Santa Clarita (;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th-largest in California, and the 99th-largest city in the United States. It is located about northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies of land in the

Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County, its main population center is th ...

, along the Santa Clara River. It is a notable example of a U.S.

edge city ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or rura ...

satellite city Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have m ...

, or

boomburb ''Boomburb'' is a neologism principally promoted by American Robert E. Lang of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech for a large, rapidly growing city in the United States that remains essentially suburban in character, even as it reaches popu ...

. Human settlement of the Santa Clarita Valley dates back to the arrival of the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...

, who were displaced by the

Tataviam The Tataviam (Kitanemuk: ''people on the south slope'') are a Native American group in Southern California. The ancestral land of the Tataviam people includes northwest present-day Los Angeles County and southern Ventura County, primarily in th ...

circa 450 AD. After Spanish colonists arrived in Alta California, the

Rancho San Francisco Rancho San Francisco was a land grant in present-day northwestern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It was a grant of by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio del Valle, a Mexican army officer, in recognition for his ser ...

was established, covering much of the Santa Clarita Valley.

Henry Mayo Newhall Henry Mayo Newhall (May 13, 1825 – March 13, 1882) was an American businessman whose extensive land holdings became the Southern California communities of Newhall, Saugus and Valencia, and the city of Santa Clarita. Life Born in Saugus, ...

purchased the Rancho San Francisco in 1875 and established the towns of Saugus and Newhall. The

Newhall Land and Farming Company

Canyon Country Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River (California), Santa Clara River betwee ...

, Newhall, Saugus, and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. The four communities retain separate identities, and residents commonly refer to one of them when asked where they are from. Santa Clarita is bounded on the west by the

Golden State Freeway Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in ...

(I-5). The

Antelope Valley Freeway The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

(CA-14) runs northeast–southwest forming part of the city's irregular east boundary. The two freeways meet at

Newhall Pass Newhall Pass is a low mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California. Historically called Fremont Pass and San Fernando Pass, with Beale's Cut, it separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains. Although the pass was visite ...

, near the city's southernmost point. Santa Clarita is home to three institutions of higher education:

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

, an internationally renowned art university;

The Master's University The Master's University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Santa Clarita, California. History The college was founded in 1927. It was originally named Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary. In 1961, it moved to Newhal ...

, a Christian liberal arts university; and

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loca ...

, a community college. Companies headquartered in or near the city include

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue. It w ...

, Sunkist,

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched ov ...

, and the Newhall Land and Farming Company. Santa Clarita has a low crime rate and high-ranking public schools, and has grown rapidly since incorporation. The unincorporated communities of

Castaic Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bureau ...

and Stevenson Ranch, located to the north and west of the Santa Clarita city limits, respectively, are closely associated with the city.

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newh ...

, though commonly thought to be in the Valencia part of Santa Clarita, is also west of Interstate 5 and outside of the Santa Clarita city limits.

Name

The Santa Clara River was named by Spanish explorers for Saint Clare of Assisi. The valley and the settlement later became known as "little Santa Clara" ("Santa Clarita" in the Spanish diminutive) to distinguish it from the Northern Californian city of Santa Clara and its accompanying

Mission Santa Clara Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. The

similarly differentiates itself from the

Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...

in Northern California. The region was not widely referred to as Santa Clarita until the 1950s; before this, it was unofficially referred to as the "Newhall–Saugus area" and the "Bonelli tract," after a family which owned land in the valley.

History

Pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial eras

The Santa Clarita Valley has been settled for millennia before European arrival. The oldest archaeological site in the area dates back to roughly 3000 BC. About AD 450, the

arrived, displacing the

who previously inhabited the area. The Tataviam lived in approximately 20 villages in the valley and surrounding areas including Piru, Agua Dulce, Elizabeth Lake, and

Tochonanga Tochonanga was a Tataviam village now located at the area of what is now Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, along the Santa Clara River. People baptized from the village were largely moved to Mission San Fernando Rey de España and referred to ...

. In the 18th century, Spanish colonists arrived in southern California including Santa Clarita, founding mission settlements. The Mission San Fernando was founded in 1797 in present-day Mission Hills, just south of downtown Newhall. In 1822, Alta California, which included most of the present-day southwestern United States including all of California, became a territory of the newly independent country of Mexico. The

land grant was issued by

Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independe ...

, governor of Alta California, to Mexican army officer Antonio del Valle. It was an agricultural area serving the nearby Mission San Fernando.

1822-1899: Gold discovery, Mentryville, and Henry Mayo Newhall

In 1842, Francisco Lopez discovered gold in

Placerita Canyon Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park located on the north slope of the western San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, near the city of Santa Clarita. The park hosts a variety of historic a ...

- the first documented discovery of gold in California. The discovery is commemorated in an 1842 mining claim issued by Governor Alvarado. The Oak of the Golden Dream, which marks the site of the discovery, remains an attraction for tourists. Several places throughout Santa Clarita carry the "Golden Oak" name, including Golden Oak Road in Saugus; Golden Oak Lane, Golden Oak Ranch, and Golden Oak Adult School in Newhall; and Golden Oak Community School in Canyon Country. The United States acquired California in 1848, after winning the Mexican-American War. The community of Newhall is named after

Henry Newhall Henry Mayo Newhall (May 13, 1825 – March 13, 1882) was an American businessman whose extensive land holdings became the Southern California communities of Newhall, Saugus and Valencia, and the city of Santa Clarita. Life Born in Saugus, Ma ...

, an American businessman who made his fortune during the California Gold Rush. He founded the H.M. Newhall & Company, a successful auction house in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Newhall had also invested in rail companies that would connect San Francisco to other cities and became president of the

San Francisco and San Jose Railroad The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ) was a railroad which linked the communities of San Francisco and San Jose, California, running the length of the San Francisco Peninsula. The company incorporated in 1860 and was one of the first ra ...

. In 1870, he and his partners sold the company to Southern Pacific Railroad, and he served on Southern Pacific's board of directors. From 1858 to 1861, the Santa Clarita Valley was used as a transportation corridor for the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

stagecoach service as part of its first division, stretching from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Two Butterfield Overland Mail stations were located in the area: Lyons Station in Newhall, and

King's Station King's Station, also known as Moore's and Hollandsville, was a stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division between 1858-1861 in southern California. The adobe building also served other travelers on the Stockton - Los Angele ...

in San Francisquito Canyon. Beale's Cut was constructed in 1859 through what is now known as the

. After railroads, Newhall turned to real estate and ranching. He purchased a number of the former Spanish and Mexican land grants in the state, amassing a total of between Monterey and Los Angeles counties. The most significant portion was the Rancho San Francisco, which he purchased for $2/acre. It became known as Newhall Ranch after Newhall's death. Within this territory, Newhall granted a right-of-way to Southern Pacific through what is now Newhall Pass. He also sold the railroad part of the land, upon which the company built the town of Newhall, founded just north of the present-day intersection of Magic Mountain Parkway and Railroad Avenue. He moved the town south in 1879, and the original townsite was named Saugus, after Henry Newhall's hometown of

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron works in North America. History Native Americans ...

.Capace, Nancy (1999). ''Encyclopedia of California''. North American Book Dist LLC. Page 428. . After his death, Newhall's heirs incorporated the

Newhall Land and Farming Company

Charles Crocker, president of the

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

, hammered a ceremonial spike into a railroad tie at

Lang Southern Pacific Station Lang Southern Pacific Station is a former Southern Pacific railway station located in Soledad Canyon near the eastern end of Santa Clarita, California. On September 5, 1876 the first railway to Los Angeles was completed at this site. The Lang S ...

in what is now far eastern Canyon Country, marking the completion of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, connecting Los Angeles to

and the rest of the nation for the first time. In the 1850s and 1860s, businessmen and political leaders such as Andrés Pico, Sanford Lyon, Henry Clay Wiley, Darius Towsley, and Christopher Leaming came to the Santa Clarita Valley for its oil reserves. On September 26, 1876, the town of

Mentryville Mentryville was an oil drilling town in the Santa Susana Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, USA. It was started by Charles Alexander Mentry in the 1870s around the newly discovered oil reserves in that area. The first oil strike was ...

was founded by French immigrant Charles Alexander Mentry near present-day Stevenson Ranch. Mentryville's Pico Number 4 oil well was the first commercially successful oil well in the western United States. Oil from Mentryville was refined at

Pioneer Oil Refinery The Pioneer Oil Refinery was the first successful oil refinery in California, built in 1876 off Pine Street in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The Pioneer Oil Refinery was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.172) on March 6, 1935. ...

in Newhall, the first viable oil refinery in the state. (Pioneer Oil Refinery is currently the only site on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

within the city limits of Santa Clarita.) By the early 1900s, most of Pico Canyon's richest oil reserves had been depleted, although Pico Number 4 continued to operate until 1990. Many of the aforementioned oil pioneers have lent their names to streets in the valley, such as Pico Canyon Road, Lyons Avenue, Wiley Canyon Road, and Towsley Canyon Road. Drilling continues to occur in Santa Clarita at the

Honor Rancho Oil Field The Honor Rancho Oil Field (also Honor Rancho Natural Gas Storage Field, Honor Rancho Underground Storage Facility) is an approximately 600-acre oil field and natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles County, California, on the northern border ...

and in the area between Placerita Canyon Road and Golden Valley High School. The Saugus Cafe was established in 1886 near the present-day intersection of Railroad Avenue and Magic Mountain Parkway. It is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Los Angeles County.

