Newbury Park vs. Thousand Oaks (Los Angeles, Simi Valley: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[desdc]

Newbury Park vs. Thousand Oaks
My husband and I are looking to buy our first home. We have two boys 12,13. We are planning for one-two more in the near future. We currently live in San Pedro in the Los Angeles area and are ready to move from here to a safer city. I am a Homemaker and he will be working in Port Hueneme. My question is what's the "all around" differences between TO and NP? I would appreciate any input.

[jja100]

Hi there! I live in Newbury Park so I may be biased. Newbury Park is within the city of Thousand Oaks but it is somewhat of a hidden jewel.

20 years ago when I moved here to NP it was a cheaper alternative to Thousand Oaks largely because it was less developed in terms of community services and housing. A lot has since changed. Since that time we developed another park and our own library. Amgen then came and brought many jobs to this area and in order to compensate for housing they built many homes in the back end of NP which is now called Dos Vientos. To be honest, because of Amgen they have put more of an emphasis on NP development over Thousand Oaks and it has higher real estate values because housing is more limited and jobs are more plentiful because of Amgen which drove our properties higher. Hidden Valley is only connected to Port Hueneme and Newbury Park off of Wendy and will take you through multi million dollar properties until you get to lake sherwood and run into westlake village. This is a very scenic area and the most expensive area short of malibu. Hidden Valley is where sylvester stallone had his property along with sophie loren, and michael jackson's brother I think as well.

Newbury Park is much quieter than TO and more of a bedroom community. Most shopping/entertainment is done in TO but a new Trader Joe's is coming into Newbury Park. Home Depot moved from TO to Newbury Park and most of the new shopping centers are near there and dos vientos along wendy drive.

As for the weather, Newbury Park is trapped in a wind tunnel which provides it with much cooler temperatures in the summer but up to ten degrees difference cooler than westlake village and up to 15 degrees difference between simi valley.

Hope this answers most of your questions. Feel free to ask anymore since I have been here a long time.

[Charles]

I heard about that new Trader Joes. Isn't there another one going in Agoura Hills to or is my brain malfunctioning again? If so, that means there will be three TJs within about ten miles of each other including the one at Westlake and TO.

While the TO library (and it's companion in NP) are fine libraries, they are basically just two libraries in a two branch system. In Agoura Hills and Westlake (two LA County libraries less than a mile from each other - brilliant move) a person has access to all the materials in the entire LA County system, something like 50 or 60 libraries. Same with LA City (using the Platt branch) or Ventura County (using Oak Park); a person gets so much more material.

It is an easy drive from Dos Vientos to Hueneme or Mugu via Portrero, or from northern NP, the 101.

For all around differences, the eastern side of TO (vs the NP part of TO) seems to have a lot more shopping and things. Nice Promende Mall, Janss Mall, etc. The Oaks Mall is in between the two and it just got redone.

[cricket_factor]

There's also a new Fresh & Easy in Newbury Park. And there's a Kohl's department store. You might like Newbury Park better. It's more quiet and laid back than Thousand Oaks. Like the above poster said, the temperatures are cooler in Newbury Park than Thousand Oaks.

[Alan Gregg]

Personally, I prefer Thousand Oaks. The houses are generallly nicer and there are more establishled upscale neighborhoods. The shopping is superior in Thousand Oaks and it's more central location makes it more accessable to the SFV, LA, Simi Valley, Moorpark and it's just as accessable to Malibu, as Newbury Park.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Alan Gregg

Personally, I prefer Thousand Oaks. The houses are generallly nicer and there are more establishled upscale neighborhoods. The shopping is superior in Thousand Oaks and it's more central location makes it more accessable to the SFV, LA, Simi Valley, Moorpark and it's just as accessable to Malibu, as Newbury Park.

Agree completely.

Would add that Thousand Oaks has more name recognition and status in SoCal, has a city center and has lost the bedroom community identity and become a destination.

[socalmommie]

i grew up in newbury park - back then, it was a sleepy bedroom community & really an idyllic environment for kids. it has since grown into a lovely community with far more amenities than ever before, including restaurants and grocery shopping options, but you'll still drive to thousand oaks for most of your other shopping/mall visits.

strangely enough, after insisting that they would never leave newbury park, my parents bought another home in thousand oaks a couple years ago & LOVE it now. they're closer to all their activities, shopping, etc. whereas everything is a 15 minute drive minimum from newbury park (you get used to driving; where we lived, it was 10 minutes to a grocery store back in the day).

both communities are wonderful. i would say that if you like to be closer to a town center-like feel, look at thousand oaks. when i think about newbury park, what i've always liked best are the views (old boney is the local landmark), the close proximity to nature & incredible hiking & the quiet, slower pace. if i were to move from my home in simi valley to TO/NP, though, i would choose thousand oaks right now, though. i have young children who are very active in dance/sports/music, so that would save me some time in the car & also allow me to have what i don't have in simi - close proximity to decent shopping!