Valencia, Santa Clarita, California

Welcome sign

A typical stretch of Newhall Ranch Road. The bridge carries a paseo over the roadway.

Valencia is an affluent planned community located in the City of Santa Clarita, California and Los Angeles County, California, U.S. in the northwestern corner of the Santa Clarita Valley, adjacent to Interstate 5. In 1987, it was one of the four unincorporated communities (along with Saugus, Newhall, and Canyon Country) that merged to create the city of Santa Clarita, California. As of 2008, the population of Valencia is 148,456 and the estimated median household income is $109,029. Santa Clarita is ranked as one of the top 100 places to live by Money. Valencia is home to the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park and the adjacent Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park.

Valencia was first planned in the 1960s by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. Development began in the 1960s and continues to the present day. Valencia is notable for its landscaped boulevards connecting a mix of apartment buildings, single-family detached homes, shopping centers, office parks and industrial warehouses. Major schools in Valencia include California Institute of the Arts, College of the Canyons, The Master's College, West Ranch High School, and Valencia High School.

Valencia's residential areas are separated into villages, each with its own lifestyle (see List of Valencia, California residential villages). Almost all of Valencia's villages are close to schools, shopping, etc. In many of the villages, homeowner associations oversee the quality and upkeep of housing developments ranging in size from a few dozen homes to over a thousand. Many villages also have a Neighborhood Watch program in force.

Valencia also has an extensive system of paved pathways with grade separations over and under the boulevards. The pathways are called paseos. These paseos connect the entire community together, making it possible to travel around nearly all of Valencia on foot or by bicycle without having to cross boulevards at grade. The paseo network is connected to the Santa Clara River Trail which runs east along the Santa Clara River to Canyon Country. Landowners in the Valencia area pay special taxes to maintain landscaping and the paseo system.

Recently, Valencia has emphasized its history as a planned community with the catchphrase, "Built as promised." It has even gone as far as to unofficially brand itself as "Awesometown," using the tagline "Just Another Day in...Awesometown" on the website.

Notables

• Jon Garland - Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Valencia.
• Kathy Coleman - Actress, Land of the Lost.
• Marielle Jaffe - Model/Actress. Born in Valencia.
• David Leisure - Actor lives in Valencia.
• Kyle Reynish - Major League Soccer goalkeeper. Born in Valencia.
• Jessica D. Stone - Actress. Born in Valencia.
• Ashley Tisdale - Actress; graduated from Valencia High School.
• Taylor Lautner - Actor, stars as Jacob Black in Twilight.
• Mitchel Musso - Actor lives in Valencia.
• Luis Armand Garcia - Actor lives in Valencia, starred as Max Lopez in George Lopez
• Tamara Witmer - Model Born in Valencia.
• Naya Rivera - Actress, stars as Santana Lopez in Glee.
• Tyler Posey - Actor, MTV's Teen Wolf; lives in Valencia.
• Michael Trevino - Actor; Tyler Lockwood in The Vampire Diaries.
• Shane Vereen - UC Berkeley Running back 2007–2010; was selected in the 2011 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
• J. G. Quintel - TV writer. Born in Valencia.
• Tracey Gold - Actress, starred on the TV show Growing Pains.
• Jon He - keyboardist and member of band Flawed Element.

In popular culture

• In the fourth season of the Fox TV series, 24, Valencia was the new home of Jack Bauer's daughter Kim and fiancé Chase.
• In the sixth season of the Fox TV series, 24, Valencia was ground zero for a nuclear blast and was destroyed.
• The theme park "Wally World" in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation is actually filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia.
• The set of the CBS hit series NCIS is located in Valencia
• The Showtime TV series Weeds was filmed in Valencia and the neighboring community of Stevenson Ranch
• Valencia was a filming location for the Power Rangers series for eight seasons, from 1993 to 2001.
• The set for the Gas station explosion in the movie Christine was constructed and filmed on a vacant lot in Valencia.
• Valencia was featured in a scene in the movie Ocean's Thirteen where Brad Pitt was supposed to be executing a vault heist.
• The Gas Station scene from "Little Miss Sunshine" was filmed at Freeway Chevron on Lyons Ave.
• The NBC TV series The Office has filmed scenes in Valencia, most notably the golf course scenes from "Job Fair."
• The Nickelodeon TV series Zoey 101 Season 3 and 4 was filmed in Valencia.
• Victoria Justice Shot the music video "Best Friend's Brother" in Valencia.

External links

• Valencia at a Glance - Newhall Land's profile of the community
• Awesometown