San Clemente

 

(săn klĭmĕn'tē) , city (1990 pop. 41,100), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1928. Camp Pendleton, a large U.S. marine base, adjoins the city, which is chiefly residential. There is diverse light manufacturing. San Clemente is a popular vacation spot, with several missions, state beaches, and a national forest nearby. Former President Richard Nixon maintained a “Western White House” summer residence there.

This article is about a city in Orange County, California. For other meanings, see San Clemente (disambiguation).

City of San Clemente, California
Seal
Location of San Clemente within Orange County, California.
Coordinates: 33°26′16″N 117°37′13″W / 33.43778, -117.62028
Country	United States
State	California
County	Orange
Government
- Mayor	Jim Dahl
Area
- City	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2005)
- City
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	92672-92674
Area code(s)	949
FIPS code	06-65084
GNIS feature ID	1661376
Website: http://ci.san-clemente.ca.us/

San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of 2005, the city population was 65,338. San Clemente is the southernmost city in the county, six miles south of San Juan Capistrano. Its location makes it the only city in Orange County closer to San Diego than to Los Angeles. The north entrance (known as the "Christianitos Gate") to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is in San Clemente.

History

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the area was inhabited by what came to be known as the Juaneño Indians. After the founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano, the local natives were conscripted to work for the mission.

The city of San Clemente was founded in 1925 by real estate developer (and former mayor of Seattle) Ole Hanson who named it San Clemente after a town in Spain. As it were, San Clemente Island was named after the city later since it is directly west of the coast. Hanson envisioned it as a Spanish-style coastal resort town, a "Spanish Village by the Sea." In an unprecedented move, he had a clause added to the deeds requiring all building plans to be submitted to an architectural review board in an effort to ensure that future development would retain some Spanish-style influence (for example, for many years it was required that all new buildings in the downtown area have red tile roofs). It was incorporated in 1928 with a council-manager government.

Nixon's "Western White House"

In 1968 President Richard Nixon bought the H. H. Cotton estate, one of the original homes built by one of Hanson's partners. Nixon called it "La Casa Pacifica," but it was nicknamed the "Western White House", a term now commonly used for a President's vacation home. It sits above one of the West Coast's premier surfing spots, Trestles, and just north of historic surfing beach San Onofre. During Nixon's tenure it was visited by many world leaders , including Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, and Henry Kissinger, as well as businessman Bebe Rebozo. Following his resignation, Nixon retired to San Clemente to write his memoirs. He later sold the home and moved to Park Ridge, New Jersey. The property also has historical tie to the democratic side of the aisle; prior to Nixon's tenure at the estate, H.H. Cotton was known to host Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would visit to play cards in a small outbuilding overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Geography

San Clemente is located at 33°26′16″N, 117°37′13″W (33.437828, -117.620397)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.6 km² (18.4 mi²). 45.6 km² (17.6 mi²) of it is land and 1.9 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (4.03%) is water.

Interstate 5 runs through San Clemente. The Foothill Transportation Corridor is planned to connect Mission Viejo to the Orange/San Diego county line and will run along the east side of San Clemente on its way to I-5.

At the south end of town is the military Camp Pendelton and Trestles surf beach, which some fear may be destroyed by construction of the above mentioned Foothill Transportation Corridor toll road.

Additionally, the city is served by numerous daily trains operated by Amtrak and Metrolink between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Surfing legacy

San Clemente catches swells all year long. Going from South to North, they include Trestles (technically just south of the city line), North Gate, State Park, Riviera, Lasuen, The Hole, Beach House, T-Street, The Pier, 204, North Beach, and Poche.

San Clemente is also the surfing media capital of the world as well as a premier surfing destination. It is home to Surfing Magazine, The Surfer's Journal, and Longboard Magazine, with Surfer Magazine just up the freeway in San Juan Capistrano.

The city has a large concentration of surfboard shapers and manufacturers. Additionally, many world renowned surfers were raised in San Clemente or took up long-term residence in town, including Hobie Alter, Jr., Shane Beschen, Gavin Beschen, Matt Archbold, Christian Fletcher, Mike Parsons (originally from Laguna Beach), Colin McPhillips, Rocky Sabo, Colleen Mehlberg, Greg Long, Dino Andino, Chris Ward, and many, many others.

