Reviews & Comments
Oxnard, CA
Don't be a beach addict - use your brain! -
1/13/2011I see many reviews about the nice beaches. People write about how they feel perfectly safe in the lovely beach areas and say many things that might entice unwary people to actually come here. Don't! The people writing those reviews are beach addicts, and have probably had their brains fried from too much sunshine. Yes, beach addicts will be very impressed by the nice beaches in Oxnard, and the fact that you can have a house right on the beach, and the fact that there are bars on the beach, yada yada yada. But Oxnard is not a very nice place. Yes, I too have heard it referred to as "Northern Mexico", "Tijuana", etc. And it is a quite apt description. Yes, there are gangs here - LOTS. One reviewer wrote something to the effect that you can't say people are criminals just because they are Mexican, and that is true. There are Mexicans here who do not engage in any violent activity. And there are also Mexicans here who do. Are Mexican gangs "not that bad"? They are not in the slightest bit "not that bad"! Black gangs on the east coast are "not that bad". They usually don't kill innocent people. Membership requirements for joining a mexican gang range anywhere from just getting "jumped in" to killing a rival gang member to murdering an innocent civilian. Make no mistake, they are murder organizations, and should be avoided as best you can. Use your brain. Yes, there are "nice areas" in Oxnard. But does anyone really buy that people who live in the bad areas can't walk (or drive) 5 blocks to get to the nice areas? Of course they can. Do vatos like the beach? Of course they do, and they also hate the people who live on or near the beach. So, if you're a beach addict who just loves the Oxnard beaches, by all means, buy a house here. Come for the nice beaches, and stay for the Juarez style action! Should we embrace other cultures, as one poster said? It depends on the culture! Use your brain and keep your butt safe. California has nice beaches all along its coast. The coast of California is something like 1500 miles long, with many cities running all along the length of it, and -believe it or not- most of those cities don't have THAT much crime. Oxnard DOES. So, if you happen to find yourself in Oxnard and start to fall in love with the NICE beaches... take a picture. It's not worth living here, or even staying here more than a few hours. The worst bad neighborhoods are the ones that look like nice ones. I've walked through ghettos in New York and felt A LOT safer than I do living in the "nice part" of Oxnard. And yes, the city still has those horrible potholes. Take my word for it. I'm leaving Oxnard the MOMENT I get the means to do it. BTW, my comments about Oxnard do not apply to the rest of Ventura county AT ALL! The city of Ventura has even more beautiful beaches and way less crime! Thousand Oaks is a gorgeous city with hardly any crime and a great deal better access to L.A. than Oxnard, if you need it! Ojai has GREAT hiking and beautiful cold creeks and sulphur hot springs that the locals say may cure your various ailments, and a lot of famous movie stars have ranches there and the oranges that grow in the groves at Meditation Mountain are some of the most delicious you will ever taste. Ventura county is beautiful! Oxnard, however, sucks. Please stay away from Oxnard. (Unless you are a beach addict, of course).