1900-1987

Los Angeles studios began filming in Santa Clarita shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Actors in these early films included

William S. Hart William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and inte ...

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

, and a young John Wayne. Many

movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The fir ...

es (see section below) were developed in the Santa Clarita Valley. Hart and Carey made their homes in the valley; today both their former estates are operated as county parks. One major contributor to the valley's early development was the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation. From 1934 to 1987, the corporation manufactured, stored, and tested explosives, including bombs and

bottle rockets A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stop ...

, on a 996-acre site south of Soledad Canyon Road, east of Railroad Avenue, northeast of the Circle J Ranch community, southwest of Centre Pointe Parkway, and west of Golden Valley Road. The first housing tract in the area consisted of company homes along Walnut Street in Newhall. In modern times, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has made efforts to clean the area of

perchlorate A perchlorate is a chemical compound containing the perchlorate ion, . The majority of perchlorates are commercially produced salts. They are mainly used as oxidizers for pyrotechnic devices and to control static electricity in food packaging. Per ...

and other toxic chemicals left behind by decades of munitions testing. Today, the area persists as a gap in the urban development of Santa Clarita. The Santa Clarita Valley was the scene of the second deadliest disaster in California's history, known as the "worst civil engineering failure of the 20th century." Shortly before midnight on March 12, 1928, the

St. Francis Dam The St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity dam located in San Francisquito Canyon in Los Angeles County, California, United States, built from 1924 to 1926 to serve Los Angeles's growing water needs. It catastrophically failed in 1928 due to a d ...

collapsed. Water from the St. Francis Reservoir coursed through

San Francisquito Canyon San Francisquito Canyon is a canyon created through erosion of the Sierra Pelona Mountains by the San Francisquito Creek (Santa Clara River tributary), San Francisquito Creek, in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, Southern Califor ...

and the Santa Clara River in a wave up to high and wide, destroying buildings in its path. By the time the floodwaters reached the Pacific Ocean near Ventura five hours later, 411 people had died. Some buildings in Newhall became makeshift morgues. After the disaster, engineer

William Mulholland William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was an Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city in Ca ...

resigned from his position as superintendent of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply (now the Department of Water and Power). On December 27, 1936,

United Airlines Trip 34 United Air Lines Flight 34 was a scheduled flight departing from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California ...

crashed into a hilltop in Rice Canyon, near Newhall, killing all twelve people on board. In 1945, the Santa Clarita Union High School District was created. The following year it was renamed

William S. Hart Union High School District The William S. Hart Union High School District (commonly referred to simply as the Hart District) is a school district in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It serves all of the valley's high school students (grades 9� ...

after William S. Hart. The district's first high school was

William S. Hart High School William S. Hart High School is a four-year public high school in the neighborhood of Newhall in the city of Santa Clarita, California, United States. Founded in 1945, it is the oldest high school in the Santa Clarita Valley. Named for local cowbo ...

in Newhall. The first official use of the name "Santa Clarita" in a housing development appeared in the Rancho Santa Clarita housing tract in Saugus, built in 1947. On September 17, 1966, William V. Fowler, Grand Cyclops (leader) of the California Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, organized a reactivation rally in Soledad Canyon, on Capra Road around east of the present-day Soledad Canyon Road exit on State Route 14. Fowler sought to reactivate the KKK in California, where it was banned by law since 1946. Estimates of the rally's size range from 30 to 100 people, far fewer than the 5,000 to 10,000 Fowler expected. The rally took place on

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

property and included a fake

cross burning In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to ...

. Just one person was arrested at the rally — for assaulting a police officer he mistook for a Klansman. On April 5, 1970, four CHP officers were shot dead by two heavily armed career criminals at a Standard Gas Station in present-day Valencia. The shootout was the deadliest attack on law enforcement in California history. As Valencia had barely been developed, it came to be known as the

Newhall incident The Newhall incident, also called the Newhall massacre, was a shootout on April 5–6, 1970, in Valencia, California, between two heavily armed criminals and four officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). In less than five minutes, the fo ...

. One of the perpetrators was sentenced to life in prison; the other committed suicide. In the aftermath of the incident, policing was transformed nationwide — police training and weaponry were improved and bullet proof vests became widespread. In the early morning of July 23, 1982, a helicopter crash occurred at the

Indian Dunes Indian Dunes was a film ranch owned by Newhall Land & Farming Company. Located near the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, California, United States, it was a favorite of filmmakers for its versatility and location within the ...

amusement park in Valencia during the making of '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'', killing three people.

1987-present: City of Santa Clarita

After multiple failed attempts to form a city and at least two failed attempts to form a separate county, residents of the Santa Clarita Valley finally incorporated the City of Santa Clarita on December 15, 1987. The proposal passed by a margin of two to one in that year's general election. Other proposed names for the city were "City of the Canyons" and "La Mancha" ("blemish" in Spanish); "Santa Clarita" narrowly defeated "City of the Canyons." The city's first mayor was future Congressman Buck McKeon. In 1990, the federal government awarded

Cemex CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries ...

a contract to mine millions of tons of sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon, just east of the city. The proposed mine caused controversy due to its potential for air pollution, traffic congestion, and environmental damage to the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mounta ...

and Santa Clara River. The city of Santa Clarita fought for decades to prevent mining in the canyon. In 2019, the Interior Board of Land Appeals (part of the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

) upheld a 2015 decision by the Bureau of Land Management, permanently preventing Cemex from mining in Soledad Canyon. Cemex had never mined any sand or gravel in the canyon. Santa Clarita was devastated by the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 1 ...

. The Newhall Pass interchange of I-5 and CA-14 collapsed, and

Sierra Highway Sierra Highway or El Camino Sierra is a road in Southern California, United States. El Camino Sierra refers to the full length of a trail formed in the 19th century, rebuilt as highways in the early 20th century, that ran from Los Angeles to Lake ...

became the only route in and out of the valley; Sierra Highway was soon closed as well. Several surface streets throughout the city were closed due to structural damage. The Four Corners oil spill led to contamination of the Santa Clara River. Electricity was temporarily shut off for the entire valley, and schools were closed. Shelters opened in Newhall, Saugus, and Canyon Country. The

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

was sent to the area, and City Hall was temporarily relocated. Water distribution points were set up as residents lost access to running water. The city suffered an estimated $76.8 million in damages. Santa Clarita was ranked in 2006 by ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

'' magazine as 18th of the 100 best places to live in the United States. On November 14, 2019, a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

occurred at Saugus High School. That morning, Nathaniel Berhow, a 16-year-old junior at the school, used a semi-automatic pistol to shoot five other students, killing two of them, before turning his gun on himself. The shooting lasted 16 seconds. Survivors were reunited with their parents at nearby

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, and injured students were sent to Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia and

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center Providence Holy Cross Medical Center is a hospital in the Mission Hills district of Los Angeles, California, US. The hospital has 377 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. History Holy Cross Medical Center was founded in 1961 by ...

in Mission Hills. The shooter succumbed to his self-inflicted injuries the following day in the hospital. A vigil honoring the victims was held at Central Park the next day. In the 21st century, the city's developed area has expanded significantly as

Lennar Lennar Corporation is a home construction company based in the census-designated place of Fontainebleau, Florida, with a Miami postal address. In 2021, the company was the second-largest home construction company in the United States based on the ...

Tri Pointe Homes Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. is a home construction company headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada. It also offers financing and insurance services to homebuyers. It operates in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Texas, the District ...

, and

KB Home KB Home is a homebuilding company based in the United States, founded in 1957 as Kaufman & Broad in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first company to be traded on the NYSE as a home builder and was a Fortune 500 company from 2000 through 2008. It ...

have constructed housing developments in the area. Recent developments within the city limits include Five Knolls, Aliento, Skyline Ranch, Vista Canyon, West Creek, West Hills, River Village, and

Toll Brothers Toll Brothers is a company which designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges financing for residential and commercial properties in the United States. In 2020, the company was the fifth largest home builder in the United States, based on home ...

at Plum Canyon; just outside the city, the large FivePoint Valencia subdivision is in construction. Some of these developments, such as River Village, Villa Metro, and Five Knolls, were constructed near the city center, while others were constructed near the city's edges and later annexed into the city.

Geography

Santa Clarita, according to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, covers an area of , of which is land and (0.10%) is water. Nearly half of the city's land area has been acquired via annexations; the city's area at the time of incorporation was just . The

is located at the southern end of the city, south of Newhall and north of the San Fernando Valley communities of Granada Hills and Sylmar. Location map Santa Clarita

Santa Clarita lies within the

, bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains to the east, the

Santa Susana Mountains The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa C ...

to the south and west, and the

Sierra Pelona Mountains The Sierra Pelona, also known as the Sierra Pelona Ridge or the Sierra Pelona Mountains, is a mountain ridge in the Transverse Ranges in Southern California. Located in northwest Los Angeles County, the ridge is bordered on the north by the San An ...

to the north, all part of the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

. The broad Santa Clara River passes through the city from east to west. Though usually dry, the river exhibits significant surface flow during seasonal episodes of heavy rainfall. The river's numerous tributaries incise the hilly terrain of the valley to form steep canyons after which many of the city's major streets are named. The largest of these canyons are Bouquet Canyon,

, Sand Canyon, and

Soledad Canyon Soledad Canyon is a long narrow canyon/valley located in Los Angeles County, California between the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita. It is a part of the Santa Clara River Valley, and extends from the top of Soledad Pass to the open plain of ...

