Did I miss the nice parts of Ventura? (Oxnard, Thousand Oaks: square footage, live)

[kanhawk]

Just want to reinforce what rgb123 said about Naples, FL. I have visited there a couple times myself and I don't know what they do to keep the riffraff away, but they do a pretty good job of it. The downtown, the neighborhoods, the beach were very safe it seemed to me. Of course, it's possible I missed the seedy parts of town, but for a beach community it was very free of the bothersome public social problems so many other places have.
My experience with the west coast in general is that it has now and has always had more of a drifter/transient problem. Horace Greeley famously said "go west, young man" and I think the region in general has always attracted both a good and bad element. It's sort of the end of the line and this is where people of all types end up.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by DowntownVentura

I am curious how good the hiking is in the Los Padres National Forest

I'm guess you don't hike much, that, or you're just trying to spin. After all, why would you post about a National Forest that is a good 45 minutes away from Ventura when the topic is local hiking options?

Regardless, the Los Padres National Forest is nice, but its not local to Ventura. The hikes in and around Ventura aren't that great, even the areas of the Los Padres National Forest that are "close" to Ventura aren't that great. Now, if you want to drive 2 hours or so then the Los Padres National Forest can be great. Note, I'm not suggesting that there are no hiking options in Ventura, just that the local hiking options in the Conejo Valley are a lot better.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by rgb123

ok, I'm going to sleep. User ID if you want to give me a biased opinion on the best apartments in Conejo Valley while I'm sleeping...that would be ok.

Not sure I get the "biased opinion" thing, I'm trying to point you to things that match what you like, not necessarily things that I like. Anyhow, I think I've already mentioned all the apartments that I'm aware of, in particular I would really check out the area around Lindero cyn road and Kanan Road (This area is border line Westlake and Oak Park). There are apartments on both streets (unfortunately, don't recall the names) that are all in nice communities and all look decent. The prices, from what I recall are around $1,500 for a 1-bedroom and around $1,800~$2,000 for a 2-bedroom. The apartments in his area also have a lower percentage of kids since the area is popular with older folks.

Also, the Knolls complex that I linked to previously is in a nice area as well, the interiors are nice as well. One thing creeps me out about this place though, 1-2 years ago there was a dad that shot his kids and himself in one of those apartments.

Note, I'm just pointing you to complexes that are in nice communities that look decent, in most cases I don't know whether the management is any good or whether the interiors of the apartments will match what you want.

[user_id]

Speaking of crime in the area:

Thousand Oaks bank robbed for second time in less than a week » Ventura County Star

This was weird for me, I literally drove by this bank at around 11:30 (was going to see a movie at the Oaks) and almost went to the ATM but decided not to because I was running a bit late. I went after and the bank was secured with yellow tape and there were crime investigators.

[HSP1161]

Originally Posted by user_id

I'm guess you don't hike much, that, or you're just trying to spin. After all, why would you post about a National Forest that is a good 45 minutes away from Ventura when the topic is local hiking options?

Regardless, the Los Padres National Forest is nice, but its not local to Ventura. The hikes in and around Ventura aren't that great, even the areas of the Los Padres National Forest that are "close" to Ventura aren't that great. Now, if you want to drive 2 hours or so then the Los Padres National Forest can be great. Note, I'm not suggesting that there are no hiking options in Ventura, just that the local hiking options in the Conejo Valley are a lot better.

Now who is spinning?

The Conejo Valley is massive, spans two counties and a a number of incorporated and unincorporated communities. The CV itself is as local to Ventura as some areas in CV are to one another.

[Winston Smith]

From Ventura, it's a 20-minute drive to Matilija for what might as well be endless day hiking. Also from Ventura, it's 20-25 minutes driving to Thomas Aquinas for more hiking up Santa Paula Creek. It's 25-30 minutes travel at most to get to the trailhead that takes you to Topa Topa Mountain, over 6,000 feet above sea level. From Ventura, it's 30 minutes travel without traffic to Santa Barbara and the hiking there. More to the point -- not 2 hours travel, as one user ID claims. In 2-hours drive from Ventura, you are in Santa Maria if you travel up 101, Bakersfield if you go east, and in Cuyama if you traverse highway 33. IOW, by traveling 2 hours from Ventura, you have way passed all of the hiking spots.

