Those Were the Days, My Friend, We Thought They’d Never End

Once upon a time in Southern California, there was small beach town on the northern San Diego County coast. It had been named Encinitas for the scrub oaks found in the local chaparral.

The town straddled the Pacific Coast Highway, which was the only coastal route between San Diego and everything north of it. Most people drove through Encinitas on their way somewhere else. There was a lot of traffic on PCH, enough to support many gas stations, motels and other roadside businesses in town.

The Southern California population exploded, but Encinitas stayed pretty much the same. Regional population growth and federal funding spawned the freeway. Interstate 5 opened through Encinitas in mid-1966. Traffic on PCH all but died. Many motels, gas stations and other traffic-dependent businesses died too. PCH through Encinitas became a ghost road. Just about all the traffic was local. That was wonderful.

The revival of PCH through town was very slow. The transition took at least 10 years, probably closer to 15 or 20.

Fed up with careless county control, Encinitas incorporated as a city in 1986. Local control was seen as a good thing, which it was for a while.

But then suburbia invaded Encinitas, and with it came disingenuous politicians on the City Council. They seemed OK as candidates, but they betrayed their constituents when elected. Development ran rampant, and the small beach town vibe dissolved as many good people moved away, seeking refuge elsewhere.

To newcomers, Encinitas still seemed like a great place. But oldtimers knew it was a sad shadow of its former self.