Garage Conversion Thousand Oaks, California

Geography

The city of Thousand Oaks is situated in the Conejo Valley in southeastern Ventura County, halfway amongst Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and 12 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Conejo Valley lies at 900 feet; 55 of its 1,884 square miles are located within Thousand Oaks city limits. For comparison, the city is larger in Place than Long Beach, CA, and 20 percent larger than San Francisco.

Designated open-space natural world areas fill 34 percent of the city as of 2017 (15,194 acres). 928 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is within the southern borders of the city. Thousand Oaks is within the Greater Los Angeles Area and is 38 miles west of Los Angeles. Malibu is located upon the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains. Conejo Valley is bordered by the Santa Monica’s to the south, Conejo Mountains to the west and north, and the Simi Hills to the northeast.

Thousand Oaks has grown due to the fascination of next to cities. Two-thirds of Westlake Village and most of Newbury Park were annexed by the city in the 1960s and 1970s. Newbury Park currently makes up as regards 40 percent of the city’s total land area.

Thousand Oaks is located at 34°11′22″N 118°52′30″W / 34.18944°N 118.87500°W / 34.18944; -118.87500 (34.189489, -118.875053). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 55.2 square miles (143 km²). 55.0 square miles (142 km) of it is estate and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km²) of it (0.27%) is water.

Although Thousand Oaks has several shopping centers, including the Janss Marketplace mall, The Oaks mall, and W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., a large ration of the city’s inhabitants enliven in suburban communities a estrange from the announcement centers of the city. The large housing districts close Lynn Road to the north and west are an example of this sprawl, despite attempts by Ventura County planners to cut it. Many housing tracts are between walls. This design is meant to keep heavy traffic away from residential roads.

Physiography

The physiography is dominated by prominent knolls, surrounding mountains, open vistas and indigenous oak woodland. It is house to 50–60,000 oak trees, and the city is characterized by its many oak trees and rolling green hills.

The northern parts consist of mountainous terrain in the Simi Hills, Conejo Mountains and Mount Clef Ridge. Narrow canyons such as Hill Canyon cut through the steeper mountainous areas. Conejo Mountain and Conejo Grade are found in westernmost Newbury Park, while the southernmost parts of Thousand Oaks are made up of Russell Valley, Hidden Valley and the steep rugged slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains. The height ranges from 500 feet in the northwest to the 2,403 feet Simi Peak. The major drainage is Conejo Creek (Arroyo Conejo).

Wetlands include Lake Eleanor, Paradise Falls in Wildwood Regional Park, Twin Ponds in Dos Vientos and the 7-acre Hill Canyon Wetlands.

Climate

The region experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in the Köppen climate classification) or dry-summer subtropical zone climate, with hot, sunny, dry summers and serene winters with temperate rainfall. Vegetation is typical of Mediterranean environments, with chaparral and grasses on the hillsides and numerous western valley oaks. Its height above sea level ranges from roughly 500 to 900 feet (excluding the mountains and hills). The Place has slightly cooler temperatures than the surrounding areas, as it receives cooler air from the ocean through various hill and mountain passes. On March 10 and 11, 2006, snow fell on the top of Boney Mountain, the first snow to fall in the area in approximately 20 years. Snow then fell upon Boney Peak on December 17 and 18, 2008.

In line subsequent to the ablaze of coastal California, temperatures at solar noon tend to fluctuate in the midst of 70 and 80 °F (21–26 °C) during summer, and rarely drop below 60–65 °F (15–18 °C) during winter.

History

Pre-colonial period

Chumash people were the first to inhabit the area, settling there greater than 10,000 years ago. It was home to two major villages: Sap’wi (“House of the Deer”) and Satwiwa (“The Bluffs”). Sap’wi is now by the Chumash Interpretive Center which is house to combination 2,000 year-old pictographs. Satwiwa is the house of the Native American Indian Culture Center which sits at the foothills of Mount Boney in Newbury Park, a sacred mountain to the Chumash.

A smaller village, Yitimasɨh, was located where Wildwood Elementary School sits today. The area surrounding Wildwood Regional Park has been inhabited by the Chumash for thousands of years. Some of the artifacts discovered in Wildwood include stone tools, shell beads and arrowheads. Another little Chumash settlement, known as Šihaw (Ven-632i), was located where Lang Ranch sits today. A cave containing several swordfish and cupules pictographs is located here. Two other villages were located by today’s Ventu Park Road in Newbury Park. These were populated 2,000 years ago and had a population of 100–200 in each village. Other villages included Lalimanuc (Lalimanux) and Kayɨwɨš (Kayiwish) by Conejo Grade.

The Chumash plus had several summer encampments, including one located where Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza currently stands, known as Ipuc (Ven-654). Another summer encampment was located at the current location of Los Robles Hospital.

Each village was ruled by a chief or several chieftains, who often traveled with villages to discuss matters of common interest. A council of elders directed village vigor and organized events. Most villages had a cemetery, gaming field, a sweat house, and a place for ceremonies. Locally discovered tribal artifacts are at display at Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and the Chumash Indian Museum.