San Clemente High School has won 6 out of 7 most recent NSSA national surfing titles.

Demographics

As of the city's 2005 census, there were 65,338 people and 25,514 housing units in the city.

The last Federal census statistics from the 2000 census showed that the population density was 1,094.2/km² (2,833.4/mi²). There were 20,653 housing units at an average density of 452.6/km² (1,171.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.92% White, 0.77% African American, 0.61% Native American, 2.64% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 5.11% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.89% of the population.^{[citation needed]}

There were 19,395 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $63,507, and the median income for a family was $76,261. Males had a median income of $51,551 versus $36,528 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,169. About 4.6% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The city is served by Capistrano Unified School District.

Within the city, there are 5 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 1 high school. Elementary Schools: Concordia Elementary, Truman Benedict, Vista Del Mar, Las Palmas, and Lobo Elementary. Middle Schools: Bernice Ayer, Shorecliffs, and Vista Del Mar. High Schools: San Clemente High

San Clemente High School is the only high school in San Clemente. Ranked in the top 1.3% of schools nationwide, San Clemente also has an IB (International Baccalaureate) Program, a vast number of AP Courses. The music program also boasts a nationally recognized Vocal Arts Program with award-winning Madrigals, Women's Ensemble, and A Cappella choirs. San Clemente's IB students rank in the top 3% of the World for their IB scores and the program has expanded vastly in the past few years under the direction of Patrick Harris and Kathleen Sigafoos, the IB Coordinators of the School.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• San Clemente was the setting of the 2005 movie Brick. The town was chosen because it was particularly close to the director Rian Johnson who lived there and went to San Clemente High School, which was the school depicted in the film. Many of the locations in the film are still identical to the real ones, with the exception of the Pin's house which was flattened a week after exterior shooting; the interior was constructed in a local warehouse. The phonebooths that were used all through the film are mostly props that were placed on location.
• The world famous magazine called The Surfer's Journal has their main office building located in San Clemente, CA and the owners of the magazine live in San Clemente as well.
• The MTV television series "Life of Ryan" is filmed mostly in San Clemente, CA.

Notable People

• Ryan Sheckler, a professional skateboarder, currently resides in San Clemente with his family. His home was shown on MTV's Cribs. He is well known for his numerous wins in skateboarding competitions such as the X Games in the first year he turned a professional skateboarder. Ryan and San Clemente can currently be seen on his MTV reality series Life of Ryan.

• Tessa Keller, a reality tv-star from MTV's Laguna Beach currently resides in San Clemente and attends San Clemente High School.

• Glen Gabelscreenwriter and educator's hometown. Attended San Clemente Highschool

• Tony Tave, professional skateboarder, resides with fellow skateboarders and C1RCA footwear teammates Windsor James and Dennis Durrant.

• Indiana almost signed band,San Clemente took their name from the town.

See also

• San Clemente Pier (Amtrak station)

External links

• City of San Clemente official website
• The San Clemente Sun Post News, the town's oldest newspaper
• San Clemente Times community newspaper

Coordinates: 33.437828° N 117.620397° W

Municipalities and communities of Orange County, California
County seat: Santa Ana
Cities	Aliso Viejo | Anaheim | Brea | Buena Park | Costa Mesa | Cypress | Dana Point | Fountain Valley | Fullerton | Garden Grove | Huntington Beach | Irvine | La Habra | La Palma | Laguna Beach | Laguna Hills | Laguna Niguel | Laguna Woods | Lake Forest | Los Alamitos | Mission Viejo | Newport Beach | Orange | Placentia | Rancho Santa Margarita | San Clemente | San Juan Capistrano | Santa Ana | Seal Beach | Stanton | Tustin | Villa Park | Westminster | Yorba Linda
CDPs	Coto de Caza | Las Flores | Rossmoor | Tustin Foothills
Unincorporated communities	Dove Canyon | Ladera Ranch | Midway City | Modjeska Canyon | Orange Park Acres | Santa Ana Heights | Santiago Canyon | Silverado | Sunset Beach | Trabuco Canyon

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