Pros and Cons
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12/27/2016
I've lived in northern Castaic for 14 years so this review is for northern Castaic
Pros: convenient freeway access, boating on Lake Castaic, lots of gas stations, more house for the money than Santa Clarita, good public schools, weather is comparable to Santa Clarita so overall good except for periodic high winds, good hiking and trail biking. West side of freeway has a small library, Walmart, and the one decent sit down Mexican restaurant, and since it doesn't have a truck stop, it has "potential" for gentrification and that "may" occur with increased vehicle traffic associated with new high school. Truck stop area is limited to east side freeway by LA County Community Standards District. There is a Starbucks on east side of freeway that is doing well since this type of business is a win for locals and high volume visitor traffic. Problem is car traffic and truck traffic don't mix well. LA County run public park got a swimming pool.
Cons: with exception of one local Walmart and mostly fast food restaurants, currently many unleased/unoccupied units in strip malls on east side of freeway, no other decent local stores or amenities on east side of freeway (except for Starbucks) and this is unlikely to improve because most of the traffic is not local, e.g., truckers and boaters, so business focus on truckers and boaters. Currently no local high school and proposed high school will have inconvenient ingress/egress for most Castaic residents, although increased traffic on west side of freeway "may" increase number and quality of local stores and restaurants on west side of freeway. LA County operated public park is lacking aesthetically and quality compared to most public parks in Santa Clarita and no designated dog area so there is "always" someone's dog(s) not on leash and no enforcement of leash code. 5 freeway regularly shut down due to fires and weather on the Grapevine. Freeway road surfaces between Lake Hughes Rd. and Hasley Canyon Rd. are currently in poor condition.
Plasma | Castaic, CA