San Juan Capistrano, California


San Juan Capistrano is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The current Office of Management and Budget metropolitan designation for San Juan Capistrano and the Orange County area is Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine, CA. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census, up from 33,826 at the 2000 census.

History

San Juan Capistrano is the site of a Catholic mission for which it is named, Mission San Juan Capistrano. When the Mission was founded in 1776, the region was populated by the Acjachemen band of Native Americans, called Juaneños by the Spanish. The mission was named after Giovanni da Capistrano, the Franciscan saint from Capestrano, in the Italian region of Abruzzo.
Giovanni da Capistrano, although raised to the sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church is documented by historical research by the Oxford University historian Norman Davies to have burnt to death more than 50 Jews in May 1453 in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
The city is the site of California's oldest residential neighborhood, Los Rios. It is also the home of the oldest in use building in California, the Serra Chapel in the Mission. The area was the site of both the first vineyard and first winery in California.

Demographics

2010

At the 2010 census San Juan Capistrano had a population of 34,593. The population density was 2,419.9 people per square mile. The racial makeup of San Juan Capistrano was 26,664 White, 193 African American, 286 Native American, 975 Asian, 33 Pacific Islander, 5,234 from other races, and 1,208 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13,388 persons.
The census reported that 34,506 people lived in households, and 87 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.
There were 11,394 households, 4,030 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,706 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,089 had a female householder with no husband present, 526 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 456 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 87 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,381 households were one person and 1,407 had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.03. There were 8,321 families ; the average family size was 3.44.
The age distribution was 8,518 people under the age of 18, 3,066 people aged 18 to 24, 7,804 people aged 25 to 44, 9,792 people aged 45 to 64, and 5,413 people who were 65 or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.
There were 11,940 housing units at an average density of 835.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 8,462 were owner-occupied and 2,932 were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%. 24,052 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,454 people lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States Census, San Juan Capistrano had a median household income of $75,356, with 12.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,826 people in 10,930 households, including 8,196 families, in the city. The population density was 2,381.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 11,320 housing units at an average density of 307.6 persons/km2. The racial makeup of the city was 78.47% White, 0.78% African American, 1.07% Native American, 1.92% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 14.21% from other races, and 3.43% from two or more races. 33.13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 10,930 households, 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 19.7% of households were one person and 10.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.45.
The age distribution was 28.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.
The median household income was $62,392 and the median family income was $69,481. Males had a median income of $47,574 versus $34,821 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,926. About 10.7% of the population and 6.6% of families were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

As of 2019, the City Council members are: Troy A. Bourne, , John Taylor,, Sergio Farias, Brian L. Maryott, and Derek Reeve.
The current city manager is Benjamin Siegel.
In the California State Legislature, San Juan Capistrano is in, and in.
In the United States House of Representatives, San Juan Capistrano is in.

Geography

San Juan Capistrano is located in south Orange County and is bisected by Interstate 5. .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of. of it is land and of it is water.

Economy

For detailed information on San Juan Capistrano's economy, see the City's .
San Juan Capistrano is home to over 1,700 businesses. The City's unemployment rate was at 3.7% as of December 2017.

Top employers

#Employer# of employees
1Capistrano Unified School District954
2St. Margaret's Episcopal School429
3Costco188
4Brookdale San Juan Capistrano176
5JSerra Catholic High School150
6Mission San Juan Capistrano149
7Fluidmaster136
8Aquatic Technologies114
9Silverado Senior Living96
10Emerald Expositions Events Inc.91

The Capistrano Unified School District Office is located within the city limits, and employs approximately 4,400 people. However, as most of these employees are located at individual school sites, only the employees within city limits are included in this list.
The city of San Juan Capistrano employs approximately 93 people.

The Cliff Swallows of Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano is also known for its cliff swallows. The protected birds return during migration, which originates in the town of Goya, Argentina, around St. Joseph's Day each year. The day is celebrated by the city's annual Swallows' Day Parade and other festive events. The swallows leave around October 23, the former feast day of St. John of Capistrano. The 1940 hit song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano", written by Leon René, is a love song inspired by this annual event.
From 2009 to 2017, the famous swallows did not return to San Juan Capistrano. They instead began migrating to and nesting in the Chino Hills of Southern California, north of San Juan Capistrano. They built their mud nests in the eaves of the Vellano Country Club, situated around a golf course in the Chino Hills just north of the Chino Hills State Park. Mission San Juan Capistrano officials stated that the swallows changed their route because the mission is no longer the tallest building in the area due to urban sprawl, and thus stopped attracting the swallows for nesting.
Realizing the city's famous birds were no longer returning home, members of the Mission San Juan Capistrano enlisted the help of Dr. Charles R. Brown, a cliff swallows specialist from the University of Tulsa. In 2012, the first phase of a two-step process began, where the sounds and calls of the cliff swallows were played throughout the mission to lure the birds back home. In 2015, the project continued with the second phase where a replica wall of man-made colonies was built to give the birds a nest to return to. The nests were built to be very similar to the original nests made in the mission, prior to the early 1900s re-stabilization. As of summer of 2017, the cliff swallows have returned home to Mission San Juan Capistrano and are still celebrated each year at the town's annual Swallows Day Parade and Mercado Street Fair.
In 2018, the town celebrated its 80th annual Swallows Day Parade and Mercado Street Fair put on by the San Juan Capistrano Fiesta Association. The parade is the end celebration of a three-month Fiesta de las Golondrinas where the town puts on events to commemorate the migration home of the songbirds. The parade shuts down a portion of the downtown area to make way for floats, horses, and people walking in the parade. The event holds the title of being the longest-running and largest non-motorized parade west of the Mississippi.
In 2020, the Mission canceled its annual celebration due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Education

