Moving to Simi Valley? (Los Angeles, San Diego: place to live, safe, bars)

[DBLAZEMDM]

Originally Posted by leavingSanDiego

All,

We currently live in San Diego, but will be moving to LA area soon for better job.

We are considering Simi Valley. Does anyone have some comments or ideas about the Simi Valley area? We have a 4 year old.

We are very familiar with the ridiculous prices of California real estate. We are interested in new construction, or relatively newer homes. Our San Diego place is an older home and falling apart. I'm sick of fixing stuff.

This is a great forum - thanks to anyone who responds - I appreciate it.

Yeah I know Simi really well. It's one of the safest cities in the Nation, on average 1 murder a year, cops have nothing to do. It's actually a really good place to raise a family and it borders with L.A county and it's about 30 to 45 minutes from Downtown L.A(without traffic) Good luck.

It's a quiet/boring city, but if you don't want any of that city life and don't mind living around a lot of conservatives, then move there.

[sushilover]

I have a question, I don't need any advice on L.A. or Simi or traffic because I was born and raised in L.A. But what I apparently missed out on was this whole toxic water thing in Simi. Is this just something blown out of proportion or is this really an issue? I have been thinking of buying a home there but now I'm thinking how safe is it really? It just sort of freaks me out to know that there was/is a nuclear missle production site near by. Has anyone heard any CURRENT info on this? Everything I read about is/was from a year or two ago???? I mean obviously it isn't anything major if real estate is still steady there but am I the only one concerned with this?

Thanks!
Love this site.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by sushilover

I have a question, I don't need any advice on L.A. or Simi or traffic because I was born and raised in L.A. But what I apparently missed out on was this whole toxic water thing in Simi. Is this just something blown out of proportion or is this really an issue? I have been thinking of buying a home there but now I'm thinking how safe is it really? It just sort of freaks me out to know that there was/is a nuclear missle production site near by. Has anyone heard any CURRENT info on this? Everything I read about is/was from a year or two ago???? I mean obviously it isn't anything major if real estate is still steady there but am I the only one concerned with this?

Thanks!
Love this site.

I'd say what you hear is true. For years the Rocketdyne site at the top of the mountains above Santa Suzana (east Simi) has had contaminated ground water from nuclear waste stored there. People who worked at the site have developed cancer, and some have died because of their exposure to the contaminants of the site. What's the effect on Santa Su's water and land now? Unsure. But I would do some research before living anywhere near the site.

[SoCalMomma]

I will second that - it is true. Rocketdyne has been up there for years & they have confirmed that they had some toxic waste 'leaks'. I have never heard any evidence that there is any contamination of the water anywhere else other than that immediate east simi area, though. That Santa Susanna area is very pretty, but I probably wouldnt buy a house right there (just never know what has seeped into the ground & into the water).

The rest of Simi is probably fine

[CBaillo]

i have lived in simi for about 3 years now, and i think its a great town. Its a large city with a small town feel. And if i werent going to upstate NY for a job opportunity, i would stay and raise my daughter here. Jobs in Simi are rare, but the major city with all the jobs would more than likely be Westlake Village. There are TONS of jobs there. And taking backroads i can get there in 30 min flat, without setting foot on any freeways.

The traffic is a problem, because it tends to be in the direction where all the jobs are, its rare to be employed in a direction where nobody is headed. And the problem with traffic is also because there is only one major freeway going east and west, and thats the 118. The 101 is south, but some ways away, and the only freeway connecting the 118 to the 101 in NEAR vicinity is the 23. as you can imagine the 23 is RIDICULOUS in the morning, because it heads into westlake village. BUT they are in the middle of expanding the freeway by two lanes on each side, so that will help congestion a lot for at least a few y ears.

But if you know how to read a map, and are creative, there are ways around the traffic, and having to use the freeways at all. Like i said i have a backway route using only streets, and a trip to WLV has never taken me more than 40 min tops, but usually 30 minutes, and its a much more beautiful, scenic drive than on the freeway.

Simi is safe now but it seems that crime is starting to go up. Just the other day, in my very safe neighborhood, a group of late teen boys went up and down a street two streets over from mine, and checked for unlocked garages and cars (which happens a lot, because of simi being relatively safe), and where they found either, they totally ransacked and stole everything they could. They hit 13 houses.

The hispanic influence is also becoming more noticable (not being racist, im colored as well), that meaning the multiple families living in one home thing, and with that, i've been noticing more cholo looking types. The city is getting younger and younger (used to be all old people), and that comes with its own problems.

[sushilover]

Thanks so much SoCalMomma and Cre8 for your response in regards to the toxic water! It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one who's heard about this...I think I'll continue to search for more updates...I guess if housing prices forced me to live in the area I would try and live as far away from the east side as possible (like closer to Moorpark - although this would make my life miserable traveling to Burbank everyday). Although I have heard that several wells have been affected. So I'm thinking until it's completely cleared up it's really not safe. If anyone else has heard of recent studies or info on the Rocketdyne situation in Simi, feel free to post! What a shame that they had to go ruin such a beautiful area.

Thanks!

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by sushilover

Thanks so much SoCalMomma and Cre8 for your response in regards to the toxic water! It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one who's heard about this...I think I'll continue to search for more updates...I guess if housing prices forced me to live in the area I would try and live as far away from the east side as possible (like closer to Moorpark - although this would make my life miserable traveling to Burbank everyday). Although I have heard that several wells have been affected. So I'm thinking until it's completely cleared up it's really not safe. If anyone else has heard of recent studies or info on the Rocketdyne situation in Simi, feel free to post! What a shame that they had to go ruin such a beautiful area.

Thanks!

You're welcome. The Santa Su Field Lab is absolutely serious. It's too bad because those hills are very beautiful. As a teenager we'd hike in that area quite a bit -- big bolder "old west" kind of landscape with great vistas. We didn't know how serious the contamination was.

Just FYI, and I have nothing but hearsay to back this up (from reputable sources, but hearsay nevertheless), that Radon gas has been known to exist in Simi, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. Something else for you to research.

[sushilover]

wow! I guess deep down I sort of figured but seems more real when you point it out.

thanks

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by newportbeachsmostwanted

Great place to retire..

For once I agree with you.

[BBarbabella]

Originally Posted by leavingSanDiego

All,

We currently live in San Diego, but will be moving to LA area soon for better job.

We are considering Simi Valley. Does anyone have some comments or ideas about the Simi Valley area? We have a 4 year old.

We are very familiar with the ridiculous prices of California real estate. We are interested in new construction, or relatively newer homes. Our San Diego place is an older home and falling apart. I'm sick of fixing stuff.

This is a great forum - thanks to anyone who responds - I appreciate it.

Simi Valley is a great place to live. It still has that small town feeling and is very scenic. It is always in the top five safest cities in America. It has an excellent school district. I am currently selling my home because I plan to retire very soon and can't aford to in SV. It is very close to all school levels. Our house is an older house, but we have recently done a lot of upgrades and fixing. It is in good shape and most of of the appliances and fixtures are from one to five years old. It sits on a hill and has grat views in front and back. If you are interested, I can send you a lot of photos.

Call at 805 304-5299 or email me at bob@dataconn.com.

Thanks and good luck.