This is not to take away from the Santa Monica Mountains, home to some of my favorite day hikes. But even from Thousand Oaks, you have to figure on 20, 25 minutes by car to get to places like Circle X or Mailbu Canyon State Park, and longer if you want to hike Zaka Peak, Zuma Canyon, etc. Some hikes are closer by, Satwiwa, for instance. Thousand Oaks has some immediate hiking in the "open space" areas west of Lynn Road, which are basically T.O.'s equivalent of Ventura's Arroyo Verde or Oxnard's McGrath Beach/dunes/lake.

As a matter of fact, from Oxnard/Port Hueneme, it's no more than 15-20 minutes travel to Point Mugu State Park.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by OpenSky

The Conejo Valley is massive, spans two counties and a a number of incorporated and unincorporated communities.

Massive? No, it takes around 10~15 minutes to drive from one end to another. In terms of local hiking there are numerous places, some of the best in Southern California, to hike within minutes. This is especially the case if you're central to the community, that is, in or near Westlake Village.

Spans two counties oh my! That is what happens when you're on the border of two counties.

Originally Posted by OpenSky

The CV itself is as local to Ventura as some areas in CV are to one another.

This isn't accurate. The conejo Valley is around 14 miles long, on the other hand Ventura is around 22 miles from Newbury Park.

I'm not sure what the issue is, the mountains immediately surrounding the Conejo Valley are some of the nicest in Southern California. That is partly why people want to live here in the first place. The denial here is like denying that Ventura is by the ocean...

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Winston Smith

More to the point -- not 2 hours travel, as one user ID claims.

Please read what I'm actually saying, the 2 hour remark was in relation to getting to the nice parts of the the Los Padros National Forest not hiking spots in general. There is local hiking in Ventura, its just not particularly nice. Good thing there is the beach...

Originally Posted by Winston Smith

But even from Thousand Oaks, you have to figure on 20, 25 minutes by car to get to places like Circle X or Mailbu Canyon State Park, and longer if you want to hike Zaka Peak, Zuma Canyon, etc.

Yes, if you want to drive to these areas instead of you know, hiking to them it may take you 20~25 minutes by car to get to them. Its fundamentally odd to focus on hiking that happens to be 20~25 minutes away while ignoring the numerous places one can hike that are considerably closer. Spin spin spin....

I guess it depends what you want to do, if you want to do an hour hike on some grandma trail in the middle of Malibu state park, etc than you'll have to drive there. But this isn't necessary and I don't know anybody here that does it, because you can just park locally and hike to these areas.

And this is the point, in the Conejo Valley regardless of where you live you can within a few miles get some trail head that will take you to numerous spots all of which will be rather beautiful. That is, you can open your garage get on your bike and have numerous options right by your home. The same can't be said of Ventura or Oxnard, the immediate hiking options just aren't as good. Simi Valley is similar in this regard, but I don't think the mountains there are as nice.

Lastly, I have to comment on the irony of someone complaining about "car culture" yet driving 20, 30, etc minutes to go hike....

[HSP1161]

Originally Posted by user_id

Massive? No, it takes around 10~15 minutes to drive from one end to another. In terms of local hiking there are numerous places, some of the best in Southern California, to hike within minutes. This is especially the case if you're central to the community, that is, in or near Westlake Village.

Spans two counties oh my! That is what happens when you're on the border of two counties.


This isn't accurate. The conejo Valley is around 14 miles long, on the other hand Ventura is around 22 miles from Newbury Park.

You're mixing and matching geography with the distance on the 101 where convenient. Not a surprise.

First, you're mistaken about the distance between Ventura and TO - it's 17 miles to the Johnson Dr. exit from Rancho Conejo, not 22.

Second, as you very well know, the Conejo Valley is much more than the exits from the 101 freeway. It can take, depending where you are, a half hour to traverse from one end of the CV to the other.

So yes, some areas of CV are as local to one another as Ventura is to the CV.

See, you're taking a broad area - Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Agoura, Westlake Village and comparing it to one city, Ventura, which by itself, has 25%+ fewer people that just the incorporated part of TO - then drawing conclusions. Might as well compare LA County with Salinas (that was a joke, no need to write a four paragraph rebuttal).

[HSP1161]

Originally Posted by user_id

There is local hiking in Ventura, its just not particularly nice.

If we drew a box around Ventura the way you're drawing a box around your area, we could tap Ojai, Lake Casitas (part of Los Padres), etc.

TO alone is 55 square miles of land. Ventura is 22.

Give it a rest and zip your pants back up, you're measuring wrong anyhow.