Downtown Areas in the Conejo Valley

[movistar26]

Downtown Camarillo is cute, but definitely not like Ventura.

[OxnardNative]

Originally Posted by user_id

Yes, we were talking about down towns but you decided to describe Thousand Oaks as "suburban", but that attribute isn't unique to thousand oaks. And since you agree that the other cities are suburban, obviously being suburban doesn't exclude a city from having a "down town".


Firstly, I think its truly odd to group these cities together. Ventura is the only city with something that resembles a real down town, the others are better described as old "main streets".

As for as comparison, if you ignore the differences in development style they are are comparable. Thousand Oaks blvd, in particularly around the Civic arts center, centers the city.

As crappy as Downtown Oxnard is I don't think it belongs in the same group as Ojai, Fillmore, Camarillo, Santa Paula, and Moorpark. In Downtown Oxnard there are at least two to three streets that are more vibrant/better than "A" street which is the "old main street" is year-around. Downtown Oxnard is a couple levels below Ventura and a couple levels above the others in terms of what is considered the downtown.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by OxnardNative

As crappy as Downtown Oxnard is I don't think it belongs in the same group as Ojai, Fillmore, Camarillo, Santa Paula, and Moorpark. In Downtown Oxnard there are at least two to three streets that are more vibrant/better than "A" street which is the "old main street" is year-around. Downtown Oxnard is a couple levels below Ventura and a couple levels above the others in terms of what is considered the downtown.

Yeah, I would agree, I was mostly trying to point out that downtown Fillmore, Santa Paula and Camarillo are rather different than downtown Ventura.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by OxnardNative

As crappy as Downtown Oxnard is I don't think it belongs in the same group as Ojai, Fillmore, Camarillo, Santa Paula, and Moorpark. In Downtown Oxnard there are at least two to three streets that are more vibrant/better than "A" street which is the "old main street" is year-around. Downtown Oxnard is a couple levels below Ventura and a couple levels above the others in terms of what is considered the downtown.

Of course, Ventura started its downtown redevelopment in the late 80s around 15 years before Oxnard, which didn't start its redevelopment in earnest until less than 10 years ago. Downtown Ventura is pretty nice now, but back in the 80s and early 90s it was a seedy dump. It had a reputation for being dangerous and a place to avoid, especially after dark. Downtown Oxnard had this reputation into the 2000s, but all of that has changed in the past few years, and is continuing to change, as downtown redevelopment continues on an upswing.

[OxnardNative]

Originally Posted by Winston Smith

Of course, Ventura started its downtown redevelopment in the late 80s around 15 years before Oxnard, which didn't start its redevelopment in earnest until less than 10 years ago. Downtown Ventura is pretty nice now, but back in the 80s and early 90s it was a seedy dump. It had a reputation for being dangerous and a place to avoid, especially after dark. Downtown Oxnard had this reputation into the 2000s, but all of that has changed in the past few years, and is continuing to change, as downtown redevelopment continues on an upswing.

I wouldn't say there is an upswing in downtown redevelopment. The city is still focused on finishing up RiverPark and then there attention will probably go to Wagon Wheel were they are just starting to build apartments now, and Wagon Wheel will take several years to be completed. I feel like the downtown is a distant third or fourth on the list. Plus the state took away the redevelopment agency which had about 8 million dollars for the downtown. If you watch the city council meeting there is always people who come up and say that the city needs to invest in the downtown or start talks about the future plans for the downtown. NOTHING has significantly happened in the downtown within the last 5 years. It's upsetting because I feel that the downtown has SO MUCH more potential than what it is in its current state. I was just in downtown Ventura on Labor Day walking around, and automatically you can see the vibrancy, shops, infrastructure, housing, restaurants were significantly better than Oxnard. I feel that Oxnard can come really close to that level if they put a plan together for complete overhaul (I'm not talking wrecking ball lol) of the downtown.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by OxnardNative

I wouldn't say there is an upswing in downtown redevelopment. The city is still focused on finishing up RiverPark and then there attention will probably go to Wagon Wheel were they are just starting to build apartments now, and Wagon Wheel will take several years to be completed. I feel like the downtown is a distant third or fourth on the list. Plus the state took away the redevelopment agency which had about 8 million dollars for the downtown. If you watch the city council meeting there is always people who come up and say that the city needs to invest in the downtown or start talks about the future plans for the downtown. NOTHING has significantly happened in the downtown within the last 5 years. It's upsetting because I feel that the downtown has SO MUCH more potential than what it is in its current state. I was just in downtown Ventura on Labor Day walking around, and automatically you can see the vibrancy, shops, infrastructure, housing, restaurants were significantly better than Oxnard. I feel that Oxnard can come really close to that level if they put a plan together for complete overhaul (I'm not talking wrecking ball lol) of the downtown.

Good observations, OxnardNative. Of course, one thing on the horizon is Oxnard Blvd. being relinquished to the city from Caltrans. Seems I've heard that the Boulevard through downtown is headed for a major redo, more pedestrian oriented, better integration with the train station, etc. Perhaps the city is waiting to do anything more with downtown until the Boulevard is in their hands, when the city could do things strategically including street re-design. In any case, lots of interesting stuff happening in Oxnard these days.