Demographics

Located 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles in the southeast corner of Ventura County, Simi Valley is a beautiful city within the Greater Los Angeles Area. Some of the most desirable communities in the area are Santa Susana, Texas Tract, Wood Ranch, and Corriganville.

According to the 2010 US Census, there were approximately 124,237 residents within the area, with 41,237 households and 31,697 families. The population density of the area included 2,940.8 people per square mile. From the total amount of households, 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them with the average household size being 3 people. Furthermore, 60.2% were opposite-sex married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, 4.8% unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0.7% same-sex married couples or partnerships.

The racial makeup of Simi Valley was 75.3% White, 1.4% African American, 0.6% Native American, 9.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.6% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Simi Valley boasts an above average median household income of $90,210 as of 2016 according to the US Census Bureau. The median cost of homes in Simi Valley was $450,500 with mortgages at a median of $2,456 as of 2016.

History

The first humans to settle in Simi Valley were the Chumash people around 10,000 years ago. In fact, Simi Valley’s name derived from the Chumash word Shimiyi, which refers to the stringy, thread-like clouds that typify the region. The first Europeans to discover the area were the Spanish in 1770. They were also the first to settle it in 1795 when Santiago Pico was granted a 113,000 acre land grant. The land was used for farming and livestock up until the 1865 when American prospector Thomas A. Scott purchased the land and created Simi Land and Water Company. Agriculture and ranching dominated the landscape through the 1950s. Citrus, walnuts and apricots were all grown in Simi Valley.

Between 1870 and 1950, four major communities were in the area: Simi, Santa Susana, Community Center, and Mortimer Park (Susana Knolls). The first attempt to incorporate Simi, Community Center, Santa Susana failed in 1966. In 1969, voters chose to incorporate the 3 communities. When deciding a name for the new town, voters were given the choice of ‘Santa Susana’ or ‘Simi Valley’. A majority voted for the latter and thus Simi Valley was created.

In the early 1960s modern residential development began to take place. From 1950-1970, the area saw a population increase from 4,000 to 60,000 as housing projects originally started in 1957 and 1958 began to develop.