Oxnard/Ventura Area (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, El Rio: real estate, crime rates, houses)

[stilldirrty]

In general that area seems like a nice place. Does anyone have general information about how the real-estate market is doing there?

IS there some type of diversity there? and lower crime? Knowing its not relatively connected to Los Angeles, but is probably the metropolitan area.

[MKW]

Ventura is mostly a nice beach community. I would stay away from Oxnard. The crime rates there are much higher than the surrounding areas. Also, the Oxnard/Ventura area is about and hour and a half north of LA.

[Winston Smith]

Crime in Oxnard is lower than both Ventura and Santa Barbara when measured per 1,000 population. Oxnard is twice as big as Ventura and among the safest cities of its size (200,000 pop) in the country. Overall the region of west Ventura County is very safe and low-crime -- with great year-round weather.

Personal experience:

Ventura (six years) -- constant allergies, assaulted once, home burglarized once, car hit and run while parked once, lots of homeless (I think they've taken over the pier and waterfront).

Oxnard (14 years) -- no problems, far fewer homeless, nicer beaches.

Ox/Ven is 60 miles from downtown L.A. and is not a part of the L.A. metro area. Real estate is back to 2002 prices.

[SHNYROQ]

Ventura (20 years) - 2 stolen car stereos. Homeless situation improving a lot. Home prices still going down - some areas still over-inflated. Has a nice authentic downtown.

Oxnard (0 years) - much less homeless. more and nicer beaches. cheaper housing. Shooting or stabbing every week (all gang-related). trying (unsuccessfully) to rehab their downtown while simultaneously constructing a competing town center at Riverpark right next to Ventura.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by SHNYROQ

Oxnard ... Shooting or stabbing every week (all gang-related). trying (unsuccessfully) to rehab their downtown....

This information is just plain false and misleading. Oxnard's downtown has become a wonderful all-ages destination for restaurants, movies, festivals and the arts. And a gang shooting or stabbing every week is just not the case. Moreover, crime in any city -- including Oxnard -- is not unified across the city. A far more useful post would be to indicate the exact areas that have troubles. In Ventura, that's lower Montalvo and the west end between Stanley and Main, "The Avenue." In Oxnard it's La Colonia and Southwinds. In the unincorporated west County, Saticoy and El Rio.

[SHNYROQ]

I read the paper and news websites every day and there is some violence at least once a week - I didn't say it was all over town and I didn't say Ventura is perfect either. Oxnard's downtown renovation plan was to copy what Ventura did - they even got some of the same restaurants to open new locations. Any chance downtown had to get really vibrant is dashed once the Riverpark commercial center is open.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by SHNYROQ

Oxnard's downtown renovation plan was to copy what Ventura did - they even got some of the same restaurants to open new locations. Any chance downtown had to get really vibrant is dashed once the Riverpark commercial center is open.

Downtown redevelopment with a theater as an anchor is going on all over the country. The idea wasn't born in Ventura. Oxnard simply followed a model that's worked in many cities, including Ventura. That city's downtown was a seedy, creepy place 10 - 15 years ago. Congratulations to Ventura for cleaning it up. It worked there and will work in Oxnard, too. Sure, the Thai Peru Restaurant in Ventura also opened a location in Oxnard, but so did Subway. What about the 5 Street Grill? It didn't come from Ventura. Rubio's came all the way from Santa Barbara to open a location in downtown Oxnard! So downtown Oxnard is not a carbon copy of Ventura. Sorry.

It's true that Riverpark/Wagon Wheel/Levitz will become an additional town center for Oxnard, but multiple town centers is a new trend in sustainable urban planning. This too is going on in other cities around the country. As it pertains to Oxnard, Riverpark is 10 miles from Ormand Beach in the south or the C.I. Harbor in the west. The drive takes 20 minutes. The thinking at the planning level is to create additional centers so as to provide neighborhood destinations -- even within walking distance -- rather than force people to cram the roads with cars and drive across town. Oxnard could easily end up with more town centers in south Oxnard and at the Channel Islands Harbor. No problem. Bring 'em on!

[PnutButter]

Just wanted to chime in here about Oxnard. As I've never lived in Ventura, I have no personal experience about the city (other than what I've read in the newspaper, and to me that can be very biased).

I've lived in Oxnard for 35 years, and have never been the victim of any crime whatsoever nor have any of my family members or friends that live in Oxnard. There are pocket crime areas, as there are in most cities. It's a well known fact that the surrounding cities love to pound on Oxnard (the largest city in Ventura County) with crime statistics, but IMHO it's just not warranted.....especially from someone that doesn't live in Oxnard and never has.

The housing market, like many other places, has plummeted. I've seen houses go from the mid $800s to the mid $400s (and less) in less than 2 years now. I've also thought that's where they should've been all along....maybe now our children and those that are natives will have a chance at owning a house of their own.

Downtown Oxnard revitalization? We never went downtown until the new movie theatre and such were built. We've been at least a half dozen times in the past year and have been very impressed. I've heard many say the same thing. I don't quite understand the "copied Ventura" thing. If so, what does that matter in the scheme of things?