggle, and occasionally act tough. None of my friends ever had an encounter with them. Then again, most of my friends were computer nerds.</p>

<p>3) San Clemente is infested with stoners. Lazy, laid back, unmovated stoners with bad hygene. Most surf, some smoke weed and play XBox, some do both. All of them head to Pizza Port on Fridays for a "Carlsbad Chronic" beer. Excellent beer BTW.</p>

<p>4) There three distinct groups of people in San Clemente: Rich, poor, and the nouveau rich. The rich live on the top of the water tower and down south by Christianitos (where Nixon used to live), the poor live in the rentals within a mile radius of the pier bowl all the way to north beach, and the nouveau rich live in Talega, Marblehead, and the greenbelt off Estrella. Talega and Marblehead are actually beautiful areas, but IMO, living in Talega is pretty much like living in Irvine. Its approximately 4.5 miles from the Ocean and has 15-20 temperature variations from homes near the coast. Marblehead on the other hand has some wonderful properties, has instant access to the I5, good ocean breezes, and great views. I would look at the areas of rolling hills between pico & hermosa, as well as the area between hermosa and estrella. </p>

<p>Here are a few more for good measure:</p>

<p>5) San Clemente has no night life for young people other than Ole's Tavern.</p>

<p>6) San Clemente is full of old people. </p>

<p>7) San Clemente has the best damn mexican food ever. Really. Ever.</p>

<p>8) San Clemente has no parks (except aforementioned Pier Bowl).</p>

<p>9) Victoria Market is the best liquor store in all the world. Go RAMI! GO LAKERS!</p>

<p> </p>
 
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