Moorpark

City, Ventura County

© McCormack's Guides

 

Zip Codes: 93020, 93021

An old-new town located on hills, flatlands and mesas, just west of Simi Valley. Population 36,814. Named after the Moorpark apricot, which grew in abundance around the region in the heyday of farms and orchards. www.mccormacks.com

Highway 118, also called Los Angeles Avenue, divides Moorpark. To the north of the highway, the old town and many of the first buildings are situated.

To the south of Highway 118, along Tierra Rejada Road, can be found thousands of new homes, many of them running to middle-class upscale, two stories, four and five bedrooms, laid out according to a master plan that includes schools and parks. On the east side, in hills near the freeway, another new housing tract has been erected and is adding homes.

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About 75 percent of all of Moorpark’s housing units have been constructed since 1980. If you’re shopping for the new or fairly new, this is a good place to look. Many of the new homes favor the Mediterranean look: tile roofs, creamy, tinted stucco. Utility lines buried. In the last decade, Moorpark increased its population by 6,000 and since 2000 has added about 4,400 people and 1,200 housing units.

In 2006, residents, indicating unease about growth, voted down a development that would have erected 1,680 homes on 3,500 acres on the north side. The builder may reduce the units and try again but this is the second thumbs-down for the project. The first plan called for 3,500 housing units.

Moorpark's downtown and some of the 1950s-1960s neighborhoods have buildings that show their age but restorations have spruced up many and through in-filling the downtown here and there is taking on a newer look. Some of the downtown housing would fit low-income budgets. www.mccormacks.com

 Most of the new stores and a movie plex have been built along Los Angeles Avenue, which draws from both old and new Moorpark.

Large luxury homes are being built in the north hills in a large development with a golf course opened to public. Great views.  Location: Championship Drive.

Moorpark has clear neighborhood divisions but near the downtown, middle, upper middle, low-cost and high-cost housing are located within a short distance.

The downtown and its environs are fairly level, then the terrain rises into mesas and hills, which create many homesites with views. Several neighborhoods seem to terrace their way over the land. The higher the house, in the new sections, often the bigger the house. Some tracts make an entrance statement with flowers or stonework. Sidewalks and meandering paths. In the modern section, thanks in part to the homeowner associations, a high level of care.

The state in 2008 counted 10,605 housing units, of which 7,630 were single detached homes, 1,253 single attached 1,424 apartments or condos, 298 mobile homes. www.mccormacks.com

Median age of residents is 32. Children under 18 make up 34 percent of the town. This is a lot of kids and identifies Moorpark as a family town.

Served by Moorpark Unified School District. Scores range from the 50th to the 90 percentile. The high school is scoring in the 90th percentile, the top 10 percent in the state.

In 2002, residents passed a $33 million bond to build a school and renovate the other schools. Much of the work entails upgrading and adding classrooms. Moorpark High added five science labs, 10 classrooms and a music building.

Over the past decade, Moorpark High has won the U.S. Academic Decathlon twice and placed second once.

Moorpark has a large community college, always a plus. Community colleges charge little and offer not only academics, but also sports and workout and cultural activities. Also facilities, such as pools, gyms and playing fields that find their way into general public use. They are, and are supposed to be, "community" colleges. www.mccormacks.com

One unusual program from the college: Exotic Animal Training and Management. Its graduates find work at zoos, wildlife parks, aquariums and movie studios. College has its own zoo and offers tours on weekends.

Bond passed in 2002 to upgrade all community colleges in the county.

About a dozen community parks, many located next to the schools. Large regional park (with golf course) that goes off into the hills.

Family towns usually pay a lot of attention to schools and recreation. Moorpark offers all the sports and activities — soccer, football, softball — that you would expect. Library, restaurants and movies. Tot lots and small parks scattered around town. Playgrounds at some schools.

In 2005, the city purchased an old movie house, 280 seats, and is restoring it as a community playhouse and event-performance center. www.mccormacks.com

First a child of the railroad, which delivered the bounty of the countryside to the city, mostly Los Angeles, Moorpark started its second childhood when the freeways (118 and 23) came to town. They made possible, with only a minimum loss of sanity, a commute to the job centers of the San Fernando Valley, Palmdale-Lancaster and Los Angeles. Moorpark is also served by Metrolink, the commute rail to L.A.

In recent years, Highway 118 has been greatly improved. For those who delight in the grace of soaring cement, Highway 118 just outside of Moorpark has two curving overpasses that are engineering beauties. 

Moorpark contracts with the sheriff’s office for police protection. Two homicides in 2005, one in 2004, zero in 2003 and 2002, one in 2001, zero in 2000. Counts for prior years are zero, one, zero, one, two, two, one, zero. New police headquarters opened in 2006.

The city has several business parks and has attracted about 4,000 jobs. The school district and the community college provide about 1,200 more.

Moorpark, at the base of hills, is buffered somewhat from ocean breezes and fogs, which makes it, according to locals, ideal for growing fruits and vegetables. At one time, it was famous for growing black-eyed peas. Town celebrates past with Country Days: parade, street fair, barbecue, dance. Local group reenacts Civil War battles. www.mccormacks.com

Chamber of commerce (805) 529-0322.

• In 2006, city council, voting 3-2, okayed construction of a Home Depot. Many in town opposed to the store, which will be built near Los Angeles Avenue in the downtown. Opening about 2008.

• Like many cities these days, Moorpark, as a condition of approval, requires developers to install parks. These costs are pass onto the new homeowners. Sounds fair but up to about 1980, when residents revolted against higher taxes, cities used to pay for parks. In many states, they still do. In 2006, planning began on a park, seven acres, in Moorpark Highlands, 460 single homes and 100 clustered units, now under construction. The park will include a soccer field, a tennis court, a basketball court, several playgrounds and a gazebo. Although open to the public, its location assures that it will be used mostly by the Highlands residents. Land adjoining the park will be used for an elementary school. During grading for the homes, construction workers found the remains of two mammoths (hairy extinct elephants). The park will be called Moorpark Mammoth.

City web site: www.ci.moorpark.ca.us