Deriving its name from the Mission of Buenaventura, Ventura County is one of 58 California counties. It is located in the southern part of the state along the Pacific coast, and forms the northwestern part of the greater Los Angeles area. It is sometimes known as the “Gold Coast”.
Ventura County enjoys a reputation as one of the safest populated areas as well as one of the most affluent places in the country, ranking in the top 100 in the country. The affluence is due in part to its being part of the Tech Coast area which has a large presence of technology corporations.
Ventura County can be segmented into two major parts which are divided by the Conejo Grade, the East County and West County. The East County is located at the end of the Santa Monica Mountains and is where Conejo Valley is located, thus decreasing its elevation. The communities which make up the East County are those in the area known as the "Conejo Valley",Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, and Oak Park., while some of West County communities include Ventura and Oxnard.
Ventura County experienced a large growth in population in the mid-1900s, when a large number of individuals and families moved from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles into the Conejo and Simi Valleys. Some of the suburbs spawned from this growth include Agoura Hills, Agoura, Calabasas (which is actually in LA County), and parts of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, and Newbury Park. Eventually the growth spread from the East County into the West County.
Most of the population of Ventura County lives within the southern portion of the county, primarily in the Oxnard Plain and the Simi and Conejo Valleys. North of Highway 126, the county is mountainous and mostly uninhabited, though it contains some of the most pristine and rugged wilderness which remains in southern California. The Los Padres National Forest, which spans 860 square miles, makes up approximately half of the county’s land mass.
The area in Conejo Valley still has plenty of open space and land, though nearly all of it has been put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of each city’s master plan. Because of this requirement, its location, its country feel, the excellent schools and its close proximity to Los Angeles, the cities in the Conejo Valley continue to be very attractive places to live.
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