City limits

Currently, the city is bounded by

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

to the west, extending east to include almost all developed areas of the Santa Clarita Valley east of the freeway. Part of the city's eastern boundary follows California State Route 14, although the city limits extend beyond Route 14 to include the communities of Aliento, Fair Oaks Ranch, Vista Canyon, and Sand Canyon; the Plaza at Golden Valley shopping center; and the Whitney Canyon, Elsmere Canyon, Golden Valley Ranch, Walker Ranch, and East Walker Ranch open spaces. Santa Clarita extends as far east as the eastern end of Shenandoah Lane, east of Shadow Pines Boulevard in Canyon Country. The city limits also include a small exclave west of Interstate 5 in Towsley Canyon Park. The

forms part of the city's northern and eastern boundaries, although parts of northern Saugus (north of Copper Hill Drive and Haskell Canyon Road) and Canyon Country (south of Placerita and Sand Canyon Roads) extend into the national forest.

Topography

The official elevation of the city is , the elevation of the historic Newhall Airport which was northwest of Via Princessa and Railroad Avenue from the 1930s through the 1950s. Elevation varies substantially throughout the city. The lowest point in Santa Clarita is near the junction of CA-126 and

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

(), at an elevation of . The highest point is in the San Gabriel Mountains south of Placerita and Sand Canyon Roads () at an elevation of . Most populated areas in the city are above sea level. The highest residential areas of Canyon Country, north of Skyline Ranch Road and east of Shadow Pines Boulevard, exceed .

Geology

Santa Clarita is near the San Fernando fault zone and has been affected by the

1971 San Fernando earthquake The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude of ...

and

(see above), both of which had epicenters in the San Fernando Valley.

Climate

Santa Clarita experiences hot, very dry summers and cool winters with moderate precipitation. Due to its close proximity to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

( High Desert) and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, and the city's wide range of elevations, varying micro-climates are common. There is a large degree of

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

, especially in the summer. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Santa Clarita experiences a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(''Csa''). During the summer, hot weather is predominant with occasional high humidity and cumulus buildups over the higher terrain surrounding the valley. Thunderstorms occasionally occur during influxes of monsoonal moisture in the summer as well as during Pacific storms in the winter. The warmest months are July and August, though summer-like temperatures can occur even in May and October. During this time, average high temperatures are in the 90s Fahrenheit (32–38 °C), but can rise to well over during heat waves. Temperatures have reached as recently as September 6, 2020. Winters are mild, with temperatures dropping below freezing occasionally on clear winter nights. Rain falls primarily from December through March; snow is rare but can fall in small quantities during the winter. Snowfall is more common in the mountains surrounding the city. Santa Clarita lies within USDA plant hardiness zone 9b, except for a small portion of southern Newhall which is in zone 10a. Santa Clarita's average temperatures are more extreme than in downtown Los Angeles but less extreme than in the

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County, California, and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and t ...

Wildfires

Sand Fire in Santa Clarita (28213236340)

Characterized by dry hills covered in brush and chaparral, Santa Clarita is susceptible to wildfires. Although wildfires are most common in summer and fall, they can occur throughout the year during drought conditions, such as in December 2017. Wildfire risk is highest when

Santa Ana winds The Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) "Scholars who have looked into the name's origins generally agree that it derives from Santa Ana Canyon, the portal where the Santa Ana River -- as well as a congested Riverside (CA-91) Freeway -- leav ...

blow through the area from the Mojave Desert. Notable wildfires in the Santa Clarita Valley include the Rye Fire, Buckweed Fire, Sand Fire, and

Tick Fire The Tick Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles County, California. The fire broke out on October 24, 2019, and burned several thousand acres. The fire forced the mass evacuation of 40,000 people from the Santa Clarita Valley. Impact Th ...

Ecology

Santa Clarita is located along the boundary between the WWF-designated

California coastal sage and chaparral The California coastal sage and chaparral ( es, Salvia y chaparral costero de California) is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). It ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

to the southwest, and

California montane chaparral and woodlands The California montane chaparral and woodlands is an ecoregion defined by the World Wildlife Fund, spanning of mountains in the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Coast Ranges of southern and central California. The ecoregion is part of ...

ecoregion to the northeast.

Cityscape

Although generally considered a large suburb of

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

, the city of Santa Clarita consists of four distinct communities:

, Newhall, Saugus, and

. Each community is characterized by a mixture of single-family homes, townhomes, apartment buildings, condominiums, and commercial and industrial areas. Valencia, a

master-planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, contains the city's largest shopping center (

Westfield Valencia Town Center Westfield Valencia Town Center, formerly Valencia Town Center, is a shopping mall in the neighborhood of Valencia in Santa Clarita, California. Westfield Group first acquired a quarter-interest in the property in 2002 and a further quarter-intere ...

) and most of the city's corporate headquarters, government buildings, hotels, and tallest buildings. The neighborhoods in Canyon Country and Saugus are characterized by a wide age range, from older developments dating from the 1960s or earlier to new developments built in the 21st century. Newhall, the oldest area of the city, has also experienced new commercial and industrial development. Throughout the city, single-family suburban

tract housing Tract housing is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found in suburb developments that were modeled on the " Levi ...

predominates, with apartment and condominium complexes along major thoroughfares. Many communities in Santa Clarita, especially in newer areas, have

homeowner associations A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...

, and some are gated. Placerita Canyon and Sand Canyon are

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

communities with large custom ranch homes. Communities just outside the city limits include Agua Dulce,

, Stevenson Ranch, unincorporated Valencia, and Val Verde. All residents of the Santa Clarita Valley, both inside and outside the city, may use either their neighborhood or "Santa Clarita" for their mailing addresses. The neighborhoods of Santa Clarita are vaguely defined, and in some cases, sources conflict on their boundaries. For example, some sources include Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Valencia, while other sources place it in Saugus. The area of Newhall's 91321 ZIP code north of Golden Valley Road is often considered part of Canyon Country.

Demographics

Historically, Santa Clarita's population has been predominantly non-Hispanic White. Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s, white Americans, primary those from affluent backgrounds, began migrating from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to suburban cities such as Santa Clarita, Calabasas, Malibu,

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...

, and

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

.http://www.csun.edu/~hfgeg005/eturner/images/Books/CFCP/CFCP_Ch4.pdf However, from 1980s onward, the city's population has become increasingly diverse. The non-Hispanic White percentage of the population has dropped from 80.6% in 1990 to 44.5% in 2020. The total White population (including those of Hispanic heritage) has proportionately decreased from 97.2% in 1970 to 50.8% in 2020. Nevertheless, non-Hispanic Whites remain the largest ethnic group in the city, and Santa Clarita's non-Hispanic white percentage is higher than the California statewide average of 34.7%, but lower than the national average of 57.8%. Santa Clarita's population growth rate has historically outpaced county, state, and national averages. In 2019, Santa Clarita was ranked 20th out of 515 U.S. cities in population and economic growth, and was second among California cities. During the 2010 census, Santa Clarita was the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County, however it has since surpassed

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

as the county's third-largest city. However, in 2021, the United States Census Bureau estimates showed a 2% decline in the city's population, in line with the rest of Los Angeles County. It is the largest city in Los Angeles County north of the Newhall Pass. The city's median household income of $100,932 is higher than both statewide and national averages. ZIP code 91321 (Newhall) is the only ZIP code in the city with a median household income below the statewide average. As in most United States cities, different ethnic groups in Santa Clarita are concentrated in different areas. Non-Hispanic whites are present in most areas of the city but are especially dominant in Saugus and Valencia. Canyon Country, Newhall, and Val Verde have large Hispanic populations — some areas around Railroad and Newhall Avenues in Newhall, as well as Jakes Way in Canyon Country, are almost entirely Hispanic. There are significant Asian-American populations in Stevenson Ranch, Valencia, and parts of Saugus and Canyon Country. However, most communities throughout the city are racially mixed. Socioeconomic status also varies throughout the city: the highest median household incomes are found in northern Valencia and Saugus and areas of Canyon Country east of State Route 14, while the lowest median incomes are found near Old Town Newhall and the western and central parts of Canyon Country. As of the 2019-20 school year, the percentage of students at high schools eligible for free or reduced-price lunch ranged from 13% at Valencia High School to 51.2% at Golden Valley High School. As a part of Los Angeles County, Santa Clarita is located within the

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

and the Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA

combined statistical area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

2020

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Santa Clarita had a population of 228,673. The city's racial makeup was 50.8%

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

(44.5% non-Hispanic white), 11.7% non-Hispanic Asian American, 4.0% non-Hispanic black or African American, 0.2% non-Hispanic Native American, 0.1% non-Hispanic

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.1% non-Hispanics of other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. 34.4% of the population were

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

of any race. Of the city's 78,586 housing units, 1,894 (2.4%) were vacant. During the five-year period from 2016 to 2020, the median household income in Santa Clarita was $100,932, and the median family income was $113,304. 9.2% of the city's population and 5.9% of the families were below the poverty line. As of June 2022, the median home price in Santa Clarita was $807,146 ($879,000 for single-family homes and $562,000 for condos). Approximately 129,905 residents (56.8% of the city population) lived north of the Santa Clara River, and 98,768 residents (43.2%) lived south of the river.

