Santa Clarita has become a popular North LA County city to move to. As a resident of the SCV for the last 40+ years, here are my top 5 reasons to live in Santa Clarita.
Good Management
In no way does this mean it’s perfect, but truly, the city of Santa Clarita has very good management. When you visit Santa Clarita, you will see that it’s planned out well. Everything is in a place that make sense. Streets are largely taken care of, and clean. There’s a lot of parks, trails and preserved open space for recreation. The development of industrial areas, housing communities, shopping centers… all in a spot that makes sense. The planning, in this guy’s opinion… seems to be spot on.
Quite a few Santa Clarita residents are not pleased with how much the city has grown. You will see many of them in comments on various forums, mentioning how they can’t wait to leave for reasons like traffic and cost of living. Santa Clarita is now the 3rd largest city in LA County next to Los Angeles and Long Beach. Growth was always going to happen here being that we are a suburb of LA. LA is the second largest city in America!
Drive through Santa Clarita, you will see, it just flows nicely, and it’s different here – in a good way. Do keep in mind that a lot of our growth has been just outside city limits, and approved by LA County Planning.
Great School Districts
Santa Clarita has a lot of great schools by well run school districts. I note this as a top reason to live in Santa Clarita because good schools help home values. If you own property, you want good schools nearby.
Some of the districts to note are:
Newhall School District
Saugus Union School District
Castaic Union School District
William S Hart School District
There are others, too! Do your research here.
Affordability
While many will complain about housing prices in Santa Clarita these days, and rightly so, it’s more affordable than LA. We’re only about 15-60 minutes from various parts of Los Angeles. Many who live and work in LA, come explore Santa Clarita housing options due to better affordability. You get some much more house for the money, on average.
The house isn’t everything to everyone though, sometimes the commute to/from Santa Clarita isn’t worth it to everyone. Also, living in LA means a bigger variety of entertainment, food, and housing options.
Lower Crime
Per a city ranking report at SmartAsset, Santa Clarita ranks as the 8th lowest property crime rate in the nation, and the 11th lowest violent crime rate in the nation. Did I mention we’re the 3rd largest city in LA County! Overall the report ranked Santa Clarita as the 4th safest city in America. I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say, this fact helps home values here as well.
Do I even need to do a top 5th reason after this one?
Ok, I will.
Close To LA, But Far Enough
This is what I personally like the best. You get the best of both worlds living in Santa Clarita. You’re close enough to LA, but far enough to not have to pay for the LA price tag.
We have have a wide variety of housing for many budgets in the SCV. You’ll find affordable condos, and $5mm+ custom homes. What are you looking to spend for housing? Odds are you can stretch your money further in Santa Clarita, and meet your housing goals.
Local dining and entertainment options have become more attractive over the last decade as well. It’s really blossoming into a diverse city. However, if you need something extra special, like tickets to the Pantages, then Hollywood and the rest of LA is just a short drive.