San Juan Capistrano is served by Capistrano Unified School District. In the 2007–08 academic year, San Juan Hills High School opened with about 600 freshman students. It is the city's only public high school. Ultimately, nearly all San Juan Capistrano's high school students will move to this campus as well as some students from Capistrano Beach, San Clemente High School, and southern Ladera Ranch. Residents from these other communities did not want to attend a school in San Juan on the pretense that these communities had too many differences, a perspective fueled by anti-Hispanic sentiment in the whiter, more affluent communities. Many residents wanted to stay at the established high schools their communities had been attending for years. While there was initially tension caused by the boundary changes implemented with the construction of the new high school, it has since died down. The main relief for the tension was the construction of a connecting road from Avenida La Pata to Avenue Vista Hermosa, allowing for students from San Clemente to take a more direct route to the school. The $127 million infrastructure project completed on August 13, 2016.
San Juan has four public elementary schools : Del Obispo Elementary School, Harold Ambuehl Elementary School, Kinoshita Elementary School, and San Juan Elementary School. The local public middle school is Marco Forster Middle School. Capistrano Valley High School lies just outside of the city's borders, but serves many of the city's students.
A public continuation high school, Junipero Serra High School, also serves the area. Not to be confused with the Catholic school to the north, the Serra High School is a campus dedicated to helping adults finish their pre-collegiate educational goals.
San Juan also has six private, non-secular schools. Capistrano Valley Christian Schools, Saddleback Valley Christian School, St. Margaret's Episcopal School, and JSerra Catholic High School. Mission Basilica School is located on the historic Mission grounds, utilizes some of the historic buildings as classrooms, and is part of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. The other is Rancho Capistrano Christian School, located off Interstate 5 on Saddleback Church's south campus.

Transportation

Buses

The Orange County Transportation Authority operates bus routes within the city, connecting it to other parts of Orange County.

Rail

The San Juan Capistrano station is served by Amtrak and Metrolink. The station is located one block away from the historic San Juan Capistrano Mission next to Los Rios Street in downtown San Juan Capistrano. Its location to the city's tourist attractions makes it a popular stop during the summer months.

Highways

Interstate 5 has 7 exits within San Juan Capistrano city limits and 8 entrances. Of those 7 exits, 6 leads to roads within San Juan Capistrano and of the 8 entrances, 1 is isolated meaning there is only one interstate entrance or exit for a specific road within the city. From south to north, the exits within the city are : Camino Las Ramblas / Pacific Coast Highway , Camino Capistrano, Ortega Highway , Junipero Serra Road, California State Route 73, and Avery Parkway.
Avery Parkway's northbound exit and entrance is within the nearby city of Mission Viejo while the southbound exit and entrance is within San Juan Capistrano.
Pacific Coast Highway is quite possibly the most infamous state route in California. It terminates officially at Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano near Dana Point and San Clemente. There is an official CA-1 terminus sign on a traffic light pole along the southbound lanes on CA-1 shortly after crossing under Interstate 5. It is where the northbound exit from I-5 intersects Camino Las Ramblas and is within San Juan Capistrano city limits.
California State Route 73 southbound terminates at I-5 in San Juan Capistrano, while the northbound direction begins at I-5. There are no exits along California State Route 73 that are within San Juan Capistrano other than when it junctions with Interstate 5. Junipero Serra Road has the most convenient on-ramp and off-ramp for Route 73 drivers in San Juan Capistrano.
California State Route 74 originally terminated at Camino Capistrano in front of Mission San Juan Capistrano however construction that was completed in 2015 may have extended CA-74's designation to continue along Del Obispo Street towards Dana Point. The current status as to the official western terminus of CA-74 is currently unknown.
California State Route 241, which originally terminated at Oso Parkway between Las Flores and Coto de Caza was extended roughly 4 miles to Cow Camp in the new community of Rancho Mission Viejo, which shares the same zip code as San Juan Capistrano.
The original route of U.S. 101 ran through downtown San Juan Capistrano on what is now Camino Capistrano. It was disbanded when Interstate 5 was completed in the 1950s.

Points of interest

San Juan Capistrano is served by two newspapers, the and . The Capistrano Valley News runs once weekly on Thursdays and The Dispatch runs on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.
, an online-only news website, also serves the city.