Simi Valley Town Center becoming a ghost town? (Oxnard, Thousand Oaks: 2013, crime)
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I compared both the Oaks and the Town Center and both have nearly the same stores, at least the stores my family would shop at. My older kids have never asked us to take them to the Simi Town Center while they like going to the Oaks. The Oaks has over 170 shops while the Simi Town Center has over 90. I know that the Oaks gets people from Oxnard, Camarillo, and Ventura shopping there. I have not heard of anyone saying that they were going to Simi to shop.
I agree that local politics, as well as insanely high lease prices are destroying the Simi Valley Town Center's chances of being a successful business venture. The same could be said for most of the empty buildings throughout the Valley. At one time the Mervyn's shopping center was beautiful and all of the local shops were full with businesses. Now that particular shopping area looks run down and seedy and the old Mervyn's building STILL stands empty, as do many of the other buildings in that center.
The few new and interesting businesses I have seen open lately seem to last for only 3 or 4 months before they, too, have to shut their doors. However, for these small businesses I believe it is due to the locations where they chose to try and make a go of it because it was a more affordable rent, but in areas where most English-speakers do not generally go to shop and their offered wares were not popular with the predominantly Hispanic community in those areas.
At one time Simi Valley was justified in charging a premium rate for leases due to our safety rating and desirability factors, but those factors no longer stand and the city politicians are strangling our local economy and preventing business start-ups.
At one time Simi Valley was justified in charging a premium rate for leases due to our safety rating and desirability factors, but those factors no longer stand and the city politicians are strangling our local economy and preventing business start-ups.
Huh? Simi Valley still ranks high for safety and things have gotten better, not worse, over the years.
Oh wait...one thing has changed. Simi Valley has become less white.....
Huh? Simi Valley still ranks high for safety and things have gotten better, not worse, over the years.
Oh wait...one thing has changed. Simi Valley has become less white.....
For many years Simi ranked as #1 for safety. We have now dropped down to 5th or 6th place, depending on which politician's numbers you use, so how can you say that things have gotten better and not worse over the years? The stats are there, the crimes reported in the news are there, the facts are there for any to see.
What I would like to see is statistical demographic comparisons which are able to show which factors came into play that lead to Simi Valley falling in the safety rankings. What exactly has been the cause? Population explosion? Too much building? Too many kids left without adult supervision? Violent video games, movies or music? What?
For many years Simi ranked as #1 for safety. We have now dropped down to 5th or 6th place, depending on which politician's numbers you use, so how can you say that things have gotten better and not worse over the years?
How? Just look at the crime statistics. Rankings tell you how Simi Valley does compared to other cities, not how Simi Valley is doing in itself. But what you're claiming isn't all that accurate either, Simi Valley had the top spot for a year or so in the late 90's. It wasn't consistently in the #1 spot.
Regardless, what do the crime statistics show? They show that crime increased between the late 90's and mid 2000's, but since around 2004 crime has been dropping. The fact that the crime rate is now dropping despite increased population shows you that things are improving, not getting worse.
But why has Simi Valley dropped in the rankings? Population growth. The rankings look at cities with 100,000 or people and as a result they are biased towards cities that have populations close to 100,000. Its no accident that Simi Valley ranked best when its population was closest to 100,000 (i.e., the 1990's).
How? Just look at the crime statistics. Rankings tell you how Simi Valley does compared to other cities, not how Simi Valley is doing in itself. But what you're claiming isn't all that accurate either, Simi Valley had the top spot for a year or so in the late 90's. It wasn't consistently in the #1 spot.
Regardless, what do the crime statistics show? They show that crime increased between the late 90's and mid 2000's, but since around 2004 crime has been dropping. The fact that the crime rate is now dropping despite increased population shows you that things are improving, not getting worse.
But why has Simi Valley dropped in the rankings? Population growth. The rankings look at cities with 100,000 or people and as a result they are biased towards cities that have populations close to 100,000. Its no accident that Simi Valley ranked best when its population was closest to 100,000 (i.e., the 1990's).
Interesting how you note that crime increased between the late 90's and mid-2000's. These comments were issued by the SVPD....
"While officers feel that the gang problem in Simi Valley is minimal compared to what exists in nearby cities like Oxnard and Los Angeles, Simi Valley does have two gangs that have been recognized as official criminal organizations by California courts.
Gangs in the Simi Valley area are loosely territorial but are not money-oriented and not involved in the narcotics trade.
The oldest Simi Valley gang, the Varrio Simi Valley, or VSV, began in the 1980s as a group composed of Hispanic males.
"The Varrio Simi Valley became validated as a gang when they began (fighting) against the Westside Locos," Muehler said.
In 1990, the VSV committed the first drive-by shooting in Simi Valley's history. The shooting occurred on First Street and the vehicle involved was a bicycle.
And the VSV committed the first gang homicide in Simi Valley when, in 1995, a member killed a Westside Loco gang member. A total of 230 people have claimed membership in the VSV over the years.
While enrollment in the VSV is diminishing, according to officials, Simi Valley's other gang, the Westside Locos, is currently recruiting. The gang, which has had up to 180 members, began in the 1990s as a refuge for Spanish speaking illegal immigrants but now initiates Caucasians. The Westside Locos have claimed territory at Rancho Simi Park and Sycamore Park and are far more territorial and violent than the VSV.
Out of about 4,500 crimes reported every year in Simi Valley, the number related to gang activity (other than graffiti ) has hovered between 250 and 300 per year since 2002, according to officials.
Groups such as Latin Pride Cholos and Green Infantry Boys, which usually consist of fewer than 10 kids of the same ethnicity, cause thousands of dollars of damage in graffiti every year."
The oldest Simi Valley gang, the Varrio Simi Valley, or VSV, began in the 1980s as a group composed of Hispanic males.
Umm...yeah...which shows that your "things were much better in the past" isn't accurate. As soon as Simi Valley started to develop, around the 1960's, it started to have the problems typically associated with cities.
There are no modest sized cities that don't have gang activity. Why? Because they supply the cities with drugs, etc. But small groups of kids spraying painting things are largely gangs.....
Regardless, crime has been dropping over the last 7~8 years which is likely because lower income folks have been pushed out of the city via increasing rent and home prices.
Would a better guage be to look at crime statistics over the past decade or two and see what changes have occured? we can all agree that Simi is in the top tier of safe cities in the nation. If it is 1st or 10th may not tell the entire story. Other cities may have improved and increased their scores even if Simi remained the same within the period. I do not have any data in front of me to see what has happened over the period.
As far as the Town Center is concerned, empty units are just part of todays economy. I was at the Oaks Shopping Center on Friday and noticed plenty of units that were empty near the mall. What I see are market forces at work.
Would a better guage be to look at crime statistics over the past decade or two and see what changes have occured? we can all agree that Simi is in the top tier of safe cities in the nation. If it is 1st or 10th may not tell the entire story. Other cities may have improved and increased their scores even if Simi remained the same within the period. I do not have any data in front of me to see what has happened over the period.
As far as the Town Center is concerned, empty units are just part of todays economy. I was at the Oaks Shopping Center on Friday and noticed plenty of units that were empty near the mall. What I see are market forces at work.
I fully agree! Certainly the changes which have lead to a drop in the safety rating must be traceable in some way to a core reason.
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