Fort Courage Armory in Simi Valley (Los Angeles, San Fernando: sales, renters, crime rate)

[the city]

Originally Posted by user_id

I'm sure some people don't like Thousand Oaks, but this was about Simi Valley...and I have trouble thinking of it as "beautiful".

Would Simi be beautiful if it had a library for a liberal president like Obama and had no poor people living there?

Would you prefer a boxy enclosed mall vs. an outdoor mall with plants everywhere?

Would you prefer a Sak's Fifth Avenue vs. a Wal-Mart?

Is what you want less churches in Simi Valley to make it pretty?

Thousand Oaks has some of the valley's porn industry, a christian college, and cookie cutter homes which some people don't like.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by the city

Would Simi be beautiful if it had a library for a liberal president like Obama and had no poor people living there?

No, my comment about the city was about the city itself and not the sorts of people that tend to live there.

Originally Posted by the city

Would you prefer a Sak's Fifth Avenue vs. a Wal-Mart?

Neither.

Still not sure why you keep talking about Thousand Oaks...

[parker]

Beauty is about perspective! When we lived in Simi, I would come north on the 23 and the snow on the Tapo Mountains and the ag area in Moorpark took my breath away. As I would get off on Olsen and drive east, the avocado groves and valleys also took my breath away. I would continue up Wood Ranch Parkway and the incredible groves of beautiful sycamore trees once again took my breath away.

I moved to Colorado, a state that most people call beautiful...I could hardly find one piece of beauty in that state...but I was comparing it to the breath taking beauty of Simi Valley and its surrounding areas.

[the city]

Originally Posted by user_id

No, my comment about the city was about the city itself and not the sorts of people that tend to live there.


Neither.

Still not sure why you keep talking about Thousand Oaks...

What you like it so Thousand Oaks puts more money into their city to make buildings and parks look nicer?

What do you think is beauty?

[Cyanna]

Thank you, Bulldogdad Have you also visited Greta's Guns on Los Angeles Avenue? Can't miss it since it has a big ol' cannon sitting out front and is located near the VFW post.

Simi Valley is indeed a beautiful looking town with some decent people in it. But, as a resident since 1967 I have seen a lot of negative changes to the city. I am a Constitutionalist with a fairly Conservative bent and generally tend to strongly disagree with user_id, but in this case I have to somewhat agree with user_id. Simi Valley's beauty is rapidly becoming tarnished and my husband and I are constantly debating whether to leave or stay. The city's outer beauty is hiding an underbelly of ugliness that seems to be getting progressively worse.

Some days I absolutely love this place, and other days I hate it. Maybe I am just suffering from a case of the Jekyl & Hydes, LOL!

[the city]

Simi Valley is 75.3% Caucasian, and it's public schools still rate well.

Ventura is about 75% percent too. Sure, poverty might have grown in Simi, but not to great levels. Not as bad as poverty and crime in Oxnard.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by the city

Simi Valley is 75.3% Caucasian, and it's public schools still rate well.

Ventura is about 75% percent too. Sure, poverty might have grown in Simi, but not to great levels. Not as bad as poverty and crime in Oxnard.

I'm not certain if your population statistics are correct or not, but working in real estate and property management I can tell you that the majority of our clients and tenants are now non-Caucasian, except for those losing their homes due to illness and job loss, who are mostly Caucasian.

I am seeing more "no-go" areas in Simi Valley, like the area around Wells Fargo on Los Angeles Avenue, near First Street. I had to stop using this bank due to the gang members and drug dealers hanging out in the parking lot after 5:30 at night. I've actually seen a drug deal taking place there. More and more business buildings are sitting empty and falling into disrepair. Some areas of Simi Valley look outright trashy. I live in a neighborhood where I actually grew up, known for being a nice and safe middle class neighborhood. Within the last few months we have seen a rise in gang families moving in, blasting music throughout the night, walking around trying to intimidate people who can no longer take evening walks safely, and general lack of respect for neighbors.

I am also seeing more and more homeless Americans on the streets in Simi.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Cyanna

I'm not certain if your population statistics are correct or not, but working in real estate and property management I can tell you that the majority of our clients and tenants are now non-Caucasian

"non-Caucasians", as you call them, are more likely to be lower income and as a result more likely to rent.

Originally Posted by Cyanna

I had to stop using this bank due to the gang members and drug dealers hanging out in the parking lot after 5:30 at night. I've actually seen a drug deal taking place there.

Really? So did you notify the police? Or do you imagine that the police just allow gang members to hang out in front of banks dealing drugs? Hmm.....

Originally Posted by Cyanna

More and more business buildings are sitting empty and falling into disrepair. Some areas of Simi Valley look outright trashy.

Yep and you can blame short-sighted developments like the Simi Town center. The Town center pulled business away from existing centers. There is also the internet that has been putting pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses for years now.

Some areas of Simi Valley have always looked trashy. You appear to have a very selective memory of Simi Valley....

[the city]

Originally Posted by Cyanna

I'm not certain if your population statistics are correct or not, but working in real estate and property management I can tell you that the majority of our clients and tenants are now non-Caucasian, except for those losing their homes due to illness and job loss, who are mostly Caucasian.

I am seeing more "no-go" areas in Simi Valley, like the area around Wells Fargo on Los Angeles Avenue, near First Street. I had to stop using this bank due to the gang members and drug dealers hanging out in the parking lot after 5:30 at night. I've actually seen a drug deal taking place there. More and more business buildings are sitting empty and falling into disrepair. Some areas of Simi Valley look outright trashy. I live in a neighborhood where I actually grew up, known for being a nice and safe middle class neighborhood. Within the last few months we have seen a rise in gang families moving in, blasting music throughout the night, walking around trying to intimidate people who can no longer take evening walks safely, and general lack of respect for neighbors.

I am also seeing more and more homeless Americans on the streets in Simi.

My data comes from the census and the Simi Valley still have some higher-end stores.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by user_id

"non-Caucasians", as you call them, are more likely to be lower income and as a result more likely to rent. "

Actually, the majority of those now BUYING property are non-Caucasian. The California Association of Realtors has just released a new mandatory form for buyers to submit before they will be granted escrow and a title deed. They MUST be able to show proof that they are in the United States legally. This is because so many who are NOT here legally have been making full cash home purchases without any evidence of legally earned income. The racial make-up of buyers/renters is not important, but their legal status is. We have excellent tenants of all racial backgrounds, and we also have some equally bad ones. There are also quite a few tenants who do NOT fall into the low income bracket, and chose to rent instead of buy due to the market conditions.


Really? So did you notify the police? Or do you imagine that the police just allow gang members to hang out in front of banks dealing drugs? Hmm....."

Actually, one of our clients is a SVPO and he is well aware of the problems in that area with gangs, drugs and crime. So yes, I did notify the police. Problem is, by the time they show up the perps tend to scatter.


"Yep and you can blame short-sighted developments like the Simi Town center. The Town center pulled business away from existing centers. There is also the internet that has been putting pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses for years now."

We agree on this point.

Some areas of Simi Valley have always looked trashy. You appear to have a very selective memory of Simi Valley....

No, I do not have a selective memory. When I was growing up only two areas in Simi were considered "trashy," but compared to San Fernando Valley's trashiness it was still only a mild trashiness. I remember the neighborhood just North of Los Angeles Avenue and west of Erringer as being a lovely middle class neighborhood. Now, after driving through the neighborhood recently I will not go there again. It looks like a 3rd world village with weed filled yards, broken windows and junk sitting around in yards and driveways.