I lived there in 1987 I came to it from England i absolutely loved it i met my beautiful wife their she lived on Oakdale Ave off second st. Our 35th wedding anniversary is coming up on January the 25th. We left it in 91 after losing our precious son to sids We live in New Jersey now but part of my heart will always be in El cajon. Memories of the drive in on Broadway roller skating at the Santee Roller rink the bowling alley on fletcher Parkway. The Co Co club on winter gardens. And Doc's Landing on Main st.
My home town. We left in 87 for San Jose. I missed it dearly for years. I didnt set foot in El Cajon again till 2002 when I was at NAB Coronado with the Navy. I drove down one day and was shocked out of mind by how much it had changed. But, it was cool to be back in old El Cajones again. There were still a few things from back in the day that were around to see.
@@malcorub Lol this was back in the early 90's when there was not much to do for teens to do. There was to clubs (that I know of) for high school kids to go and dance. One in LA Jolla (The Firehouse) and the other in Escondido (The IceHouse). Good times back then Lol.
Seems like the difference between 80s el cajon and el cajon today is happening everywhere. Happened to my wife's hometown of Calexico. Happened to my hometown of Anderson, Indiana. I always wondered what happened to cause such a huge amount of decay in such a short amount of time.
I lived on the border of El Cajon and Santee from '86 to '90, my high school years. I went to and from ECVHS hundreds of times, but rarely ventured anywhere in El Cajon except the 7-11 and Alberto's Taco shop. I spent more time at the beach, which wasn't much, than EC. I wouldn't see my parents until 10-11PM at night. Mom worked nights and my dad had a second job destroying his liver at a public establishment. What I recall were tweakers, kids bragging about spending their weekends at the desert, many people still rocking that late 70s / early 80s style, then Oakley's, 80s muscles pants, lowered trucks, mullets, carne asada burritos, Super Big Gulps.
Living in El Cajon in the 50’s was great. Riding our horses yelling at people in cars, get a horse. Moved before hwy 8 . Always wondered what they did with the old graveyard east of Lexington Ave. Parents owned a home on Paulson Ave. Can’t find any old pictures of the El Cajon auction yard/winery.
El Cajon before meth....despite the poverty, newly arrived immigrants have actually helped clean up this place some from what it was in the early 2000's.
it was inevitable when SD as an area went blue, it's funny how they blame Raegan but they do nothing to reopen mental health and addiction facilities. right in cali has become impotent henpecked controlled opposition waiting extinction, left, completely free to do as they please now operates more like a cartel.
The way we were, AWESOME. Now Elbow to Elbow, Trash and trashed, Ghetto, Everything good gone, Foreign all over, little to no American stuff, Drugs, Homeless, Crime and all of that EVERYWHERE. Every block. No peace, no beauty, No Country, no horses, No Trails, Nothing. The mall is going under, Bowling is still here, but that too might close. Scary, Sad, Disgusting.
Honestly, most of the meth heads and homeless panhandlers' one sees on the streets of El Cajon are not minorities or immigrants. El Cajon still have plenty of regular white people, they just tend to live up in the in surrounding hills.
@@malcorub You have taken my comment wrong, but that is perfectly okay. I am born and raised, same home for 56 years. I know El Cajon, inside and Out. It isn't just Meth heads. And as far as I am concerned, homeless, and homeless panhandlers are in the category of minority, even though there are so many one could say a majority. And there are a good mix of the types of people, White, Black, Foreign. And yeah, a lot if whites moved or ran away from the real City, they see how it is, and where it was and is headed, you can't stop it. Society Decay.