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Hidden Treasure, Santa Paula Living
Video on Living in Santa Paula
Picture Perfect Santa Paula has a vibrant and historic downtown with locally owned shops, restaurants and hangouts.
This small city enjoys mountain views and endless orchards It’s not far from the ocean and has some of the more affordable real estate in Ventura County.
How Far is it To The Beach?
In non rush hour Santa Paula will only be about a 20 to 25 minute drive to Surfers' Point and Ventura Harbor Village where there is also a swim beach, surfing and lots of fun shops and restaurants.
Map Location Santa Paula
Santa Paula (beige color on map), is located in central Ventura County and is also about 25 minute to the fun mountain town of Ojai, 50 minutes to Santa Clarita and about an hour and a half to Los Angeles.
Neighborhoods
How expensive is Santa Paula compared to other Ventura County cities? Overall, you will get more bang for your buck here compared to Ventura and Oxnard.
For a comparable home, you will pay roughly $50,000 less in Santa Paula. And hillside homes are roughly $100,000 less than similar homes in Ventura.
Video on New Construction, The Harvest in Santa Paula
This exciting, new community was an avocado orchard before it became one of Santa Paula’s newest planned communities.
There are lots of community based benefits:
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Large clubhouse and fitness center.
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A yoga room, pool and spa and close to many trails and parks.
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Business center, tot lot, fireside lounge, BBQ area and movie nights.
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Community gardens, demonstration kitchen, multipurpose room and dog park.
Homes range from 1,600-2,800 square feet on small lots and currently cost between $600-900,000. There are lower end up to semi custom high end builds.
Old Town Santa Paula
Old Town Santa Paula has a mixture of older tract homes built in the 1950’s, early 1900’s and some newer homes as well as mobile/manufactured home lots.
Some of these lots have converted the garage into an additional living unit and residents complain that there is not much parking available.
There's more traffic in this area, especially when schools are let out. There is also a higher rate of homelessness and crime. But on the positive side, you are very close to lots of shopping.
*More Neighborhoods Below*
Restaurants
- Chef David's Kitchen and Catering is known for its BBQ, Rabalais and is a New Orleans-style restaurant. They have wonderful entrees and cocktails. And for dessert, they have tasty coffee and pastries.
- La Terraza is a highly-rated Mexican restaurant. Make sure to ask for the burrito loco, which is a secret item on the menu. It is a copy of a burrito made by the owner’s father from 30 years ago and a must try.
- La Casita is an authentic 5 star Mexican restaurant, with delicious chili verde and great chili rellenos.
- Fosters Freeze is recommended for their corn burrito and milkshakes.
- Enzos is an Italian restaurant located in the historic Glen Tavern with wonderful food on the more expensive side and live piano during the meal.
Fire and Flood
Santa Paula has had a history of flooding.
The Warning Sculpture was built to honor the motorcycle officers in 1928 who saved countless residents by alerting them about a massive wall of flood water.
When the Thomas Fire in 2017 nearly destroyed the entire town, the residents banded together and helped each other through the tough times.
It is a very supportive community. Santa Paula also saw floods as recently as 2005 when the Santa Paula Creek and Santa Clarita River overflowed with water causing extensive erosion and costly repairs.
Crime
There's a variety of web sites tracking crimed statistics for Santa Paula including, Crime Grade.org.
Activities
Santa Paula has many activities and festivals planned throughout the year.
- The Art Museum, Cole Creative Center and Public library provide kids and family programs.
- Ghost walk tour and date with a ghost at the historic, Haunted Glen Tavern Inn.
- The art and aviation museums are open and free on the first Sunday of the month.
- De Colores Music and Arts Festival and Cinco De Mayo Festival.
- Festival pumpkin patch at Limoneira ranch.
- El santo Nino de Atocha-Parade attracts thousands of visitors to the city.
- Farmers market, bike tours, high school sports, car shows, Christmas parade.
Santa Paula has many trails/hiking including:
- The Santa Paula Canyon with the well-known Punch Bowls trail and a 25ft waterfall.
- Sisar Canyon on the Horn Canyon Loop with gorgeous mountain views.
- The Santa Paula Branch line Recreational Trail.....an easy walk down through the city. It follows the rail line and has views of historic sites, neighborhoods and mountains.
Water and Weather
The City of Santa Paula's source of water is 100% groundwater, pumped from wells in the Santa Clara River Valley.
This causes the water and sewer fees for residents to be very expensive.
Weather is at least 10 degrees hotter than Ventura in the Summer.
