All That’s Missing Not Always Missed

There is bungee jumping and hot-air ballooning, but just try to find local slalom skiing or white-water river rafting.

Like any other large region, North County is a melange of things present and things absent. Some of what’s here is positive while some of it is not; pros and cons can also be found in what North County doesn’t have.

For instance, it doesn’t have a major earthquake fault line running through it, but it is sandwiched between the Rose Canyon Fault off the coast and the Elsinore Fault inland near the Salton Sea. (Through no fault of its own, North County sustained $500,000 in damage July 13, 1986, from a 5.3-magnitude earthquake centered in the Pacific 28 miles southwest of Oceanside. At the time, it was the largest quake to hit the county or its offshore areas since scientists began monitoring seismic events here in 1932.)

For all the things North County doesn’t have, an alternative can be found. Here are some of North County’s “haves” and “have-nots.”

Escondido City Hall It doesn’t have a center city, but it does have nine city halls. North County includes two cities with populations greater than 100,000, and several unincorporated communities such as Bonsall, Valley Center and Ramona, and portions of the city of San Diego. Yet, while the region is larger than many cities in the country, it is not governed by a common political body and it has no central hub.

There is cable access in North County, but not everyone has access to cable. Some homes, primarily those in low-density rural areas, have trouble getting a cable hookup because the laying of the cable itself is so expensive. It’s virtually impossible to get cable-and its CNN, MTV, A&E; and ESPN-unless neighbors get together to pay for the project.

Even if you aren’t able to watch cable, you might be able to get on the air. Cable companies have designated public access channels that are open to individuals. You usually have to live in the cable company’s service area, and the material you want to air must meet broadcast guidelines.

It has populations that blossom in some areas and wane in others. According to the most recent U.S. Census, which came out in 1990, San Marcos’ population boomed 123% in the previous 10 years, jumping to 38,974 residents, while Del Mar’s population decreased 3.1% in the same period, dipping to less than 5,000. The biggest city is coastal Oceanside, with 128,398 people, while the inland city of Escondido trails closely with 108,635, the census reported.

Upscale homes in Poway Oceanside trailers for homeless It has the haves and the have-nots. The 1990 U.S. Census found the average income for North County families living along the coast was $42,281 while families living inland made $38,963. The census also found that the number of homeless people “visible on the streets” was 3,183 along the coast and 771 inland.

There are more single people on North County’s coast than there are inland. According to the census, 27.8% of the people on the coast over the age of 15 have never been married, compared to 22.8% in inland areas. There are 55.8% married people along the coast versus 59.8% inland. At the time of the census, 9.1% of North County’s coastal population was divorced and 8.9% of the inland population was divorced.

County jail in Vista North County does not have a federal prison, but there is a county jail. The Vista detention facility has a court-rated maximum capacity of 886 male inmates. There is no detention facility for women in the area, so North County’s female felons are taken to the Las Colinas jail in Santee.

There is no upscale Neiman Marcus, but there is a Loehmann’s in Oceanside. Who needs a tea room and individual dressing rooms when they can get a $100 silk blouse for $30? Loehmann’s is a nationwide discount women’s clothing outlet that offers designer labels at bare-bone prices in a no-frills atmosphere. Unlike Neiman’s, where a store clerk will hold your $2,000, off-the-shoulder, sequined turquoise gown, a Loehmann’s shopper has to protect her intended purchases by tying them together in what is commonly known as a “Loehmann’s knot.”

Marines at Pendleton Hangar at Miramar The Marines and the Navy have landed, but the Air Force and the Army are conspicuously absent from North County’s home front. The Marines have been firmly entrenched at Camp Pendleton for 50 years (currently 36,000 strong) and the Navy has made its presence felt in Miramar for 40 years (currently 15,000 strong). Many think of Camp Pendleton, with its 125,000 acres (196 square miles), as the last bastion of open space in Southern California, a buffer between San Diego and Los Angeles. And few people in North County (and elsewhere) can look upon Miramar Naval Air Station without remembering it as Fighter Town, USA, in the Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun” and, more recently, as being connected to the Tailhook scandal.

