Chapter 4 – Population Geography of Simi Valley 1960 to Today

Drawn by the climate and plentiful high-paying job opportunities in the aerospace and other technology industries, people flocked to Southern California in the 1950’s. California’s population began to approach that of New York by 1960, surpassing it as the most populated state by the time of the 1970 census.

In 1960, Simi Valley was still a small town with a little over 8,000 residents, but like the rest of California, that changed rapidly in the decade to follow. Los Angeles had plenty of room for expansion and its population had grown tremendously after World War II. Yet despite its large area, by the sixties LA’s population had started to outgrow its closer-in suburbs like Santa Monica and Inglewood. Even the San Fernando Valley began to feel the pinch of rapid population growth and developers started looking for new land for inexpensive single-family housing. Simi Valley had an abundant supply of land and, because it was still relatively hard to get to (the 118 Freeway was barely on the drawing board and still quite a few years from being a useful link to the Los Angeles basin), the land was cheap. Ventura County’s nearly non-existent building and zoning regulations made Simi Valley even more attractive to housing speculators who would soon transform the secluded valley. With the aerospace industry booming in the San Fernando Valley, the new housing in Simi Valley became a hot commodity, especially since first-time homeowners could get into new homes for as little as a dollar down. In five short years, the population swelled past 40,000 and by the end of the decade Simi Valley was not only an incorporated city, but one of the top ten fastest growing cities in the United States.

Land developers continued working the valley floor like a strip mine (i.e. they came, took from the land a quick profit by building houses on it, and left) through the seventies and eighties, and the population continued to increase steadily. The valley was transformed into a safe and relatively quiet “bedroom” community (so-called because people worked elsewhere, but slept in Simi Valley). When the valley floor was depleted, developers turned toward the hillsides. Most recently, million-dollar homes were built atop the Simi Fault on alluvial soil. One recent projection suggested that the population might reach 140,000 by 2010.

For many years Simi Valley’s status as a “bedroom” community was reinforced by the fact that few job opportunities existed within the city. However, in recent decades major corporations like Countrywide, Milgard Manufacturing, and Farmer’s Insurance have become important sources of employment. The 2005 completion of the Simi Valley Town Center shopping mall not only gave valley residents the opportunity to shop without going to another city, but created another major source of employment.

Simi Valley Demographic Data from the 2000 United States Census

Subject	Number	Percent
Total population	111,351	100.0
SEX AND AGE
Male	55,098	49.5
Female	56,253	50.5
Under 5 years	8,163	7.3
5 to 9 years	9,539	8.6
10 to 14 years	9,037	8.1
15 to 19 years	7,747	7.0
20 to 24 years	5,979	5.4
25 to 34 years	15,754	14.1
35 to 44 years	20,873	18.7
45 to 54 years	16,406	14.7
55 to 59 years	5,512	5.0
60 to 64 years	3,837	3.4
65 to 74 years	5,029	4.5
75 to 84 years	2,669	2.4
85 years and over	806	0.7
Median age (years)	34.7	(X)
18 years and over	79,672	71.6
Male	38,938	35.0
Female	40,734	36.6
21 years and over	75,612	67.9
62 years and over	10,599	9.5
65 years and over	8,504	7.6
Male	3,553	3.2
Female	4,951	4.4
RACE
One race	107,183	96.3
White	90,561	81.3
Black or African American	1,401	1.3
American Indian and Alaska Native	780	0.7
Asian	7,052	6.3
Asian Indian	1,353	1.2
Chinese	1,023	0.9
Filipino	1,754	1.6
Japanese	670	0.6
Korean	657	0.6
Vietnamese	940	0.8
Other Asian ^1	655	0.6
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	154	0.1
Native Hawaiian	47	0.0
Guamanian or Chamorro	26	0.0
Samoan	18	0.0
Other Pacific Islander ^2	63	0.1
Some other race	7,235	6.5
Two or more races	4,168	3.7
Race alone or in combination with one or more other races ^3
White	94,259	84.7
Black or African American	1,855	1.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	1,734	1.6
Asian	8,449	7.6
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	436	0.4
Some other race	9,063	8.1
HISPANIC OR LATINO AND RACE
Total population	111,351	100.0
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	18,729	16.8
Mexican	12,501	11.2
Puerto Rican	449	0.4
Cuban	302	0.3
Other Hispanic or Latino	5,477	4.9
Not Hispanic or Latino	92,622	83.2
White alone	80,908	72.7
RELATIONSHIP
Total population	111,351	100.0
In households	110,551	99.3
Householder	36,421	32.7
Spouse	23,258	20.9
Child	37,597	33.8
Own child under 18 years	28,673	25.8
Other relatives	6,698	6.0
Under 18 years	2,263	2.0
Nonrelatives	6,577	5.9
Unmarried partner	1,910	1.7
In group quarters	800	0.7
Institutionalized population	163	0.1
Noninstitutionalized population	637	0.6
HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE
Total households	36,421	100.0
Family households (families)	28,952	79.5
With own children under 18 years	15,481	42.5
Married-couple family	23,258	63.9
With own children under 18 years	12,336	33.9
Female householder, no husband present	3,890	10.7
With own children under 18 years	2,142	5.9
Nonfamily households	7,469	20.5
Householder living alone	5,338	14.7
Householder 65 years and over	1,774	4.9
Households with individuals under 18 years	16,828	46.2
Households with individuals 65 years and over	6,213	17.1
Average household size	3.04	(X)
Average family size	3.33	(X)
HOUSING OCCUPANCY
Total housing units	37,272	100.0
Occupied housing units	36,421	97.7
Vacant housing units	851	2.3
For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use	50	0.1
Homeowner vacancy rate (percent)	0.9	(X)
Rental vacancy rate (percent)	3.8	(X)
HOUSING TENURE
Occupied housing units	36,421	100.0
Owner-occupied housing units	28,270	77.6
Renter-occupied housing units	8,151	22.4
Average household size of owner-occupied unit	3.09	(X)
Average household size of renter-occupied unit	2.85	(X)

Subject	Number	Percent
(X) Not applicable ^1 Other Asian alone, or two or more Asian categories. ^2 Other Pacific Islander alone, or two or more Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories. ^3 In combination with one or more other races listed. The six numbers may add to more than the total population and the six percentages may add to more than 100 percent because individuals may report more than one race. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1, Matrices P1, P3, P4, P8, P9, P12, P13, P,17, P18, P19, P20, P23, P27, P28, P33, PCT5, PCT8, PCT11, PCT15, H1, H3, H4, H5, H11, and H12.

Sources:

“Land-use Conversion and its Potential Impact on Stream/Aquifer Hydraulics and Perchlorate Distribution in Simi Valley, California.” The Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel. 2006. February 20, 2008. http://www.ssflpanel.org/files/Tabidian.pdf (Source of Figure 1 chart)

“Simi Valley City, California - DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000.” U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder. February 20, 2008. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-context=qt&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_DP1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CONTEXT=qt&-tree_id=4001&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=16000US0672016&-search_results=16000US0672016&-format=&-_lang=en