On the pro side, it is an easy drive over to Ventura and the ocean to cool off.
Economy
Santa Paula has an unemployment rate of 12.6%. The US average is 6.0%.
Since the city is so small, it has a smaller tax basis for building and upkeep. This shows in the potholes in the roads.
The Sales Tax Rate for Santa Paula is 8.3%. The US average is 7.3% and The Income Tax Rate for Santa Paula is 9.3%. The US average is 4.6%.
The tax rate is higher than Ventura but lower than Oxnard (two larger cities which are close to Santa Paula.)
Santa Paula's real estate values are impacted more than other cities in Ventura County when there is an economic downturn.
Santa Paula has seen a price drop in real estate as of 2022 due to the recently rising interest rates.
Parks and Rec, Community Development, Major Initiatives
For more information on these topics, visit the city of Santa Paula web site.
Buyers Special Offer
The Oaks Neighborhood
This magical neighborhood Oaks showcases 100 year old oak trees, large lots, some mountain views and wild peacocks.
There's a mixture of Spanish style, New England, Craftsman, Contemporary, 50's style Ranch and more.
These homes rarely come on the market and usually have not been updated when they do. They range from $800,000 to over a million.
Arbor Executive Homes
Arbor Executive Homes is a new home development that is built at the base of the hills and is part of The Oaks Neighborhood.
Homes range between 2,600-3,600 square feet. All homes are smart homes with a 3-car garage, fireplace, laundry room, open patio and central vacuum system.
Home options include Spanish-style, Craftsman and Ranch with a touch of mid-Century style and higher end/finish materials.
The HOA covers care of the park and flood water diversion system. The lots are larger so it feels more welcoming if you have a large dog or enjoy having people over to your home for a party or to watch a game.
Homes range from $800,000 to $1.2 million depending on size, location and finish materials.
Historic Homes
Many homes in Santa Paula were built in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. If you want to see a lot of the older historic Victorian homes, then just drive up and down West Santa Paula St.
The inside of these homes have hand carved wood accents throughout, solid wood flooring, accent windows, custom fireplaces and the feel of luxury.
Smaller historic homes can also be found throughout Santa Paula. Some of these smaller homes have been fully remodeled.
Some remodels have kept the older feel while others have been gutted and have the modern open twist.
If you are more about views, then look no further than the View and Ridge View neighborhoods located on the hillside.
Homes range from smaller homes on smaller lots to larger homes on larger lots with expansive views of the city, mountains and agriculture.
When I visit these homes I don’t even want to go inside because the view just calls to you, especially around sunset time when the mountains almost glow.
These homes have not been updated and tend to sell for around $250,000 less than the homes that have been updated.
Residents also say that this is one of the friendliest areas where everyone knows their neighbors.
Homes With 2 Plus Acres
On the outskirts of Santa Paula there are many homes located on 2 or more acres.
These acreage properties tend to have groves of avocado, oranges or lemon trees and some of them are working farms.
homes tend to have lots of trees, amazing views and large homes. Some are located between the outskirts of Ventura and right before Santa Paula's downtown.
These homes are in Ventura’s school district so if you live there and have kids they will be going to school in Ventura.
Santa Maria Neighborhood
In the Santa Maria neighborhood you have the small airport and older homes built in the 1950’s located on smaller lots.
The streets also are smaller and you may see cars parked on the street so you have to find a place to pull over if another car is driving down the street in the opposite direction.
The airport's flight path is also over these homes and there are some farms and industrial lots also. Mixed in with the single family homes are some mobile/manufactured homes and townhome lots also.
South Mountain
South Mountain is more rural with homes on acreage property. This neighborhood also has the Flight 126 Cafe. It serves brunch on the patio facing Santa Paula airport.
People rave about the view and the breakfast menu while most people have said that the lunch is just average. So stop by for breakfast and a view of the mountains and planes.
We hope you found this helpful! What do you think, about Santa Paula? Could You Live Here? We'd also love to hear about any other topics you would like us to cover. Please comment below.
Hi there, we are Bart and Keziah
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"When we looked at homes together, they took us out into local grocery stores and parks, and Keziah sparked conversations to introduce us to the locals and neighbors. This allowed us to ask questions about the area that could not be answered on a home-buying app or even by other realtors. We were getting honest responses from the actual people who lived there. That feedback was very valuable and helpful!" --Amanda Gurrola (google, Jan 2024)
Update – The Craft House is now Pizza Dans.
Thanks for letting us know!