Reveille Sounds for Once-Seedy Oceanside

Kristi Hawthorne bawled until her eyes were puffy when the Marine Corps stationed her husband at Camp Pendleton.

She had to move from Kansas to a coastal California town where the military recruiter described daily robberies, stabbings and rapes.

“The recruiter was saying Southern California is beautiful, but whatever you do, don’t live in Oceanside,” she recalls. “When my husband sent for me and the baby, I cried and I cried, ‘You can’t make us live there.’ ”

That was 10 years ago, when X-rated theaters, nude dance clubs, tattoo parlors and motel rooms by the hour ruled downtown. Today only a few businesses hint at the city’s history of ill repute.

Plenty of dry cleaners, barbershops and surplus stores still cater to the 40,000 Marines and sailors at Camp Pendleton, but businesses are starting to realize that civilians have money too.

A multiscreen movie theater opened this year, and cafes, restaurants and surf shops dot Coast Highway. Other redevelopment plans include a beachfront luxury hotel.

Hawthorne hasn’t shed a tear in years.

She is one of the biggest cheerleaders of this city of 160,000, heading up the historical society and gushing over the city’s revival.

“There are people who would snub their noses at Oceanside. There are people who love it like me. And there are people who will discover it,” she says. “I want people to have a sense of pride and not be apologetic about living in Oceanside.”

Some storefronts remain empty, and the city is not crime-free: Last year, Oceanside made national headlines when a 21-year-old drifter slashed the throat of a 9-year-old boy in a campground restroom at the harbor.

But Oceanside has worked hard to shake its reputation as a mere pit stop for tourists driving between Disneyland and Sea World. Boosters now point out the city’s rich history.

Luiseno and Tipai Indians dominated the area until the late 1700s, when missionaries arrived to build what would become California’s largest mission, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. Cattle ranches and fruit orchards flourished, leading to Oceanside’s incorporation in 1888.

With 3 1/2 miles of beaches, the city became a popular vacation spot. After recovering from the Depression, it sold a huge parcel of land to the federal government. The Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base was established in 1942.

Although revenue from the base padded city coffers, the town’s image suffered. The Vietnam War made Oceanside a popular place for protests, and rowdy Marines kept even locals out of downtown.

Meantime, it was the other cities along Interstate 5 and scenic Highway 1 that were bringing in families and tourists. People whizzed through Oceanside to get to someplace else--anyplace else. They went next door to Carlsbad, home to the La Costa Resort and Spa, and farther south to Del Mar and tony La Jolla.

It wasn’t until California’s economy started recovering from recession of the late 1980s that Oceanside could even begin to polish its image.

The city began attracting development east of I-5 with family homes, and with stores such as Cost Plus Imports, Home Depot and Kmart. Hollywood came to film the Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun,” and in recent years, three Starbucks opened within the city’s 42 square miles, or about one for every 53,300 residents.

“There have been profound changes. It’s pretty exciting to be a part of it,” says John Daley, a third-generation Oceanside native. “Once people in town realized it was their responsibility, change started. Buildings don’t make the changes, people do.”

The city and military have a more peaceful coexistence too, and the base has encouraged Marines to become more involved in the community.

“It’s a renaissance,” says Col. Rocky Chavez. “The relationship with the city is probably never better. . . . We see the quality of life in Oceanside interrelated to the quality of life for the Marines.”

Most of Oceanside today lies east of I-5 and has a more suburban feel. But the heart, and some would say the soul, of the city lies west of the highway.

Downtown is becoming a place to spend the entire day. When the beach gets boring, people can walk five blocks east and find a movie theater, cafes, restaurants and a small actors’ playhouse.

If the economy keeps humming, Oceanside’s transformation could someday make it a tourist destination, says Jeffrey Charles, an assistant history professor at Cal State San Marcos.

“There is this sort of hunger among us suburbanites for the genuine downtown experience,” Charles says. “Maybe that will carry Oceanside to a tourist boom.

“If there’s a downturn, does Oceanside have enough momentum? I’m probably cautiously optimistic,” he said. “I hope they make it.”