Did you know Thousand Oaks has been rated the “Best Place to Live in America?” And being one of the safest and wealthiest communities in the United States — it might be to no one’s surprise. But did you know T.O. also is home to one of the largest suburban nature areas in the country? And did you know the city is home to the largest National Park lands in the Greater Los Angeles Area?
And with a human history dating back 13,000 years, few people are aware of the historic importance of Thousand Oaks and the larger Conejo Valley. Having served this community for over twenty years as the top-rated Ventura County limo service no one knows this region better than us. Let us present why we would indeed call Thousand Oaks the Best Place to Live in America!
5. Ancient History
While many may not realize it, the Conejo Valley has a human history that dates back as much as 13,000 years! Despite being the oldest Thousand Oaks limo service and having been located here for decades, the Chumash people have been here longer than any of us and are the indigenous people of Thousand Oaks. To learn more about the Chumash and their culture and history, swing by the Chumash Indian Museum to see artifacts, a realistic-looking re-creation of a Chumash village and houses, plus a lot more!
The Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center, built on the lands of a former Chumash village in southern Newbury Park, is another place to experience Chumash culture in today’s Thousand Oaks. Lots of Native-American artifacts have been found in the area, making the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) one of the places in the world with the highest density of archeological artifacts. Native-American artifacts have been discovered in other places as well; it made headlines in LA Times when bones from Chumash Indians were discovered at Lang Ranch in the 1990s. Other artifacts are displayed at the Stagecoach Inn Museum. Having been home to Chumash communities such as Kayɨwɨš, Sap’wi, Satwiwa, Lalimanux, and others, Thousand Oaks has an incredibly rich Native-American history.
While Chumash pictographs in T.O. and Simi Valley are located on restricted private lands, the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park in Santa Barbara and Painted Rock in San Luis Obispo County are two places with cave paintings open for the public to see. For more local history, visit the Stagecoach Inn to learn more about the founder of Newbury Park, Egbert S. Newbury. Having moved to the Conejo Valley from Michigan in the 1870s, E. S. Newbury only lived in the area for a few years before a terrible drought forced him and others to move away from the valley. With its history dating back to the 1870s when it was functioning as a hotel (the Grand Union Hotel), the Stagecoach Inn is a great location to learn more about the city’s intriguing history. While Newbury is considered the founder of Newbury Park, few may know that his house actually was located where the Thousand Oaks Civic Plaza is located today.
4. Protected Nature
When the Washington Post in 2015 named Ventura County “the most desirable place to live in America”, one of the main reasons mentioned was its many vast protected nature areas. Featured in movies such as the Rifleman, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and numerous others, Wildwood Regional Park is a local treasure known for its natural beauty and rich wildlife. Here the limo- and party bus clients of ours come to enjoy hiking, rock-climbing, mountain biking, and the great outdoors.
One of the park’s primary features is the 60 feet tall waterfall, Paradise Falls, while the Mountclef Ridge, Lizard Rock, spring wildflowers, and Fort Wildwood are some of the other features of Wildwood Regional Park. Having been inhabited since 6,000 BCE, Wildwood has a rich Chumash history and was home to several Chumash villages in pre-colonial times. Occupying over 1,760 acres and bordering over 1,400 additional acres in adjacent open-space nature areas, Wildwood is truly large with trails covering close to thirty miles. Our limousine services have transferred clients to numerous trailheads, including the Arroyo Conejo Trail in Newbury Park that connects to Wildwood by crossing La Branca (the Barranca) and Hill Canyon before climbing the steep Mount Clef Ridge in Santa Rosa Valley, CA.
Many LA and LAX sedan and limousine clients have recognized Wildwood from various Hollywood movies and TV series including Dodge City (1939), Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Spartacus (1960), Duel in the Sun (1946), and many, many more Hollywood productions. Besides Wildwood, nearly 1,000 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area are located within southern Newbury Park, with hiking trails leading to Malibu and various other places. A “short” hike from here is the Malibu Canyons where our exclusive Malibu wine tours often visit the many wine-tasting rooms and wineries found here.
3. Safety
Continuously rated by the FBI as one of America’s safest cities with a population of over 100,000 inhabitants, Thousand Oaks residents are significantly safer than inhabitants of most places in the United States. With your chance of being a victim of a violent crime being only 1 in 944, the equivalent number for Los Angeles residents is 1 in every 158th residents. Of Ventura County’s 31 homicides in 2016, none took place in Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, or Westlake Village. According to the FBI’s 2015 report entitled “Crime in the U.S. 2015”, Thousand Oaks was the 4th safest city in America with a population over 100,000, only outranked by Naperville, Illinois, Cary, North Carolina, and Edison Township, New Jersey.