North County does not have a fine arts museum, but it does have more than 40 art galleries. Art lovers can find black and white photography, watercolors, wildlife scenes and landscapes among the many media exhibited by local artists. North County galleries themselves come in many forums, from the outdoor ArtistSpace at Southfair in Del Mar to the historic Rancho Buena Vista Adobe in Vista, as well as the colleges and universities.

Not striking out There aren’t any professional baseball, football or basketball teams, but who needs them? A sampling of North County sports includes 24 adult softball leagues, 7 bowling alleys, several decent pool halls--not to mention 8 public swimming pools--18 square-dance clubs and 103 women’s tennis teams.

East Africa in Escondido North County does not have the largest zoo in the world, but it does have the largest wild animal park. The San Diego Wild Animal Park near Escondido has more than 3,200 animals roaming around 2,100 acres.

McClellan-Palomar Airport North County lacks an international airport, but it has the busiest single-runway airport in the county. McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad averages 750 takeoffs and landings of small aircraft each day. In 1991, it had 220,621 of them. In addition to a variety of charters, the airport is served by American Eagle, a commuter airline with flights daily to Los Angeles International Airport. Not only that, but parking at McClellan-Palomar is free. John Wayne International Airport in Orange County and Lindbergh Field in the lap of downtown San Diego can’t claim that.

Sunbathing on Ponto Beach There are beaches galore along North County’s coastline, but many of them don’t have enough sand. Sandy beaches--once the norm for North County and a big boon to tourism--have been beating a hasty retreat in recent years. Changing weather patterns and human-engineered changes to the landscape have narrowed some beaches while others have become covered with cobblestones rather than sand.

There is no mean season here, but there are mean temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, the annual mean temperature along the coast is between 64 and 68 degrees, inland between 59 to 63.

Relishing rainy days North County’s annual rainfall is 400 to 600 inches shy of a real rain forest’s clime, but nonetheless, there are two rain forests in Escondido. The average annual rainfall is uniformly 16 inches in inland areas and about 10 inches along the coast. While drastically drier than the Amazon or Hawaiian tropical forests, the San Diego Wild Animal Park has replicated an Australian rain forest with misting machines providing humidity, and has recently unveiled aglass house filled with rain forest butterflies from Central Asia and Africa. The glass house will become a hummingbird and exotic-bird enclosure in mid-September.

For all of its tropicana and desert-like exhibits, the Wild Animal Park also serves as a frost network station for the National Weather Service. The park records an average of 32 nights of frost a year. In the late 1980s, temperatures dipped to 20 degrees on several occasions and did considerable frost damage to the exotic vegetation at the park, despite the use of heaters.

Singing karaoke-style There isn’t an opera company, but there are more than a dozen places in North County where you can croon along with a karaoke machine. You may not be Caruso or Callas, but be it a rousing rendition of “New York, New York,” or “Mama He’s Crazy,” even the most seriously tone-deaf can belt it out with confidence thanks to a sophisticated stereo system that provides musical background.

Wine aging in Escondido North County doesn’t have water fountains on the streets, but it does have two micro-breweries and six wineries. Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo is the county’s oldest winery and Thomas-Jaeger Winery in Escondido is North County’s newest. The micro-breweries are Callahan’s Pub & Restaurant in Mira Mesa and The Red Kettle in Encinitas.

Perrier doesn’t effervesce here, but Palomar Mountain Springs water does. Bottled water aficionados who want to guzzle a home-grown product can turn to the water, that, true to its name, is tapped from a spring right on Palomar Mountain adjacent to the Palomar Observatory. The 7-year-old company distributes about a million bottles of water a month (in six different sizes) primarily in San Diego County and to Price Clubs in Los Angeles.