The region’s recorded chronicles dates to 1542, when Spanish pioneer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed at Point Mugu and claimed the land for Spain. The Battle of Triunfo, which took place by Triunfo Creek, was waged over land between native Chumash and the Spanish newcomers.

19th century

From 1804 to 1848, Thousand Oaks was ration of Alta California, which originally was a Spanish polity in North America. It was the Spaniards who first named it Conejo Valley, or Valley of Rabbits. The Spaniards and indigenous Chumash clashed numerous mature in disputes on summit of land. Conejo Valley was unmovable the broadcast El Rancho Conejo in 1803. This year, Jose Polanco and Ignacio Rodriguez were settled El Rancho Conejo by Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga of Alta California. The land contained 48,671.56 acres. El Conejo was just one of two estate grants in what became Ventura County, the extra being Rancho Simi.

As a upshot of the Mexican War of Independence in 1822, Alta California became a Mexican territory. In 1822, Captain José de la Guerra y Noriega filed Conejo Valley as portion of the Mexican estate grant. It remained a share of Mexico until the short-lived California Republic was received in 1846. It became a share of the U.S. after California gained statehood in 1850. The valley was now known as Rancho El Conejo. The ranch grow old began subsequently the de la Guerra family sold thousands of acres through the 1860s and at the forefront 1870s.

Two men owned most of Conejo Valley in the 1870s: John Edwards, who came from Wales in 1849, and Howard Mills, who came from Minnesota in 1870. While Edwards owned most of present-day Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park, Mills owned most of Westlake Village and Hidden Valley. Edwards’ home was located upon an acre of estate where The Oaks Mall currently is located, while Mills built his home where Westlake Lake sits today. The third person to purchase former Rancho El Conejo house was Egbert Starr Newbury. He bought 2,259 acres of house here in 1874, land which stretched from Old Town Thousand Oaks and into today’s Newbury Park. He later acknowledged the valley’s first reveal office in 1875: Newbury Park Post Office. When the Conejo Valley School District was acknowledged in March 1877, there were 126 residents booming in Conejo Valley.

In the late 19th century, Newbury Park was upon the stagecoach route between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The Stagecoach Inn (Grand Union Hotel) was built in 1876, and is now a California Historical Landmark and museum.

Norwegian Colony

Thousand Oaks was house to a Norwegian community in the late 1890s and further on 1900s, known as Norwegian Colony. Norwegian settlers were among the first to decide in Conejo Valley. The Norwegian Colony was located at today’s intersection of Moorpark- and Olsen Roads, now house to California Lutheran University and surrounding areas. The Norwegian Colony constituted of on pinnacle of 650 acres and stretched from Mount Clef Ridge to Avenida de Los Arboles. The son of Norwegian immigrants donated his ranch to California Lutheran College in the 1950s. California Lutheran University is now house to the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation and the Scandinavian Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Many place names are named after Norwegian immigrants such as the Olsen and Pedersen families. The first Norwegians came from the village of Stranda by Storfjorden. Ole Anderson bought 199 acres here, while Lars Pederson owned 111 acres. Other Norwegian pioneers afterward included Ole Nilsen, George Hansen and Nils Olsen. A major contribution was the construction of the handmade Norwegian Grade in 1911, a mile-long road leading from Thousand Oaks to Santa Rosa Valley.

With no doctors or hospitals nearby, the Norwegian Colony was short-lived. The Olsen family aimless seven of their ten children, while Ole Anderson, Lars Pederson, and George Hansen whatever died in 1901 due to a diphtheria epidemic.

20th century

Newbury Park was a more established community than Thousand Oaks at the point of view of the 20th century. A few lots existed forward in the 1900s, wedged in the middle of Borchard land upon the south and Friedrich land on the north. The Janss family, developers of Southern California subdivisions, purchased 10,000 acres (40 km²) in the to come 20th century. They eventually created plans for a “total community”, and the read out remains prominently featured in the city. Despite upfront aspirations, no large subdivisions were developed until the 1920s. The development was slow and hampered even more under the Great Depression of the 1930s. Besides agriculture, the movie industry became an important industry in the 1920s and 1930s.

Between 1950 and 1970, Conejo Valley experienced a population boom, and increased its population from 3,000 to 30,000 residents. From 3,500 residents in 1957, Thousand Oaks had over 103,000 inhabitants by 1989. While ranching and agriculture were the dominant industries until the 1950s, a number of additional businesses appeared throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Particularly many high-tech firms moved to Thousand Oaks in the ’60s and ’70s. Packard Bell and Technology Instrument Company were two high-technology businesses that moved into the Newbury Park industrial park in the 1960s. Other companies that followed included Westinghouse Astroelectronics Laboratory, Semtech Corporation, Purolator Inc., and Westland Plastics.