In the State of California alone, that actually makes T.O. the safest city in the state as of 2015 when looking at cities with a population over 100,000. So while the newspapers and TV news can make any community feel overwhelmed by crime, you can fairly safely know that you are safe in our community. And with the high number of retired police officers from Los Angeles both working and living in the community, the Thousand Oaks Police Department is one of America’s best in terms of the number of officers hired, cases solved as well as resources. We are proud of living and operating our limousine services in such a safe and beautiful community, and we are forever thankful to the local police department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and all the great volunteers working day and night to make our city the safest in California.
2. Standard of Living
Having one of the U.S.’ highest medium household incomes, the communities in the Conejo Valley can brag about one of the highest standards of living in the country. Thousand Oaks was named the 7th richest city in America by CBS News in 2013 and had an average house listing price of $1.8 million according to CBS. A year later, USA Today rated the city as the 5th richest in the country in 2014. According to Money Magazine, the community of Newbury Park in western T.O. has the 4th highest median household income in the United States as of 2013, having an average income twice as high as the U.S. median.
In other words, living in Thousand Oaks by definition means you are – if not well off – in an OK financial situation! Furthermore, with its explosive growth in high-tech businesses maybe particularly in the Newbury Park area, this community had been dubbed “the next Silicon Valley” for its many new high-technology companies and biotech corporations finding their way to Newbury Park. Amgen, Baxter, BMW, Anthem, Skyworks Solutions Inc, and Sage Publications are just some of the many companies located here. While Amgen is by far the largest employer in the Conejo Valley, the second-largest employer is the Oaks followed by the Conejo Valley Unified School District, the Los Robles Hospital, Baxalta, Anthem Blue Cross, Skyworks Solutions, and California Lutheran University (CLU).
1. Location
With its proximity to America’s second-largest city, LA, and just across the Santa Monica’s from the Pacific Ocean and great Malibu beaches, Thousand Oaks has an ideal location in Southern California. Furthermore, being 55 miles from Santa Barbara’s American Riviera, Thousand Oaks is about halfway between LA and lovely Santa Barbara. This is the place where you can be in a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by nature, and at the same time, just an hour’s drive from one of the world’s biggest cities! Whether you are into beach or shopping, big cities or small cities, fine dining or picnicking — you are no longer than a maximum of an hour away from it all.
Take a twenty-minute ride across the Santa Monica Mountains to spend a day at the beach or enjoy a Malibu wine tour by the Pacific Ocean. Take an hour’s ride in an LAX sedan or SUV to reach the state’s largest airport or enjoy the nightlife of Hollywood with a party bus from back and forth from your home. Take an hour on the freeway to spend a day in Santa Barbara with the kids at the Santa Barbara Zoo or enjoy a concert at the famous Santa Barbara Bowl for a chance to see your biggest stars in action. A little way inland from Santa Barbara is where we find the gorgeous vineyards and wine country of the Santa Ynez- and Santa Maria Valleys, arguably the most scenic beautiful wine country in Southern California. Thousand Oaks may not seem like it, but you are actually in the center of it all in T.O. with short distances to the best SoCal has to offer!
There are many more headlines we could have added — as the Oaks Mall, the many great places of accommodation, top-rated eateries, Westlake Lake, horseback riding lessons in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Promenade at Westlake and so many more places. Boasting over 180 stores, the indoor & outdoor Oaks Mall might be the most popular Thousand Oaks limo destination and is the largest and most elegant shopping mall in Ventura County. Here limo and party bus clientele come to enjoy the great shopping, movie theaters, and dining. The 1,300,000 sq. ft. of shops include stores such as J. C. Penney, Macy’s, Hollister, Apple, Nordstrom, GAP, Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters, Disney, and many others.
If the Oaks Mall is a little too big, why not head to the smaller Janns Marketplace for your shopping? Besides shopping, there are many great restaurants here as well. And for those who prefer beer-tasting over exclusive Malibu wine tours, try the 20+ beer varietals offered at the Dudes’ Brewing Company at the Janns Marketplace!
For whatever destination and for whatever occasion in the Conejo Valley, Ventura County, or elsewhere in Southern California — contact American Luxury Limousine today to schedule your limo dream day in SoCal.
American Luxury Limousine | SoCal's Top Rated Limo Service 
[…] Did you know the Greater LA Area also is home to one of America’s safest cities? […]
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Many benefits to be located in Conejo valley!
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Doesn’t beat the Riviera
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