City, Ventura County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 93062, 93063, 93064, 93065, 93093, 93094, 93099
Large suburban city that started building homes by the thousands in the 1950s and is still building. Site of Ronald Reagan library and where the former president was interred. Population 125,657. www.mccormacks.com
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Chumash Indians called the area Shimiyi or Sheimii, which translates to “little white wind clouds over the Simi Valley,” according to one source. Another source, however, states that Simi may mean no more than place or village.
The state in 2008 counted 41,890 housing units, of which 30,646 were single detached homes, 3,147 single attached, 7,205 apartments and 892 mobile homes.
Hill and dale town. Simi Valley does indeed sit in a valley or more precisely a bowl and it has a floor with a good deal of flat land. But the valley also has many small hills that create view sites for homes.
Median age of residents is 35 with children under 18 comprising 28 percent of population. Rounded community with a fair number of children.
The Reagan library overlooks countryside from a tall hill on the east side. A place that will charm even the staunchest Democrat. Lovely setting. Red, white and blue flowers. Movie posters of Ron six gun in hand settling accounts with outlaws or in Navy duds sinking enemy ships. www.mccormacks.com
Reagan’s life is traced from childhood to presidency and his triumphs noted, particularly the end of the Cold War. Oval office recreated. Slab from Berlin Wall. Great collection of Saturday Evening Post covers with Norman Rockwell paintings. The museum recently opened a wing that displays an Air Force One plane used by Reagan and other presidents.
Children are educated by the Simi Valley Unified School District. Compared to other schools in the state, Simi Valley's are landing generally in the 60th to 90th percentile. The school district enrolls about 21,600 children and teenagers.
Voters in 1989 passed a $32 million bond to renovate the town's schools and in 2004 passed another bond for $145 million. The money is being used to upgrade all the schools in the district — plumbing, fire alarms, electrical, technology, science labs, library expansions. In 2006, to pay for more renovations, the school board raised fees on new housing.
A farming town with a railroad, Simi Valley started the 1950s with fewer than 500 homes and apartments then boomed when the tidal wave of postwar housing flowed out of the San Fernando Valley.
In the 1950s, the town built about 1,500 units and in the following decade went whole hog, about 12,000 homes and apartments, 29 percent of its current housing stock. Development this fast often causes congestion and infrastructure problems and upsets people. In 1969, voters made Simi Valley a legal city and placed the control of planning and development into the hands of a council directly elected by Simi Valley residents. www.mccormacks.com
In the 1970s, Simi Valley constructed about 8,600 housing units and in the 1980s, about 9,000. In the last decade, housing starts declined to 6,000. Between 2000 and 2006, the town built 3,474 units, about 84 percent of them single detached and single attached.
Most of housing from the 1950s to the 1980s was aimed squarely at the blue-and white-collar middle class, ranch homes, one story, three bedrooms, here and there rising to two stories and four-plus bedrooms, large lots.
In the 1980s, Simi Valley took a leap upscale with the construction of Wood Ranch, a master-planned community on its south side, 3,750 acres, of which about 70 percent were left in open space. About 4,000 townhouses, apartments and single homes, many of which are well appointed and large: two-story, four-six bedrooms, built in the Mediterranean style. Small lots. Professional landscaping. Some sections gated. One neighborhood was set aside for horse lovers. Step out the front door, hop on Sea Biscuit and take off down the trail, which parallels the street. Golf course, par 72, clubhouse, several parks. Four-lane arterial helps traffic to freeway.
The 1990s and 2000s saw more upmarket housing, prices soaring over $1 million. Many of the homes were built in the hills surrounding the city; great views.
Although construction continues, residents favor slow growth and placing some scenic valleys off limits to large-scale housing. If a developer proposes something major, chances are it will run into opposition. www.mccormacks.com
Simi Valley today. Overall look, suburban. Some of the initial housing could use painting, patching and re-roofing but generally a well-maintained town with the affluent streets showing a high level of care and attention. For the very pleasant, drive Sequoia Avenue on the north side and Indian Hills Drive, which curls into other streets and a picturesque valley.
Simi Valley is bordered on the north and east by the Santa Susana Mountains and on the south by the Simi Hills, elevations 1,000 to about 2,400 feet. Other hills effectively ring the city.
Inside the ring, a broad swath of land is fairly flat, then the terrain rises into gentle hills strewn in the southern elevations with large boulders. About 400 Westerns were filmed in and near Simi Valley. Also television shows, such as “Gunsmoke” and “Little House on the Prairie.”
The initial development started in the flats along Los Angeles Avenue and moved across the valley floor, about 11 miles, a long drive. Development then moved toward the hills. The newer the home, the more likely it will be large and two-story, no matter where its location.
