Simi Valley, California | |||
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General law city | |||
Aerial view of Simi Valley in 2014
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Location in Ventura County and the state of California |
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Location in the United States | |||
Coordinates: 34°16′16″N 118°44′22″W / 34.27111°N 118.73944°WCoordinates: 34°16′16″N 118°44′22″W / 34.27111°N 118.73944°W | |||
Country | United States | ||
State | California | ||
County | Ventura | ||
Incorporated | October 10, 1969 | ||
Government | |||
• Type | Council-Manager | ||
• Body |
City council: Mayor Bob Huber Glen T. Becerra Steven T. Sojka Mike Judge Keith Mashburn |
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• City manager | Eric Levitt | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 42.247 sq mi (109.418 km2) | ||
• Land | 41.480 sq mi (107.433 km2) | ||
• Water | 0.767 sq mi (1.986 km2) 1.81% | ||
Elevation | 768 ft (234 m) | ||
Population (April 1, 2010) | |||
• Total | 124,237 | ||
• Estimate (2014) | 126,871 | ||
• Rank |
3rd in Ventura County 46th in California |
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• Density | 2,900/sq mi (1,100/km2) | ||
Time zone | Pacific (UTC−8) | ||
• Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) | ||
ZIP codes | 93062–93065, 93093–93094, 93099 | ||
Area code | 805 | ||
FIPS code | 06-72016 | ||
GNIS feature IDs | 1661450, 2411904 | ||
Website | www |
The city of Simi Valley (from the Chumash word, Shimiyi), in the eponymous valley, is in the southeast corner of Ventura County, California, United States. 30 miles (48 km) from Downtown Los Angeles, Simi Valley is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city sits next to Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Los Angeles. The city's 2014 population has been estimated at 126,871, up from 111,351 in 2000. The city of Simi Valley is surrounded by the Santa Susana Mountain range and the Simi Hills, west of the San Fernando Valley, and northeast of the Conejo Valley. It is largely a commuter bedroom community, feeding the cities in the Los Angeles area and the San Fernando Valley to the east, and cities in Ventura County to the west.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where the former president was buried in 2004, is in Simi Valley. Simi Valley has been ranked twice as the 18th most conservative city in the United States; once by The Bay Area Center For Voting Research and also by GovPro.com. The Reagan Library has hosted Republican primary debates, last in 2012, and the first primary debates in 2016. A study done by the University of Vermont ranked Simi Valley as the fifth-happiest city in the United States. According to crime statistics by the FBI in 2013, Simi Valley is the seventh-safest city in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more. The U.S. Census Bureau of 2012 reported a median household income of $87,894, which is higher than the California median of $70,231 and the national average of $62,527.
Simi Valley was once inhabited by the Chumash people, who also settled much of the region from the Salinas Valley to the Santa Monica Mountains, with their presence dating back 10,000-12,000 years. Around 5,000 years ago these tribes began processing acorns, and harvesting local marshland plants. Roughly 2,000 years later, as hunting and fishing techniques improved, the population increased significantly. Shortly after this sharp increase a precious stone money system arose, increasing the viability of the region by offsetting fluctuations in available resources relating to climate changes. The native people who inhabited Simi Valley spoke an interior dialect of the Chumash language, called Ventureño.