Chapter 10 – Simi Valley Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods in Simi Valley did not come into being based on their proximity to a central business district as is often the case in large cities. Because most of the housing in Simi Valley was mass produced to meet the needs of a growing suburb, neighborhoods are frequently defined by the name given to the developments in which they are located. Ask someone where they live in Simi Valley and they might say they are from the “Texas Tract” or “Wood Ranch,” depending on where they live.

The street signs shown above are from the “Texas Tract,” so named because all the streets are named after cities in Texas. The homes were modest in size and price when first offered for sale in 1963, but buyers had a choice between three different models (3 and 4 bedroom) built on large lots (land was cheap in the early 1960’s). The small section of the “Texas Tract” shown below looks a lot like Levittown in Pennsylvania and it was aimed at the same type of first-time, suburban middle class families. I grew up in the “Texas Tract” and my parents still live there.

Texas Tract

Windmills above the Indian Hills and Wood Ranch developments.

Most of the land that was developed in Simi Valley once belonged to farmers and ranchers, and often the communities built on the lands took the name of the ranch that preceded the development. Developments like “Big Sky Ranch” and “Wood Ranch” are examples. I have always been amused by how developers left behind sparse little reminders (like the windmills above) of what the valley used to look like before it was strip mined for development.

The entrance to Indian Hills Ranch housing development. The Simi Hills public golf course is seen in the background.

The Indian Hills Ranch development was probably one of the first Simi Valley housing tracts that offered large, premium homes. A variety of one and two-story models were available, some along fairways of the Simi Hills public golf course. The trend to build larger and more expensive homes as the city grew larger was undoubtedly economically motivated; from the eighties to the present, land and development costs skyrocketed, making it necessary to build houses that would command the prices necessary to sustain the development costs.

Indian Hills

The Wood Ranch Development Gateway

The original Wood’s family cattle ranch filled the entire valley below the dam of the Lake Bard Reservoir at the western end of Simi Valley. The land was annexed by the city and the ranch was developed into a massive planned community in the early 1980’s. Housing ranges from large single-family residences around the championship-sized private golf course and country club to more modest single family homes, condominiums, and apartments. Schools, shopping centers, and other amenities were also built within the development, making Wood Ranch a city unto itself.

Wood Ranch

The one thing that these neighborhoods share is that they are basically just places to live. Residents do not identify with their development on a personal level. When they say they live in a certain development, they are merely relaying geographic information. However, there is one development whose residents share a common interest: the Bridle Path development. Modestly sized homes in this development are built on half-acre and larger lots that are big enough to keep equestrian animals and are accessible to riding trails that crisscross the entire neighborhood. Just about everyone here has at least one horse.

Bridle Path Homes – Note that instead of sidewalks, equestrian paths run along the front of houses.

Bridle Path – Note the large lots and the equestrian “alleys” to the rear of the homes that lead to mountain trails.