2019

The 2019 American Community Survey reported that the city's population was 212,979, and the population of the larger Santa Clarita urban area (including unincorporated Stevenson Ranch, Valencia, and Castaic) was 260,999. The ethnic composition of the city was 72.6% white (47.2% non-Hispanic white), 34.6%

(of any race), 10.4% Asian American, 4.9% black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 8.3% from other races, and 4.0% from two or more races. 20.8% of the city's population was born outside the United States. Among residents 25 years of age and older, 36.9% had a bachelor's degree or higher. 65.3% of the population 5 years and older spoke only English at home, while 23.4% spoke

, 3.4% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

, and 6.1% spoke Asian or Pacific Island languages.

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

reported that Santa Clarita had a population of 176,320. The population density was . The racial makeup of Santa Clarita was 125,005 (70.9%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

(56.1% Non-Hispanic White), 5,623 (3.2%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1,013 (0.6%) Native American, 15,025 (8.5%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

(3.4% Filipino, 1.7% Korean, 0.8% Indian, 0.8% Chinese, 0.6% Japanese, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.9% Other Asian), 272 (0.2%)

, 21,169 (12.0%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 8,213 (4.7%) from two or more races. There were 51,941 people of

origin, of any race (29.5% of the population). The census reported that 174,910 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 1,281 (0.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 129 (0.1%) were institutionalized. There were 59,507 households, out of which 24,677 (41.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 34,126 (57.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,888 (11.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3,322 (5.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 3,134 (5.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 484 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 11,634 households (19.6%) were made up of individuals, and 4,335 (7.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94. There were 44,336

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(74.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.37. In terms of age, the population included 46,180 people (26.2%) under the age of 18, 17,565 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 47,788 people (27.1%) aged 25 to 44, 47,936 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 16,851 people (9.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. There were 62,055 housing units at an average density of , of which 42,335 (71.1%) were owner-occupied, and 17,172 (28.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%. 124,532 people (70.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 50,378 people (28.6%) lived in rental housing units. According to the Census Bureau, Santa Clarita had a median household income of $82,607, with 9.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 151,088 people, 50,787 households, and 38,242 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 3,159.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,219.6/km²). There were 52,442 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.5%

(69.3% Non-Hispanic White), 20.5%

of any race, 8.5% from

, 5.2%

, 3.9% from two or more races, 2.1%

, 0.6% Native American, and 0.1%

. There were 50,787 households, out of which 44.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.38. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males. According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $79,004, and the median income for a family was $91,450. Males had a median income of $53,769 versus $36,835 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $26,841. 6.4% of the population and 4.7% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. 6.7% of those under the age of 18 and 5.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Religion

According to bestplaces.net, 53.4% of Santa Clarita's population is religious.

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

comprise 50.5% of the city's population. Of these, 37% are

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 2% are

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

, 1.8% are

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

, 1.6% are

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

, 1.2% are

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and 5.2% were other Christians. Among non-Christians, 1.1% of Santa Clarita residents are

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, 0.7% are Muslim, are 1.1% follow Eastern religions. Christianity is the dominant religion in Santa Clarita, and the city has many Christian churches of the Protestant, Catholic, and Mormon denominations — among them are North Oaks Church of Christ, Church of the Canyons, Santa Clarita Baptist Church, The Church of Hope, and Friendly Valley Community Church in Canyon Country; Elevate Church, Village Church, First Presbyterian Church of Newhall, Placerita Bible Church, and Faith Community Church in Newhall; Grace Baptist Church, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church, Bouquet Canyon Church, Calvary Chapel, and Santa Clarita United Methodist Church in Saugus; and Real Life Church, Higher Vision Church, Valencia Hills Community Church, and NorthPark Community Church in Valencia. Synagogues in Santa Clarita include Chabad of Santa Clarita Valley and Temple Beth Ami in Newhall, and Congregation Beth Shalom in Saugus. There are three

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s in the city: the Islamic Center of Santa Clarita Valley in north Saugus, Unity Center in Newhall, and Al Umma Center of Santa Clarita in Canyon Country.

Homelessness

In June 2020, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported 168 homeless people in Santa Clarita, down from 258 in 2019. The Bridge to Home organization provides assistance for homeless people in the valley. Its administrative offices are located on Newhall Avenue in Newhall, and its client housing shelter is on Drayton Street in Saugus. Santa Clarita's percentage of homeless people is low compared to Los Angeles County as a whole.

Government and politics

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Santa Clarita has 135,052 registered voters. Of those, 46,096 (34.1%) are registered Democrats, 45,725 (33.9%) are registered Republicans, and 35,764 (26.5%) have

declined to state Decline to State (DTS) was an affiliation designation on the California voter registration form that allows voters to register to vote without choosing a party affiliation. It is similar to what in other states would be called declaring oneself as ...

a political party. In presidential elections, Santa Clarita has historically been a Republican stronghold. However, it has shifted toward the Democratic Party in recent years.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and Joe Biden won the city in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Santa Clarita remains one of the most conservative cities in Los Angeles County, having voted for Clinton and Biden by much smaller margins than the county and state as a whole, both of which are strongly Democratic.

Local government

The City of Santa Clarita is a

general law city In the systems of local government in some U.S. states, a general-law municipality, general-law city, code city,

and as such is governed by a council–manager form of government. The city council is made up of five council members, elected at-large to four-year terms. Each year the council selects one of its members to serve as mayor, a largely ceremonial position. Mayors are not directly elected. In March 2020, the city council declared its intention to switch to district-based elections, however the transition has been delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The city hall is located at 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. The current elected council is: According to the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal year 2019–20, the city's various funds included $116.3 million in revenues, $112.6 million in expenditures, $1.482 billion in total assets, and $217.2 million in total liabilities. The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:

List of mayors

Santa Clarita has had 14 mayors since its incorporation, serving 34 terms.

County, state and federal representation

In the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...

, Santa Clarita is entirely in the 5th district, represented by Republican

Kathryn Barger Kathryn Ann Barger-Leibrich is an American politician, serving as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 5th District since 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Barger served as Chair of Los Angeles County from 2019 ...

. In the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, Santa Clarita is mostly in . A slice in the southwest, including parts of Newhall and southern Valencia, is in . In the State Assembly, Santa Clarita is mostly in . Parts of northern Santa Clarita are in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, Santa Clarita is almost entirely in . A small, sparsely populated portion in the southeast, east of Highway 14 and south of Placerita and Sand Canyon Roads, is in . Starting in the

2022 United States elections The 2022 United States elections were held on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the first term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 4 ...

, Santa Clarita will be entirely in the 27th congressional district, the 23rd State Senate District, and the 40th State Assembly district. California is represented by US Senators

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...

and

Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 201 ...

, both Democrats.

Education

Elementary schools

Santa Clarita elementary school students (grades TK/K-6) are served by four elementary school districts: *

Castaic Union School District Castaic Union School District is a public school district serving unincorporated Castaic, portions of unincorporated Valencia, and a very small portion of the city of Santa Clarita within Los Angeles County, California, offering elementary and sec ...

: serves Castaic, Val Verde, and a small residential and mostly commercial/industrial portion of northwestern Valencia. *

Newhall School District The Newhall School District is an elementary school district in the Santa Clarita Valley that serves the Valencia and Newhall communities within the city of Santa Clarita, California, as well as the Stevenson Ranch community in unincorporated L ...

: serves Stevenson Ranch, Newhall, and southern Valencia. *

Saugus Union School District Saugus Union School District (SUSD) is a public California school district located in Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County, California. The district serves students in grades TK/K-6 in Saugus, most of Valencia, and parts of Canyon Country. There a ...

: serves Saugus, northern and central Valencia, and western Canyon Country. * Sulphur Springs School District: serves the majority of Canyon Country. These four school districts include 37 elementary schools and one middle school (Castaic Middle School, administered by Castaic Union School District).

Junior high and high schools

With the exception of Castaic Middle School, all junior high and high schools (grades 7-12) serving Santa Clarita are part of the

. The district includes seven general-education high schools ( Canyon,

, Golden Valley,

Hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile Wo ...

, Saugus,

, and West Ranch) and six general-education junior high schools (Arroyo Seco, La Mesa, Placerita, Rancho Pico, Rio Norte, and Sierra Vista). All Hart District schools are located within Santa Clarita city limits, except for Castaic High School in unincorporated

, and Rancho Pico Junior High and West Ranch High School in unincorporated Stevenson Ranch; however these schools also serve portions of the city. The seven aforementioned high schools in the Hart District compete in the

Foothill League The Foothill League is a high school athletic conference in the Santa Clarita Valley area of Los Angeles County, California that is affiliated with the CIF Southern Section. All current members are part of the William S. Hart Union High School Distr ...

athletic conference. '' U.S. News & World Report'' has ranked Hart District high schools in the top 12% in the nation. The district's headquarters are located along Centre Pointe Parkway. Hart District also includes seven

special schools Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

: a middle college high school (

Academy of the Canyons Academy of the Canyons (AOC) is a public middle college high school in Santa Clarita, California, United States. The school, which enrolls students from 9th to 12th grade, is part of the William S. Hart High School District. It is located on th ...

), on the College of the Canyons campus; the alternative high schools Bowman and Learning Post, with adjacent campuses along Centre Pointe Parkway; Santa Clarita Valley International Charter School (SCVi) in Castaic; the Opportunities for Learning (OFL) charter school, with campuses in Canyon Country and Valencia; and Golden Oak Adult School.