Jungleland USA put Thousand Oaks on the map in the 1920s and helped attract Hollywood producers to the city. Hundreds of movies have been filmed in Thousand Oaks. Some of the first films to be made here were The Birth of a Nation (1915) at Jungleland USA and Roaring Ranch (1930) at the Stagecoach Inn. Thousand Oaks Boulevard was featured in the “Walls of Jericho” scenes in the film It Happened One Night (1934). A western village was erected at California Lutheran University for the filming of Welcome to Hard Times (1967), while Elvis Presley and John Wayne starred in several westerns made in Wildwood Regional Park. A to hand road, Flaming Star Avenue, is named after the film Flaming Star (1960) starring Elvis Presley, which was filmed here. Other movies filmed in the valley included Lassie Come Home (1943), To the Shores of Iwo Jima (1945) and The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–85). Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis visited Thousand Oaks for the filming of Hollywood or Bust (1956), which included a scene filmed upon Live Oak Street.

Movie actor Joel McCrea, who had been advised by Will Rogers to purchase land in the area, raised his family upon a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) ranch he had acquired in the to the fore 1930s. Numerous celebrities innovative joined McCrea and relocated to the Conejo Valley, including Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Roy Rogers, Strother Martin, Virginia Mayo, Michael O’Shea, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Ronald Colman, George Brent, Eve Arden, Alan Ladd, Richard Widmark, Charles Martin Smith, and Bing- and Kurt Russell.

While the city was house to 1,700 businesses in 1970, Thousand Oaks had 11,000 businesses in town by 1988.

The world’s largest independent biotechnology company, Amgen, was conventional in Newbury Park in 1980.

Jungleland USA

Louis Goebel of New York bought five lots off Ventura Boulevard (today’s Thousand Oaks Boulevard) in 1925. He worked for the Universal film studio, and arranged to Make his own film industry zoo after the break of Universal Zoo in the mid-1920s. He traditional Goebel’s Lion Farm in 1926, situated where Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is located today. Goebel began taking into consideration five lions and seven malamute dogs, but he soon acquired other animals such as giraffes, camels, hippos, monkeys, tigers, gorillas, seals and supplementary exotic animals.

It became house to several animals used for Leo the Lion MGM logo. There were held public animal shows, which drew thousands of spectators from throughout California. The animals from the park have been used in many movies and TV series, including many of the Tarzan films; The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which used the site as a location, and Doctor Doolittle (1967). Goebel himself camped by the filming site of Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) by Lake Sherwood to watch his lions during filming.

It became one of Southern California’s most popular tourists attractions in the 1940s and 1950s, when the 170-acre park offered shows, lion training, elephant rides, train rides, safari tram buses and more. The park distorted name to Jungleland USA in 1956 after Disneyland was established. The park forward-thinking went bankrupt in May 1969, due to competition from parks such as Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios. The park’s 1,800 animals were sold at a public auction in October 1969.

Incorporation

The City of Thousand Oaks was incorporated on October 7, 1964. On September 29, 1964, voters ascribed the combination and prearranged the name. The combination became approved once the certificates of election were filed subsequent to the California Secretary of State, and the tape of affidavit was filed behind the Ventura County Clerk.

The results of the cityhood election was clear on September 24, 1964. 2,780 residents voted to set in the works a city, while 1,821 had voted no to incorporation. Certain areas however tried to set taking place its own municipality. An attempt at a cityhood election in Newbury Park unproductive in 1963, as Talley Corporation and Janss Rancho Conejo Industrial Park refused to join the efforts. Reba Hays Jeffries, a local foe of cityhood, told interviewers why she thought the cityhood election failed: Cityhood backers had to total signatures from owners who represented 29% of the estate that was to be incorporated. As the efforts collected 29% of registered voters, the put-on never came upon the ballot. Most Newbury Park home were annexed through the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Casa Conejo and Ventu Park are the by yourself parts of Newbury Park left, which are not parts of Thousand Oaks. Lynn Ranch also fixed to remain outside city limits.

Two-thirds of Westlake Village were annexed by Thousand Oaks in two portions – in 1968 and 1972. The Westlake neighborhood of North Ranch remained an unincorporated area until January 1973, when Thousand Oaks official the annexation of North Ranch. North Ranch borders Oak Park, an unincorporated area where voters have agreed not to be annexed into Thousand Oaks.

Modern history

Thousand Oaks is encouraging mixed-use retail and housing move ahead along the downtown ration of Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The city is built-out within the confines of the Conejo Valley and has adopted a intellectual growth strategy as there is no room for the sprawling suburban layer the city is known for.

Increased progress in Moorpark and Simi Valley in the late 1990s and to the lead 2000s caused the Moorpark Freeway (Highway 23) to become heavily congested during both morning and afternoon hurry hours. A major widening project began in 2008.

On March 30, 2016, California Lutheran University and the NFL Rams team reached an agreement that allowed the team to have regular season training operations at CLU’s campus in Thousand Oaks for the next two years. The Rams paid for two practice fields, paved parking, and modular buildings build up on the northwestern corner of the campus.

On November 7, 2018, a lone gunman killed 12 people in a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill. Just days later, as a vigil was held for those impacted by the shooting, the massive Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire threatened the community, burning homes across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. The fires would continue through something like the entire month of November charring re 100,000 acres and absorbing multiple homes in the region as it burned through Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, and Thousand Oaks, all the showing off to the Malibu coastline.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2019, in what was called a reply to the shooting, members of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated external Thousand Oaks High School. Parents, students, faith communities, and community members held a counter-demonstration across the street.