Many people will like the master-planned neighborhoods, not only because of the home offerings but also because of their layout and convenience: infrastructure first, sites blocked out for schools, parks and stores, street designs that slow traffic, fairly quick access to arterials leading to the freeway. www.mccormacks.com
About 36 parks and playgrounds. Trails and rec centers within easy reach of residents. Three golf courses. YMCA, Boys and Girls Club. Seniors center. Libraries. BMX track. Movies. A church was purchased and turned into a cultural arts center, 270 seats, that presents musical events and shows. Musicals for 2006 included, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and Disney's “Beauty and the Beast.”
Ice skating, tennis, many activities and sports for kids and adults. Soccer particularly popular. In 2004, with the help of the Kiwanis Club, one park was outfitted with a playground for the disabled. Farmers' market.
Private groups offer classes in dance, acting, aerobics. Moorpark Community College lies just over the eastern border; classes, activities. On west side, Brandeis-Barden Institute, a cultural-activity center for Jewish families and individuals.
The Reagan Library draws thousands of visitors and the new wing with Air Force One is proving very popular. The library adds to the recreational and cultural offerings of the town. On Easter it stages a ceremony that attracts about 3,000 and gets the kids competing for eggs autographed by celebrities and politicians — Katy Couric, Rudy Guiliani, Arnold the governor, John McCain. Winners have to send thank-you notes to signers.
Horses are popular. Simi Valley hosts big-time equestrian events, some attracting competitors from around the world. About a half hour to the beaches of the Pacific (where many people head in the summer.) www.mccormacks.com
Simi Valley funds recreation and activities classes through a taxing district. Having reliable funding is a big plus for fun and games.
Highway 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway) traverses the north side of town and within five miles drops into Chatsworth, one of the major job centers of the San Fernando Valley. Traveling west, the freeway loops through Moorpark then blends into Highway 23, the road to Thousand Oaks and Highway 101, another freeway to the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles.
Metrolink, commute rail, runs trains to the San Fernando Valley, downtown L.A. and beyond. Amtrak station. Simi Valley is crisscrossed by wide boulevards that make the internal getting around easy.
For many people, not a great commute because the freeways congest and because Simi Valley is on the outskirts of the metropolis. But, by the standards of Southern Cal, an endurable commute.
Countrywide, the loan company, has a large complex in Simi Valley. Local jobs means short commute for many. The city is trying to attract more firms. www.mccormacks.com
Wal-Mart, Costco, Trader Joe's, Borders Books. In 2005, Simi opened a large mall anchored by a Macys. When fleshed out, the mall and its surroundings will include 120 small stores and a hotel. And restaurants: steak, sushi, Thai, Hot Dog On A Stick. In 2006, about 500 luxury apartments were built near the mall.
If you are buying a home in Simi Valley, Realtors and town's literature will chant the tom-tom incantation, low crime, low crime, low crime.
Local lore has it that in its early suburban days Simi Valley attracted many cops — at least one on every block, said one Realtor — and this, it is implied, scared off the criminals or created a culture that emphasized good police protection.
Simi Valley, in fact, is low in crime. In 2004, among cities with more than 100,000 residents, it had the second lowest crime rate in the U.S.
But is not free of crime. It has its muggers and burglars and occasional murderers. Zero homicides in 2005, three in 2004, two in 2003, zero in 2002, six in 2001, one in 2000, zero in 1999. The counts for the previous years are two, five, one, four, one, zero, two. www.mccormacks.com
Safe town. Good police protection. Peaceful residents. Take the boasting with a grain of salt.
• City is annexing lands on its outskirts for housing.
• Landfill near Simi Valley was plagued by seagulls, which were polluting homes and lakes around the county. Whistles, kites, dogs, balloons, pellet guns, loudspeakers — nothing worked. Joe Suffredini, a graduate of Moorpark College Exotic Animal Program, trains falcons. Try them, he said. Landfill did. Instead of hundreds of gulls; two dozen. And they often disappear when a falcon is let loose over the landfill.
• The Santa Susana Mountains stand between Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley — and its smog. Driving on Highway 118 into the San Fernando Valley you can see, on many a summer's day, the haze thickening. Simi Valley celebrates its quality air.
• In 2006, the city council cracked down on illegal signs — making pretty by the city code. In the first weekend of enforcement, city workers seized about 630 signs. www.mccormacks.com
• In 2006, Money Magazine pronounced Simi Valley the 35th best place to live in the U.S. This was a compliment.
• On spring and summer evenings, in many parts of southern California, the sun seems to glow a little brighter and the sky becomes a little redder and the clouds a little pinker — our opinion. Simi Valley does this very well. At sundown the town sort of sighs and, figuratively speaking, pours a second glass of wine or iced tea and basks in the golden setting.
Chamber of commerce (805) 526-3900.
City web site: www.simivalley.org