Private schools

Private schools in Santa Clarita include

Santa Clarita Christian School Santa Clarita Christian School (SCCS) is a private Christian school in Santa Clarita, California, United States. It serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. It is a ministry of the Santa Clarita Baptist Church, and competes in the Herita ...

Trinity Classical Academy Trinity Classical Academy is a classical Christian school in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. It was founded in 2001 and offers education for K-12. It is committed to teaching a Christian worldview in all subject areas, and upholds biblical ...

, Legacy Christian Academy, La Petite Academy, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Guidepost

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

, and Tutor Time. Guidepost Montessori and Tutor Time have two campuses in the city.

Colleges and universities

The city is home to

(CalArts), a private art university. Founded in 1961 by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Roy O. Disney Roy Oliver Disney (; June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was an American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. He was the older brother of Walt Disney and the father of Roy E. Disney. Biography Early life Disney was bor ...

, and

Nelbert Chouinard Nelbert Chouinard (born Nelbertina Murphy; 1879–1969) was an American artist who founded the Chouinard Arts Institute (1921) in Los Angeles, California. The Institute had a great influence on the arts and art education in Los Angeles, educat ...

, CalArts was the first college or university created specifically for students of visual and performing arts. It was created by the merger of

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art I ...

and the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. It relocated to its current Valencia campus in 1971, on McBean Parkway near Interstate 5. CalArts has produced numerous renowned actors and musicians including

Brad Bird Phillip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American film director, animator, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning forty years in both animation and live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up i ...

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

Julia Holter Julia Shammas Holter (born December 18, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist and academic, based in Los Angeles. Following three independent album productions, Holter released ''Tragedy'' as her first official ...

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...

Marina Rosenfeld Marina Rosenfeld is an American composer, sound artist and visual artist based in New York City.

Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's ''A Bug's Life'' (1998), directing '' Finding Nemo'' (2003) ...

, and

Carl Stone Carl Stone (born Carl Joseph Stone, February 10, 1953) is an American composer, primarily working in the field of live electronic music. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the ...

, among others. CalArts is currently administered by president

Ravi Rajan Ravi S. Rajan is an American artist and academic administrator working as the fourth president of the California Institute of the Arts. Early life and education The son of immigrants from India, Rajan was born in Seattle and raised in Norman, Okl ...

is a non-denominational, Christian liberal arts university based in the Placerita Canyon neighborhood of Newhall. Founded as Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary in 1927, it moved to Santa Clarita in 1961 and later adopted the name The Master's College and then The Master's University. The university also operates

The Master's Seminary The Master's Seminary (TMS) is the graduate seminary division of The Master's University and Seminary and is located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University ...

Sun Valley, Los Angeles Sun Valley is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood is known for its overall youthful population and moderate racial diversity. There are three recreation centers in Sun Valley, one of which ...

. The university is currently led by Interim President Abner Chou, following the resignation of Dr. Sam Horn in February 2021.

John F. MacArthur John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program ''Grace to You''. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Chu ...

served as president from 1985 to 2019; he currently serves as chancellor.

(COC) is a public community college with two campuses. The main campus is located in Valencia, at the southwest corner of Rockwell Canyon Road and Valencia Boulevard. The secondary Canyon Country campus is located on Sierra Highway between Skyline Ranch Road and Sand Canyon Road. The two COC campuses comprise the Santa Clarita Community College District of

California Community Colleges The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 secti ...

. Charter College has a campus at the intersection of Soledad Canyon Road and Hidaway Avenue in Canyon Country.

Parks and recreation

Six Flags Magic Mountain

One of the most well-known attractions in the Santa Clarita Valley is the

theme park, located just outside the city limits. Six Flags occupies 262 acres of land on the west side of the valley, in unincorporated Valencia. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the

Newhall Land and Farming Company

SeaWorld Inc. It was sold to Six Flags in 1979. Six Flags has 19 roller coasters, the most of any amusement park in the world. The park received an estimated 3.365 million visitors in 2017. It is one of 26 Six Flags properties in North America. The park's property also includes the 25-acre waterpark,

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks that are part of the Six Flags theme park chain. Although the parks are not identical, common features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping ...

, which operates from late spring to early fall.

City parks and facilities

Since incorporation, the City of Santa Clarita's leadership has placed a priority on offering recreational facilities and programs. The city operates a park system which includes 35 parks scattered throughout the city. Many of the parks have lighted

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

courts as well as

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and soccer fields. The largest city park in Santa Clarita is

in Saugus, on the south side of Bouquet Canyon Road, which includes four outdoor basketball courts; several baseball, softball, and soccer fields; a community garden; disc golf course; cross country course; and the Central Bark

dog park A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a 4' to 6' fence, separate double-gated ...

. The George A. Caravalho Sports Complex, located near the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Centre Pointe Parkway in Canyon Country, includes a gymnasium with two indoor, full-sized basketball courts, four pickleball courts, two

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

courts, two

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

courts, and four

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

courts. The Sports Complex includes the City of Santa Clarita Activities Center (a.k.a. The Centre) which contains rooms for banquets and meetings. The Sports Complex also includes the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center, which includes three large swimming pools and several water slides; the Trek Bike Park of Santa Clarita covering 7 acres including BMX and mountain biking trails; the Santa Clarita Skate Park; and the Canine Country dog park. Many of the city's recreational programs are held at the Sports Complex. Over the past several years, the city has cosponsored a summer concert series in cooperation with various local businesses. These concerts, offering a variety of musicians, are offered free of charge and take place on weekends in Central Park. The concert was canceled in 2020 due to the

. The city offers a wide variety of fee-based and free classes and programs in a variety of locations throughout the year. The city operates two

community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

s: the Newhall Community Center, adjacent to the Newhall Metrolink station; and the Canyon Country Community Center (CCCC), at the northeast corner of Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road. The Canyon Country Community Center was located at Sierra Highway and Flying Tiger Drive before its relocation in October 2021. City-sponsored recreational programs are listed in the quarterly magazine ''Seasons,'' which is delivered to all residences within the city limits via

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

. The Santa Clarita Marathon is an annual race through the city's streets and paseos. First run in 1995, it is now considered a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon. Previously held in November, starting in 2022 it was permanently moved to February. Both the 2020 and 2022 marathons were canceled due to the

; there was no 2021 marathon. Santa Clarita was picked to host stages in the AMGEN

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

for a total of 9 years. It has hosted a total of 14 stages as of 2019. Surrounded by three mountain ranges, the Santa Clarita area contains numerous hiking trails, in areas such as Agua Dulce Canyon,

, East Walker Ranch, Elsmere Canyon, Golden Valley Ranch, Newhall Pass Open Space, Haskell Canyon Open Space, Quigley Canyon, East Canyon, Fish Canyon, San Francisquito Open Space, Tapia Canyon, Towsley Canyon, and Wildwood Canyon.

County parks

The

Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is an agency of the County of Los Angeles which oversees its parks and recreational facilities. It was created in 1944. It operates and maintains over of parks, gardens, lakes, natural ga ...

operates one park within the city of Santa Clarita, and two others within the city's sphere of influence. William S. Hart Regional Park in Newhall includes the estate of silent film star

, known as La Loma de los Vientos (The Hill of the Winds) and has hosted the annual

Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is an annual event held at the William S. Hart Park in Old Town Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. Each year, over 10,000 global visitors attend lectures and performances on multiple stages by famous poets, author ...

since 1994. The William S. Hart Museum, one of three Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, is located on the grounds of Hart Park. It is the only Los Angeles County park located within the Santa Clarita city limits.

Placerita Canyon State Park Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park located on the north slope of the western San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, near the city of Santa Clarita. The park hosts a variety of historic and ...

is in an unincorporated area east of Newhall, in the western San Gabriel foothills on the southeast side of the Santa Clarita Valley. It is administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, in partnership with

California State Parks The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

. It features eight hiking trails, equestrian trails, waterfalls, the Oak of the Golden Dream, and the Walker Cabin. Its visitor center, known as Placerita Canyon Nature Center, includes exhibits and descriptions of the flora and fauna of the region. Tesoro Adobe Historic Park was the home of actor

, and has been described as "the first tourist attraction in Santa Clarita." It is located in the unincorporated community of Tesoro del Valle, at the northernmost point in Valencia. In June 2005, Montalvo Properties LLC, the developer of Tesoro del Valle, donated the park to Los Angeles County.

Other

The city is home to an ice rink known as The Cube — Ice and Entertainment Center (formerly Ice Station Valencia). It is used for

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. In 2020, Ice Station Valencia was on the brink of permanent closure due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, until the city council unanimously voted to acquire the building for $14.2 million. On February 23, 2021, the city council sold Ice Station to American Sports Entertainment Company and the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. The city is currently in the process of renovating The Cube to include two large ice rinks (one

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

-size rink and one

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

-sized rink) and one small ice rink known as The Pond. The rinks, covered with insulated floors, would double as venues for conventions, business meetings, concerts, birthday parties, and filming. The Cube opened on April 12, 2021, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It is the home arena for the

UCLA Bruins men's ice hockey The UCLA Bruins men's ice hockey team is a college ice hockey program that represents the University of California, Los Angeles. They are a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the Division II level. The university sponsored v ...

team, and is located along Smyth Drive in Valencia, across the street from Valencia High School. MB2 Entertainment, previously known as Mountasia Family Fun Center, is an entertainment and recreation center located in Saugus, along Golden Triangle Road (a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

of Soledad Canyon Road) near its intersection with Golden Oak Road. It first opened in August 1995, and currently offers miniature golf,

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

bumper boats Bumper boats are an amusement park ride that uses inner tube shaped watercraft that can be steered by the rider. Some are driven by electric motors, some by gasoline engines, and some require the rider to propel the craft by pedaling. Most are ...

laser tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated w ...

