A decent mid-sized town away from LA
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8/19/2019
Santa Clarita, referred to a lot of the time as just 'SCV' (Santa Clarita Valley) is a town I lived in from the age of 5 - 28 years old. Spending 23 years of my life there I got to know it really well.
PROS:
Crime: It has a fairly low crime rate. When I lived here, every area of SCV was fairly safe. It had a couple of "bad parts" mainly some apartment complexes in Canyon Country and some areas in Newhall around the Metrolink but other than that it was a safe city.
Scenery: A lot of southern California gets a reputation as being extremely dry with tons of brown brush everywhere and SCV certainly has this but many areas within the city are quite green (by Southern Cali standards). There are plenty of green areas with tons of trees, bushes, grass, etc... and quite a few nice parks. Including 'Central Park' which is one of if not SCV's largest park in terms of space.
CONS:
Population boom: The population has skyrocketed here. When I lived there in the 90's and 00's it was still a smaller town with a population in the lower to mid 100,000's. Last time I drove there I was surprised when I saw a city sign stating the population was near 215,000 people! There seems to be no end in sight as SCV still has plenty of room to expand outwards.
Cost of living: Sure for many southern California cities, SCV may not be too expensive. But generally speaking, it still is. For a moderate sized home around 2000 sq.ft. built in the 1980's you're still looking at paying $600,000 - $700,000 for it. You can get cheaper homes in the mid to high $400,000's but those are going to be older and need quite a bit of work.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Many people who live in SCV travel to downtown LA for work (which is approximately 35 miles south). So if you move here and work in LA expect to have a long travel day there and back.
Six Flags Magic Mountain: this is, or at least WAS one of the highlights to SCV growing up. It was SCV's major landmark with the big red tower and was so cool living in the same city as the theme park and going to it on weekends. Many people who were or are born and raised in SCV will get their first job at Magic Mountain or Hurricane Harbor (the water park right next to Magic Mountain). But I've heard Magic Mountain has turned rough around the edges with the type of people who go on a daily basis.
Santa Clarita is still a decent place and I enjoy visiting my family every once in awhile but I'm glad to be out of SCV and California in general.
Daniel | Las Vegas, NV