City, Ventura County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 93060, 93061
Citrus
city fighting to stave off development. Located on Oxnard Plain between
Fillmore and Ventura. Inland but gets ocean breezes. Mountains immediately to
the south and north and real feeling of mountains. www.mccormacks.com
Click for regional or detailed map
In and
about Santa Paula are miles of orchards, lemons and avocados. Farming drives
the local economy. Population 29,539.
For years
Santa Paula has resisted development and it's still resisting. In 2006, by slim
margins, the voters shot down two proposals, one for about 400 luxury homes,
another for about 2,100. Both projects had been approved by the city council
but voters had the last word. Developers are expected to keep trying.
Although
Santa Paula has its modern tract and custom homes, for the present it still
comes across as more of a country town than a suburb. Much of the town is laid
out on a grid, the favorite
pattern of years past. Many homes are old and small but situated on
large lots.
Within
Santa Paula city limits, the state in 2008 counted 8,576 housing units, of
which 5,060 were single detached homes, 767 single attached, 1,962 apartments
and 787 mobile homes. In the last decade, Santa Paula increased its population
by 3,500 residents. www.mccormacks.com
Median age
of residents is 30. Children under 18 comprise 31 percent of population. These
numbers translate to family town, many playmates.
Main
Street has enough stores and vitality to be considered a “Main Street” (but civic leaders, to strengthen the
tax base, would like more stores). Around the downtown, murals have been
painted recalling Santa Paula’s past, and pear trees planted. Town has
installed brick sidewalks, benches, shrubs and old-fashioned lamps. A giant fig
tree, which in 2004 celebrated its 125th year, catches the eye.
Many
Southern Cal towns have ripped out their history; Santa Paula has preserved
much of its past and is using it to nourish the downtown. When Hollywood needs
old-fashioned charm in its films and TV shows, it sometimes shoots in Santa
Paula.
In downtown housing, a lot of the old, a
lot of the plain, a lot of the quaint: cottages, Victorians, craftsman homes,
bungalows. Also, many homes that run to that modern favorite, the
three-bedroom, two-bath tract workhorse. On the outskirts, by the Santa Paula
Creek, executive and tract homes built among tall oaks.
According
to the 2000 census, about 14 percent of Santa Paula was built before World War
II, 23 percent in the 1940s and 1950s and 43 percent in the 1960s and 1970s. In
the 1980s, the town constructed 1,000 units and in the last decade, 700 units.
Between 2000 and 2006, the town erected 84 units. Slow growth. www.mccormacks.com
Moving out
from the downtown, the land rises into gentle hills, terraced with homes, then
into steep hills that inhibit development. The Santa Clara River borders the
south side.
Education
by Santa Paula Elementary District and Santa Paula High School District,
combined enrollment about 5,700. Elementary rankings range from the teens to
the 60th percentile; the high school scores generally in the 40th and 50th
percentiles. High school, pleasing to eye, was built in the Spanish style. In
2000, elementary district passed a $10 million bond to renovate schools.
Just
outside Santa Paula is a small school district called Briggs, one school,
kindergarten through third, another school, fourth through eighth. Total
enrollment for both, about 445. Scores from the 30th to 70th percentile (state
rankings). In 1999, Briggs voters passed a bond to build another school, a K-3
which opened in 2003.
Two other
small districts — Mupu and Santa Clara — are located in the region.
Talks are being held about combining all five districts into one unified
district.
Oil was
discovered in region in 1880 and for awhile Santa Paula was a boomtown. Santa
Paula celebrates past with an Oil Museum. Oil derricks are still pumping in the
hills. www.mccormacks.com
About
eight parks. Golf course just outside town. Small theater, which in 2006 staged
Agatha Christie's “The Mousetrap.”
Movie house. Library. Mix of stores and markets. Farmers' market. Usual
sports for kids: baseball, soccer, football, etc. Hiking and bike trails. Small
airport with a large collection of antique and unusual planes.
The town
is attracting more restaurants, at least one in the haute class.
Overall
crime rate low-middling. Zero homicides in 2005, one in 2004, two in 2003, six
in 2002, zero in 2001, three in 2000, one in 1999. The counts for previous
years are four, two, three, zero, three, two, two.
In 1928,
Santa Paula found itself in the path of the one of the great disasters of
Southern California, the collapse of Saint Francis Dam at Castaic, near Santa
Clarita. A wave of water, 40 feet high at one point, roared down the Santa
Clara Valley toward the Pacific, killing about 400 and destroying homes and
farms. Fillmore, built on little hills, escaped serious damage but in the lower
part of Santa Paula many homes were washed away or torn from their foundations.
The dam
was designed by William Mulholland, chief engineer for the Los Angeles Dept. of
Water and Power. After the disaster, the department, politically powerful,
settled all claims out-of-court, heading off a trial that might have pinpointed
who and what was responsible for the collapse. No criminal charges were filed.
The movie, “Chinatown” was based on the disaster. www.mccormacks.com
About 19
miles to downtown Ventura by Highway 28. Not a bad commute if you have a
Ventura County job. Chamber of commerce (805) 525-5561.
• Money
problems closed the local hospital but the facility is being reopened as part
of the county medical program.
• Small
Catholic college, Thomas Equinas, enrollment about 350, outside Santa Paula.
City web
site: www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us