, and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s. On March 15, 2020, it was forced to close due to the

. In September, after nearly six months of closure, the owners sold the center. MB2 Group, which operates go-kart racing tracks, purchased the center in February 2021.

Sports

Santa Clarita does not have any sports teams in the NBA,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, NFL, or

. The professional teams in

and Anaheim (specifically, the

Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

and Lakers of the NBA, the

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

and

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

of MLB, the

Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

and

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Ducks and Kings of the NHL) are popular among Santa Clarita residents. The college sports teams of

and

, as well as the sports teams in the valley's seven high schools, have some following among the people of Santa Clarita. The Santa Clarita Blue Heat is a women's soccer team in the

United Women's Soccer United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWS) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the fold ...

league. It was founded as the Ventura County Fusion in 2008 and played in the city of Ventura before relocating to Santa Clarita. Their home games are played at The Master's University. Santa Clarita also hosts

FC Santa Clarita FC Santa Clarita (FCSC) is an American soccer team based in Santa Clarita, California, United States. FC Santa Clarita also known as the Santa Clarita Storm make just north of Los Angeles home, as they compete in the United Premier Soccer League ...

(also known as the Santa Clarita Storm) of the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was found ...

, a development league. The team was founded in 2006 as the Lancaster Rattlers before moving to Santa Clarita. Like the Blue Heat, FC Santa Clarita plays its home games at The Master's University. The

Canyons Aquatic Club Canyons Aquatic Club, (CAC or CANY) is a competitive swim team located in Santa Clarita, California. CAC is a USA Swimming affiliated swim team competing in the Southern California Swimming region. CAC's home pool is located on the campus of Col ...

is a competitive swim team based in Santa Clarita affiliated with

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

. Its home pool is located at

, with practice locations at the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center, Santa Clarita Park, Castaic Aquatic Center, North Oaks Park, and Newhall Park. The

Saugus Speedway Saugus Speedway is a 1/3 mile racetrack in Saugus, Santa Clarita, California on a site. The track hosted one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1995, which was won by Ken Schrader. Schrader became the first NASCAR driver to win in a race i ...

, located along Soledad Canyon Road in Saugus, is a race track covering . It first opened in 1939 as Bonelli Stadium. The first stock car racing event on the speedway occurred in 1957. In 1995, the track was permanently closed. The speedway continues to serve as the venue for the Santa Clarita Swap Meet every Sunday.

contains a cross country course used by high school and college athletes to train and race. The city includes four golf courses: Vista Valencia Golf Course and

Valencia Country Club Valencia Country Club is an 18-hole golf course in the Valencia neighborhood in Santa Clarita, California. The course is a Robert Trent Jones design and was established in 1965. In 1998, the course hosted the Los Angeles Open. Major champion and ...

in Valencia, and Sand Canyon Country Club and Friendly Valley Golf Course in Canyon Country. The Oaks Club at Valencia is located in the Westridge area of Stevenson Ranch, adjacent to the city. The Canyon Country

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization contract city Contract city is a term used in some U.S. states for a city that contracts for the provision of one or more municipal services with another unit of government or with a private or commercial organization. Lakewood Lakewood, California was incor ...

, meaning it does not have its own police department and instead relies on county services. The

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States ...

(LASD) operates the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station at 26201 Golden Valley Road, just south of the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Centre Pointe Parkway. Prior to its October 2021 relocation, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station was located on Magic Mountain Parkway in Valencia. The

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

's Newhall office patrols the highways and streets of the Santa Clarita Valley. Despite being referred to as the Newhall office, its headquarters are actually located in unincorporated Valencia, along The Old Road just south of State Route 126. Its service area covers , including most of northwestern Los Angeles County, containing of freeways and of unincorporated roadways.

Water

Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing the Santa Clara River

Santa Clarita receives its water from the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, also known as SCV Water. The agency was formed on January 1, 2018, through the merger of three agencies: Castaic Lake Water Agency, Newhall County Water District, and the Valencia Water Company. The agency's service area covers about and is home to 273,000 people. It is split into three water divisions — Santa Clarita, Newhall, and Valencia — descendants of the three original agencies. Its headquarters, adjacent to Central Park in Saugus, include a conservatory garden and learning center with over 350 plant species. The SCV Water Agency sources its water from the

California Aqueduct The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after Califo ...

, Castaic Lake, alluvial wells, and the Saugus Aquifer. The SCV Water Agency is currently involved in removing hazardous material from the Saugus Aquifer left behind by decades of munitions testing at the Whittaker-Bermite site (see History section above). The Los Angeles Aqueduct passes through Santa Clarita on its way from the

Owens Valley Owens Valley ( Numic: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Iny ...

Granada Hills, Los Angeles Granada Hills is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community has a sports program and a range of city recreation centers. The neighborhood has fourteen public and ten private schools. His ...

. It passes next to, and is visible from, Saugus High School and the Centre Pointe Business Park. However, Santa Clarita does not receive Los Angeles Aqueduct water – all of the aqueduct's water goes to the city of Los Angeles.

Public libraries

The city operates the Santa Clarita Public Library system, consisting of three libraries: the main office in Valencia, the Old Town Newhall Library in Newhall, and the Jo Anne Darcy Library in Canyon Country. The libraries offer books ranging from preschool to adult reading levels. In addition, each library has a variety of services for students, teachers, and home schoolers, including homework help, mental health, and employment resources, as well as community events. Passport acceptance services are also offered at each library branch. In addition to its three properties, the system includes an

eLibrary HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headq ...

. The main office in Valencia has a sculpture that says "IMAG NE"; when a person stands between the G and the N the word "IMAGINE" is spelled.

Health services

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (commonly referred to as Henry Mayo Hospital) is a 357-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. It was founded in 1975. Named after businessman Henry Mayo Newhal ...

(commonly referred to as Henry Mayo Hospital), founded in 1975, is a Level II trauma center and hospital. It includes 357 beds, as well as a helipad, an

urgent care center An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...

, inpatient facilities, a catheterization lab, a breast imaging center, disaster resource center, outpatient surgery center, and cardiac rehabilitation center. It is located in Valencia, along McBean Parkway at its intersections with Avenida Navarre and Orchard Village Road. The complex which contains Henry Mayo Hospital also includes medical institutions not affiliated with the hospital, such as Valencia Perinatal Services, Advanced Pain Management,

UCLA Health UCLA Health is a health system which comprises a number of hospitals, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an extensive primary care network in the Los Angeles region. As a regional health provider, it benefits from the academic affili ...

, and an office of Heritage Sierra Medical Group. Henry Mayo also runs a fitness center along Town Center Drive, about north of the hospital. Santa Clarita is also served by private health care providers such as Exer Urgent Care, Facey Medical Group,

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...

, Concentra Urgent Care, and

Providence Health & Services Providence Health & Services (since 2016: Providence St. Joseph Health) is a not-for-profit, Catholic health care system operating multiple hospitals across seven states, with headquarters in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 ho ...

. As part of Los Angeles County, Santa Clarita is under the jurisdiction of the

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) provides public health services to Los Angeles County residents. Barbara Ferrer is the Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Muntu Davis, MD, MPH is the Los Angel ...

. It does not have its own public health agency.

Electricity and gas

Santa Clarita does not have its own electricity or natural gas utilities. The city's electricity comes from

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of ap ...

, and its natural gas comes from

SoCalGas The Southern California Gas Company (trading as SoCalGas) is a utility company based in Los Angeles, California, and a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. It is the primary provider of natural gas to Los Angeles and Southern California. Overview Its ...

Fire

The city contracts with the

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...

for fire protection. The agency has eleven fire stations in the city of Santa Clarita, as well as one station in unincorporated Valencia, two in unincorporated Castaic, one in Val Verde, one in Stevenson Ranch, and one in Agua Dulce.

Post offices

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

operates four post offices in the city: at Creekside Road and McBean Parkway in central Valencia, on Tournament Road in southern Valencia, at Lyons and Peachland Avenues in Newhall, and at Soledad Canyon Road east of Sierra Highway in Canyon Country. Two post offices are located in the Santa Clarita Valley just outside the city limits, at The Old Road and Towsley Canyon Road in unincorporated Newhall, and on Franklin Parkway in the Valencia Commerce Center. There is also a Contract Postal Unit located in the Saugus Drugs store at Bouquet and Haskell Canyon Roads.

Other

The

California Department of Motor Vehicles The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is the state agency that registers motor vehicles and boats and issues driver licenses in the U.S. state of California. It regulates new car dealers (through the New Motor Vehicle Board), c ...

has an office in Newhall, at the southwest corner of Lyons Avenue and Newhall Avenue, serving the entire Santa Clarita Valley.

