Oceanside is a small city in southern California, located just outside of a large military base between San Diego and Los Angeles. Oceanside sits directly on the beach and is both an aesthetically pleasing and vibrant community, but has many underlying social problems buried just beneath this attractive facade that the city officials fail to address; these include rampant homelessness, a largely neglected Hispanic population, and flagrant drug activity. As a visitor, one would be impressed at the apparent cleanliness of the city, the nice roads, or the magnificent view overlooking the Pacific ocean. It does not take long, however, to notice its faults and see why the citizens of Oceanside have begun to call it “Oceanslime,” and “the ghetto of Carlsbad” (the city directly to its south).

The highlight of Oceanside is its beach. It is a long and relatively clean beach with clean, soft sand and community fire pits that stretch along the coastline. There is a large amphitheater on the beach for public performances, and a long pier that stretches out a few hundred meters with a restaurant at the end. Fisherman line the edges of the pier and it makes for a relaxing and romantic walk. During the daytime this is the lively beach scene of Oceanside, but at night there is a different crowd, the numerous homeless people that gather from all around the city.

Homelessness is ignored in Oceanside almost completely. There is one soup kitchen in the city which is strategically placed on the east side of the city to keep transients away from the beach during the day. When the sun sets and the crowds of teenagers and military personnel dissipate, the homeless migrate toward the beach where they sleep huddled around the still smoldering fire pits for warmth and comfort. There are no homeless shelters in the city, nor does the city address the lack of services to the destitute. Homeless are simply ignored, many of whom are veterans that have come to Oceanside for the comfort of knowing the military base is close by to provide them with medical or financial support, yet they are left to fend for themselves on the streets.

The growing Hispanic population is also ignored as a cultural and economic group. Pacific Coast Highway is the main strip that runs parallel to the beach. Here you will find the majority of shops and restaurants that the community enjoys and supports. You will not however, see many Hispanic shoppers or workers, but surprisingly over thirty percent of Oceanside’s population of 161,000 are Hispanic. To see this part of Oceanside one must only travel a few blocks down Mission Road (a main road that intersects Pacific Coast Highway) and it is immediately apparent that there is another side to the city. In this part of the city the stores and shops are barely maintained, there are no parks or public squares, the schools are both overcrowded and underfunded, and English speakers are the minority. This is where I lived. There are only a few streets that have single family homes to own; the rest live in crowded apartment complexes with attractive names, and less attractive amenities. The overall quality of life is much lower than that of the rest of the city, yet there are no existing plans or programs to improve this area. Any money or attention that the elected officials actually spend goes to the businesses, homes, and recreational facilities near the beach.

A few years ago, Oceanside officials decided that they needed to maintain an image of authority by showing that they were actively concerned about the public concerns to keep the city's public spaces attractive for tourists, a large source of income for the area. They manifested this by calling for a “clean up the beach” campaign; primarily the drug trade that had developed on the beach scene. This was largely successful at removing drug dealers from the beach, but in effect it only changed where the drugs are sold, and how. As the beach scene became more like they had envisioned, the poorer neighborhood that I lived in got worse as the drug trafficing shifted away from the beach, and the dealers became more paranoid and territorial. It was another case of politicians simply pushing an issue out of public view instead of fixing the problem. It is understandable that a city official would place great importance upon the qualities of the city that bring in the most tourism, and consequently the most revenue, but not at the expense of the honest and hard working citizens of the lower class.

Oceanside has many faults. Although it would make a most fantastic place to visit, surf, or vacation, it is not a city to live in. With ever-worsening problems such as those presented, the future of the town may be bleak. Public spaces are important to a town, culture, or people, and in a city like Oceanside whose economy is tied to its beach, this is especially true. When looked at objectively it becomes more evident that one must judge progress not only by what is seen, but by what is unseen, such as Oceanside's alienated populations. One must be aware of how to truly solve a problem at hand, instead of simply removing its bothersome sight from view, such as the undesirable activities on the beach. A truly great community includes everybody equally and treats them with respect and humanity. A community that ignores and mistreats it's own is not a community at all, but simply a collective.