Poinsettias proliferate The rare, insect-munching Venus’ flytrap does not grow here; however, Encinitas can lay claim to producing 90% of the world’s flowering poinsettia plants. The brilliant red blooms get their start as 3/4-inch cuttings from the 900-acre Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch. Traditional red poinsettias remain the most popular, but breeding on the Ecke ranch has produced many shades of pink, white and yellow, as well as variegated pink and white. (To watch a Venus’ flytrap in action in its native habitat, try visiting a 700-square-mile swamp in the vicinity of Wilmington, N.C.)

Digging for gold There are no diamond mines, but there are gold mines. It’s gold in them thar hills of Julian from which North County reaps some of its richest history. Julian’s golden age was ushered in in 1870 when prospector Fred Coleman stopped to water his horse in a stream near the foot of Volcan Mountain and spotted glints of gold in the water. Within a month of his discovery, 40 claims were filed along the creek and south along Banner Grade toward Cuyamaca. Most of the small mining operations around the Julian-Banner area bloomed and faded in the late 1870s, but Stonewall Mine south of Julian operated well into the 20th Century. Although it has been more than 50 years since gold mines were producing in Julian, there are still two that are making money by charging tourists for a guided walk back to the way it was. The Eagle and High Peak mines have been open daily for tours for the past 26 years.

Unending videos There isn’t a big-screen, first-run movie theater, but video rental stores are to North County what restaurants are to San Francisco. Not only are there about 80 video rental stores sprinkled throughout the area, but many of them offer special services. For people who make it an art of lying supine on their couch, more than 1,000 videos and laser discs are just a phone call away at North County Video Services. The Oceanside-based company deliver videos to any doorstep in North County and picks them up as well. And if watching videos makes you feel peckish, the company can bring you a pizza from one of several local pizzerias. Snacking does seem to go fist-in-mouth with video viewing, as is evidenced by the number of rental stores that sell everything from microwave popcorn to licorice whips to liter bottles of soda pop.

Power from San Onofre North County exports power, but imports it, too. Camp Pendleton is the site of the San Onofre Nuclear Power plant, which generates power for use throughout Southern California, including most of Orange County and parts of Ventura. It is owned primarily by Southern California Edison Corp. and in part by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. In order to fill local demand, SDG&E; purchases almost half its power from outside sources, including New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.

Forming identity There is no Greek Row, so to speak, but there are five college and university campuses around North County. Palomar, both MiraCosta College campuses, United States International University and California State University, San Marcos have no sororities or fraternities. However, CSUSM has an organization called the Sigma Phi Delta Club that is working to be recognized as a fraternity. When the toga parties begin is not known.

North County isn’t home to any TV networks, but there are seven local radio stations. Airing everything from country to business news are KKOS-FM (95.9), KCEO-AM (1000), KGMG-FM (102.1), KGMG-AM (1320), KOWF-FM (92.1), KSPA-AM (1450) and KPRZ-AM (1210). Because North County has a separate ratings book, competition among the stations can be keen.

Palomar Medical Center It doesn’t have a structure with the stature of the Empire State Building, but it does have Marina Towers in Oceanside. The 17-story condominium building looms over all others in North County, its closest competitor being Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with its nine-story tower. Pomerado Hospital in Poway follows closely behind, with seven. California State University, San Marcos is six stories tall. If you don’t count the 400-foot-high stack on the Encina Power Plant, Carlsbad’s tallest building is the five-story Aviara Four Seasons Hotel, which is still under construction. The tallest buildings in other North County cities, however, need a little giraffe blood if they’re to catch up. The buildings in Vista, Solana Beach, Encinitas and Del Mar range from two to four stories tall.

It doesn’t have space shuttle launch or landing pads, but it has one of Earth’s best views of space. The Palomar Observatory on Palomar Mountain, home of the 200-inch Hale Telescope, remains an important center for space exploration by astronomers and celestial cartographers.