Crime

Santa Clarita has a relatively low crime rate. The city's violent crime rate is about one-third of the national average and 29% of the California statewide average. In 2020, the home security site Safety ranked Santa Clarita the seventh-safest city in California, specifically mentioning the low property crime rate. Then-mayor Cameron Smyth credited this to the "diligence" of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. Nevertheless, some of the poorer neighborhoods of Santa Clarita have struggled with crime. The apartment and condominium complexes along Jakes Way in Canyon Country (south of the Santa Clara River, east of Sierra Highway, north of the Metrolink railroad line, and west of State Route 14) have seen some of the highest crime rates in the city. Gangs such as Brown Familia and Newhall 13 are active in parts of Canyon Country and Newhall. Notable criminal incidents that have occurred in the Santa Clarita Valley include the

in 1970,

Stevenson Ranch shootout On August 31, 2001, a shootout occurred in Stevenson Ranch, California, Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated community in Santa Clarita Valley, California. It resulted in the immediate deaths of James Allen Beck, a convicted felon, and Hagop "Jake" ...

in 2001, and

Saugus High School shooting On November 14, 2019, at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, United States, a school shooting occurred when a student with a pistol, identified as 16-year-old Nathaniel Berhow, shot five schoolmates, killing two, before killing hi ...

in 2019. The Saugus High School shooting caused much shock due to the city's reputation as a safe community.

Economy

Companies based in Santa Clarita include

Honda Performance Development Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD) is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations center for Honda's American motorsports programs and is ...

Precision Dynamics Corporation Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC) is an American international identification device manufacturer headquartered in Santa Clarita, California with offices abroad in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. The company makes identification devic ...

condomman.com CondomMan.com is an online retailer of condoms and healthcare products headquartered in Valencia, California. Its web operations were launched in 2002. The website distributes over 10 million condoms yearly to customers, non-profit organization ...

Newhall Land and Farming Company

Advanced Bionics. Sunkist,

Mechanix Wear Mechanix Wear, Inc. is an American safety company headquartered in Valencia, California, that produces high performance work gloves in the automotive, industrial, tactical and construction segments. Partnership On 14 July 2020, NASCAR and Mec ...

, and

WayForward WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as ...

are headquartered just outside the city in unincorporated Valencia.

Largest employers

Siege social de la princess cruise et de la cunard

According to the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, the top employers in the city are:

Shopping and commercial centers

Westfield Valencia Town Center

The largest shopping center in Santa Clarita is the

. This large shopping mall owned by

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in Fra ...

occupies an area bounded by Valencia Boulevard to the south, McBean Parkway to the west, Magic Mountain Parkway to the north, and Citrus Street to the east. It includes over of retail space and contains 134 stores and 46 restaurants.

Anchor stores In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. W ...

include

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

, H&M,

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equi ...

, and Forever 21; there is also a Regal Edwards movie theater. Town Center Drive circles the interior of the mall. Westfield Valencia Town Center and the surrounding area functions as one of the city's major

business districts A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " city ...

— within the area are the headquarters of

, the Santa Clarita City Hall, Santa Clarita Courthouse, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, and Santa Clarita Valley Medical Plaza. Six of the city's ten tallest buildings, including the three tallest, are in or adjacent to the Town Center; the two tallest buildings are 24305 Town Center Drive (headquarters of Princess Cruises) and the Hyatt Regency Valencia, both of which are tall. Most of the city's car dealerships are just north of the Town Center, near Magic Mountain Parkway, Creekside Road, and Auto Center Drive.

Old Town Newhall

The historic district of Old Town Newhall (a.k.a. Downtown Newhall) is a major cultural and business center. It contains many independent restaurants, stores, and theaters, as well as a public library. Notable businesses in Old Town Newhall include Newhall Refinery (a

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David ...

), Newhall Press Room, The Old Town Junction, Brewery Draconum, Jazmin's Bakery, Commando Military Surplus, Pulchella Winery, National Glass, The Schiitr (a home audio store), Placerita Liquor, Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, and Hotel Lexen. The areas surrounding Old Town Newhall are predominantly Hispanic, and there are many Mexican restaurants including La Charrita, El Pueblo, El Taco Llama, and El Pariente. Theaters in Old Town Newhall include Canyon Theater Guild, The Main, and Laemmle. The Old Town Newhall Farmers Market is located on the grounds of the public library. Other notable sites in the area include the William S. Hart Park; Newhall DMV; Newhall Elementary School (part of the

); Newhall Metrolink station; Newhall Terrace, Newhall Crossings, and Californian apartment complexes; Veterans Historical Plaza; First Presbyterian Church of Newhall; Unity Center mosque; Newhall Community Center; and the historic Saugus Train Station (Heritage Junction). The official Old Town Newhall website describes it as "Santa Clarita's premier arts and entertainment district." The Hart and Main wedding and event venue is scheduled to open in spring 2022. Some of the recent developments in Old Town Newhall have been described as

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

Others

Numerous shopping centers are scattered throughout the city along major thoroughfares. These shopping centers include both

chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

s and small businesses.

Industrial centers

Santa Clarita includes several industrial areas and

office park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

s. The Valencia Industrial Center is the largest business park in the Santa Clarita Valley, with of office space. Stretching from Valencia High School to the I-5/CA-126 interchange, it includes the headquarters of the

and ''

The Santa Clarita Valley Signal The Santa Clarita Valley Signal is a newspaper in Santa Clarita, California. It was founded in 1919 as a weekly, the '' Newhall Signal.'' From c. 1979 to 2016, the ''Signal'' was owned by Savannah, Georgia-based Morris Multimedia, who sold it to ...

'', offices of Advanced Bionics, Aerospace Dynamics International, Woodward, and ATK Audiotek, and other businesses such as

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

Smart and Final Smart & Final is a chain of warehouse-style food and supply stores based in Commerce, California, which developed through a series of mergers and expansions. The oldest of the combined companies, Hellman-Haas Grocery, was founded in 1871 in Los ...

, Pocock Brewing Company, O'Connor Photography,

Marriott Marriott may refer to: People *Marriott (surname) Corporations * Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993 * Marriott International, international hote ...

and Hilton hotels, Forrest Machining, Office Depot, and The Cube Ice and Entertainment Center. Rye Canyon Business Park and Southern California Innovation Park, just north of the Valencia Industrial Center, are home to a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Supercenter, Scooter's Jungle,

Boston Scientific Corporation Boston Scientific Corporation ("BSC"), incorporated in Delaware, is a biomedical/biotechnology engineering firm and multinational manufacturer of medical devices used in interventional medical specialties, including interventional radiology, in ...

, Legacy Volleyball Club, Trinity Classical Academy, and the city's transit maintenance facility. The Centre Pointe Business Park is located near the city's geographic center, south of Soledad Canyon Road on both sides of Golden Valley Road. It includes the Centre Pointe Village and Centre Pointe Marketplace shopping centers, with tenants such as

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...

, Dick's Sporting Goods, Ashley HomeStore,

Jo-Ann Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarter ...

Spirit Halloween Spirit Halloween, LLC is an American seasonal retailer that supplies Halloween decorations, costumes, props and accessories. It is the country's largest Halloween retailer. It is currently owned by Spencer Gifts. It was founded in 1983 and bega ...

, Rattler's Bar B Que,

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

, and Starbucks; other businesses such as the Country Antique Fair Mall, Mountasia Family Fun Center, operations facility of

John Paul Mitchell Systems John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS) is an American manufacturer of hair care products and styling tools through several brands including Paul Mitchell, Tea Tree, Neuro, Pro Tools, Awapuhi Wild Ginger, MITCH, MVRCK, and Professoinal Hair Color. Hi ...

, Bocchi Laboratories, Top Out Climbing Gym,

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...

, Pep Boys, and several body shops; Bowman High School; and the

headquarters. Other industrial areas in the city include Saugus Station, on the east side of Railroad Avenue; Valencia Corporate Center, on Tourney Road just east of Interstate 5; Needham Ranch, on Sierra Highway south of Newhall Avenue; and Vista Canyon, on Lost Canyon Road west of Sand Canyon Road. The unincorporated area of Valencia west of Interstate 5 also contains several business parks, such as the Valencia Commerce Center.

Media

The City of Santa Clarita and surrounding communities are served by several local media organizations.

Newspapers

Santa Clarita is served by the '' Los Angeles Daily News'' and ''

''. The ''Daily News'' primarily focuses on news, sports and entertainment stories in the city of Los Angeles and adjacent areas, but also covers Santa Clarita periodically. ''Daily News'' circulation numbers within the Santa Clarita Valley are not known.

The Santa Clarita Valley Signal

The primary daily newspaper, ''The Santa Clarita Valley Signal'', was founded in 1919. In 2012, it had a weekday circulation of 10,454 and a Sunday circulation of 11,598. Until 2018, the newspaper focused almost exclusively on local news, sports, entertainment and features. In October 2016, the ''Signal'' moved its headquarters from Creekside Road in Valencia to Diamond Place near Centre Pointe Parkway; since October 2021, it has been headquartered on Avenue Stanford in the Valencia Industrial Center. From 1979 to 2016, the ''Signal'' was owned by

Morris Multimedia Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

, a company based in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. In 2016, Morris Multimedia sold the ''Signal'' to Paladin Multi-Media Group. In June 2018, Richard and Chris Budman purchased Paladin and began to publish a new free Sunday magazine, featuring a column by editor-in-chief Tim Whyte under the byline "Black and Whyte". According to an October 9, 2018 article in the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...

'' (CJR), the new management led to a conservative shift in the paper's editorial stance, which prompted a group of progressives in the Santa Clarita Valley to start their own news outlet, the ''Proclaimer''.

