San Marcos – still growing

Richmar Park, Newland Sierra, HobbyLobby, Discovery Lake, 24-Hour Fitness, San Marcos schools

View from above Palomar College. Twin Oaks Valley people disdain too the flighty yuppie newcomers who populate the proliferating slab-home developments west of Palomar College. (Sandy Huffaker, Jr.)
  • Night people of San Marcos

  • Miss Rincon said it was her habit to spend the night in the public bathrooms at Richmar Park, at the corner of Firebird Lane and Richmar Avenue, around the corner from the busy San Marcos intersection of Twin Oaks Valley and Mission Roads. She said it was for her own safety because, “I was homeless.” That night, she was newly out of jail. “I had just gotten released.”
  • By Eva Knott, Jan. 30, 2019
Site of the public park where it all went down.
  • San Marcos in crosshairs of Growthzilla

  • Back then, the mammoth housing development was called Merriam Mountains. It's now called Newland Sierra, but the opposition's pitchforks are jabbing at the same worries: density, traffic, wildfire evacuations, water, air quality, noise, views, greenhouse gas emissions, general plan amendments, and the matter of blasting apart a mountain range formed when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.
  • By Julie Stalmer, Sept. 25, 2018
One of seven proposed neighborhoods in Merriam Mountains
  • Easy stroll around Discovery Lake

  • The loop around Discovery Lake in San Marcos makes a perfect hike for those who want to do a light and easy stroll but still see a diversity of species and beautiful lake scenery. This multi-use paved, short trail is open to hikers of all skills, joggers, bicyclists, strollers, wheelchairs, pets, and families.
  • By The Canyoneers, Feb. 22, 2017
Discovery Lake is an easy hike in an ecosystem full of critters — watch out for snakes and poison oak.
  • Lowe's is out, WinCo and Hobby Lobby coming in

  • When Lowe’s Home Improvement Center pulled out of San Marcos’ Creekside Marketplace shopping center last year, it left a huge building vacant. Now, major renovations are underway for two long-established chains with no stores in the San Diego area.
  • By Ken Harrison, June 5, 2015
Future home of Hobby Lobby
  • Peruvian Currency

  • Friday again. Payday again. You’ve been down to Ramen noodle soup since Wednesday. You’re in North County, but you are far from retiring, much less retiring rich. Vons is on the bus route along Rancho Santa Fe Road, and you have a bus pass. It’s only a buck to ride. Cash the paycheck at the bank stall inside the grocery store, and you’ll have enough to buy food for the week, maybe. Enough food so you’ll need a taxi to schlep the stuff back home, anyway. Sixteen bucks for that ride.
  • By John Brizzolara, March 11, 2009
  • San Marcos

  • Looking for a representative cross-section of San Marcos residents? Try the 24 Hour Fitness in the Vons center at San Marcos Boulevard and Rancho Santa Fe Road any weekday morning around 6:30. As you walk through the automatic doors, you’ll see the early-20-something Front Desk Girl hauling out the racks of spandex workout gear (20% Off!), her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.
  • By Leslie Ryland, Dec. 24, 2003
San Marcos (Dave Allen)
  • San Marcos hides the ugly truth about its schools

  • Scarecrow Boy is out sweeping again. The spring morning is icy, the country air fresh, the aroma emanating from nearby Hollandia Dairy doesn't usually make it down to the old San Marcos city center where he works. Scarecrow Boy, I call him that because he’s thin as a rail, talks to himself while he cleans, swings the tattered broom with roundhouse cuts at the gravel-strewn asphalt between 4-Way Liquor and El Mojado market on Mission Road.
  • By Allan Peterson, Aug. 27, 1998
  • Sponsored
    Sponsored
Related Stories