Radio

The primary radio station serving the Santa Clarita Valley is the Hometown Station, or KHTS. KHTS broadcasts on FM 98.1 and AM 1220. The KHTS transmitters are located along Sierra Highway in unincorporated northern Canyon Country, and its studios have been in Old Town Newhall since June 2015. KHTS was founded as KBET in 1984 and was renamed KIIS and later KHTS. KHTS is a full-service station — it covers local news, including talk shows, high school and college sports, as well as professional sports in the Los Angeles area. The region is also served by FM-101.5 KZNQ-LP, Santa Clarita's first local FM radio station. It features a non-profit

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format owned and is operated by Santa Clarita Public Broadcasters Corporation, transmitting from Round Mountain in the city of Santa Clarita since 2015. In addition to KHTS and KZNQ-LP, Santa Clarita and its surrounding communities are indirectly served by a number of major market Los Angeles FM and AM radio stations. There are also several other Internet-based radio stations that serve the public in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Television

All local programming for Santa Clarita is carried on a single

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV channel, which is operated by SCVTV, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. It is available to Spectrum Cable customers throughout the Santa Clarita Valley on Channel 20 and to AT&T U-verse customers under local programming (Channel 99/Santa Clarita). SCVTV carries public, educational and government programming, including Santa Clarita City Council and Planning Commission meetings, history shows, high school and college news programs, talk shows, football games, and other programs of local interest. SCVTV also runs the local news website scvnews.com and the history website scvhistory.com. scvhistory.com contains archives of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. There are no commercial over-the-air television stations in the Santa Clarita Valley. The city is part of the Los Angeles media market. Digital television, Digital signals from the Los Angeles stations are available on local cable television, cable television systems, DirecTV, and Dish Network.

Podcasts

Local podcast studios serving the Santa Clarita Valley include ''Podcast SCV'' and ''Arcay Studios''.

Magazines

Magazines serving the Santa Clarita Valley include ''Seasons'' (which covers city-sponsored recreational programs), ''élite'', ''Santa Clarita Magazine'' and ''Inside SCV''.

Transportation

Highways

* The only interstate highway in the city is

, which defines the city's western border. Interstate 5 is one of the main arteries of the western United States, and connects Santa Clarita with the rest of greater Los Angeles to the south and the Central Valley (California), Central Valley to the north. * California State Route 14 passes through the east side of the city and connects Santa Clarita to the

cities of Palmdale, California, Palmdale and Lancaster. Route 14 merges with Interstate 5 at the large Newhall Pass interchange just south of the city. This interchange is the primary route used by Santa Claritans commuting to Los Angeles. Due to the rugged terrain of the Santa Susana and San Gabriel Mountains, it is one of the few routes (and the only freeway) connecting northern Los Angeles County with the rest of the county. * California State Route 126 follows the Santa Clara River from I-5 in Santa Clarita to Ventura, passing through Piru, Fillmore, California, Fillmore, and Santa Paula, California, Santa Paula. The Santa Clarita Veterans' Parkway, formerly the Cross Valley Connector, connects Route 126 in Valencia to Route 14 on the city's eastern edge. It includes the entirety of Newhall Ranch Road, and Golden Valley Road from Newhall Ranch Road to State Route 14. *

passes through the east side of the city, parallel to and west of Route 14, providing an alternate route to the

and Antelope Valley, as well as to the Los Angeles Basin. Despite being referred to as a highway, it is actually a surface street in the Santa Clarita area.

Bus service

City of Santa Clarita Transit, formerly known simply as Santa Clarita Transit, provides extensive bus service within the Santa Clarita Valley and to/from North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley. City of Santa Clarita Transit is operated by MV Transportation, under contract with the city of Santa Clarita. On weekdays, City of Santa Clarita Transit operates commuter buses to/from Union Station (Los Angeles), Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood station, North Hollywood Station (operating seven days per week as the "NoHo Express/757"), allowing riders to access Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro Los Angeles rapid transit subway and light rail services, as well as Warner Center, Los Angeles, Warner Center, Burbank, California, Burbank, Van Nuys, and Century City. On weekdays when school is in session, City of Santa Clarita Transit operates supplemental school-day service with routes and scheduled stops designed around various schools within the Santa Clarita Valley. City of Santa Clarita Transit also operates Dial-A-Ride service for seniors and the disabled. The service allows for pick-up and drop-off at any address within the City of Santa Clarita and within a three-quarter mile radius of the nearest fixed route bus stop in unincorporated areas. City of Santa Clarita Transit operates weekdays from 4:55 a.m.–10:30 p.m., Saturdays from 6:30 a.m.-9:45 p.m., and on Sundays from 7:15 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Service operates as frequently as every 10 minutes during peak periods to every 85 minutes during off-peak hours. Typically, buses operate every 25 to 60 minutes.

Rail

Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink provides commuter passenger train service to the Santa Clarita Valley along its Metrolink Antelope Valley Line, Antelope Valley Line which runs from Lancaster station (California), Lancaster to Union Station (Los Angeles), Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, where transfers can be made to destinations in Southern California and the rest of the nation. There are three Metrolink stations in the city: Via Princessa station, Via Princessa in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita station in Saugus (near the geographic center of the city), and Newhall station in Newhall. All stations have large parking lots to allow commuters to park and ride. An additional Metrolink station known as Vista Canyon station, Vista Canyon is slated for construction in Canyon Country, east of the current Via Princessa station. Metrolink service operates 7 days a week, with reduced service on Saturdays and Sundays.

Bicycle and walking

There are a series of bike trails and walking paths threaded throughout the city. Bicyclists can ride from the eastern end of the city in Canyon Country along a paved path which is independent from automobile traffic all the way to Valencia on the Santa Clara River Trail. This path closely follows the Santa Clara River and Soledad Canyon Road. There are many jumping-off points along this route providing access to neighborhoods, Metrolink stations and commerce. In Valencia, there are several pedestrian bridges called ''paseos'' connected to the bike path network. The paseos keep riders and walkers above and away from automobile traffic. The neighborhoods in Valencia were planned to include an ample amount of walking and riding paths that connect to this overall network. Santa Clarita contains over of bicycle routes. In 2007, the League of American Bicyclists awarded Santa Clarita its bronze designation as a bicycle friendly community.

Air travel

There are no airports in the city of Santa Clarita. The nearest airports are the small Agua Dulce Airpark and Whiteman Airport in Agua Dulce and Pacoima, Los Angeles, Pacoima, respectively. Commercial flights are served by Hollywood Burbank Airport, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Los Angeles International Airport in the city of Los Angeles, located and from Santa Clarita's Central Park, respectively.

Culture

Films

Santa Clarita, along with other foothill regions in Greater Los Angeles, is known for its

es. The valley contains multiple movie ranches including Melody Ranch Studio, Melody Ranch, Sable Ranch, Rancho Deluxe, Golden Oak Ranch, Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, and Veluzat Movie Ranch. These movie ranches lie within the studio zone, the area within a radius of the intersection of Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards in West Los Angeles. Movie ranches are a major contributor to Santa Clarita's economy, and the valley has been nicknamed "Hollywood North." Movies and TV shows filmed in Santa Clarita include ''Django Unchained'', ''NCIS (TV series), NCIS'', ''Franklin & Bash'', ''Jane by Design'', ''Make It or Break It'', ''The Muppets (TV series), The Muppets'', ''Pirates of the Caribbean (film series), Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''24 (TV series), 24'', and ''Old Yeller (film), Old Yeller''. Other filming locations in the Santa Clarita Valley include CalArts, Castaic Lake, College of the Canyons, Westfield Valencia Town Center, Placerita Canyon State Park, Southern California Innovation Park (an office park in Valencia), Saugus Cafe, and Halfway House Cafe on the outskirts of Canyon Country. Vasquez Rocks, located in Agua Dulce about northeast of the city, has also been used as a filming location for List of productions using the Vasquez Rocks as a filming location, numerous movies and shows. Santa Clarita was the setting of the horror-comedy show ''Santa Clarita Diet'', which debuted on February 3, 2017 and was canceled on April 26, 2019. The show revolves around real estate agents Joel and Sheila Hammond. Sheila Hammond becomes undead and starts craving human flesh. As Joel and the family try helping Sheila during her metamorphosis, they have to deal with neighbors and cultural norms.

Western films

Santa Clarita has been the home of many well-known stars of Western (genre), Western film, including

, John Ford, and Gene Autry. Western film, television, and radio figures are honored at the Walk of Western Stars, located along Main Street in Old Town Newhall. Each April, the city of Santa Clarita inducts one or two new honorees into the Walk of Western Stars. The walk was founded in 1981; previous honorees have included Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, John Wayne, Sam Elliott, Richard Farnsworth, and Bruce Dern. The induction ceremony is held in conjunction with the

at William S. Hart Park.

Packard Humanities Institute

The Packard Humanities Institute, headquartered in Los Altos, California, Los Altos, also has a Packard Humanities Institute#Packard Humanities Institute, Santa Clarita, campus in Santa Clarita. The campus, which opened in 2014, is located in Valencia directly south of College of the Canyons. It includes a film preservation facility which houses more than 400,000 films from Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Republic Pictures.

Notable people

Sister cities

The city is a member of Sister Cities International. * Tena, Ecuador, Tena, Napo Province, Napo, Ecuador * Sariaya, Quezon, Philippines

Explanatory notes

References

External links

*
Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society archive

Santa Clarita tourism

Official guide
{{Authority control Santa Clarita, California, 1987 establishments in California Cities in Los Angeles County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1987