Tired of Being L.A.’s Bedroom, Simi Strives to Add Boardrooms

Simi Valley, long a convenient bedroom community for neighboring Los Angeles, is campaigning to boost economic development. But, to many, the city isn’t yet doing enough.

The issue of the largely residential east Ventura County community’s economic development was thrust into the forefront when the City Council threatened to sue Los Angeles in July to block the massive Porter Ranch commercial and housing development in nearby Chatsworth. City leaders said then that the project would bring increased traffic and pollution.

In response, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson charged that Simi Valley had failed to provide enough jobs for its residents and should not complain about a development from which it would gain employment opportunities. Moreover, Bernson said Los Angeles was “sick and tired of supporting bedroom communities like Simi Valley and Santa Clarita” and suggested that Los Angeles impose an employment tax on those who come from outside the city to earn their living.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton, who works as an engineering manager at Teledyne Systems in Chatsworth, shrugged off Bernson’s remarks as nothing more than an emotional reaction to Simi Valley’s concerns over the planned Porter Ranch development.

“If he wants to ship some of his businesses to Simi Valley, we’ll take them,” Stratton said. “I’d love to pick up Teledyne and move the whole thing out to Simi Valley.”

For the past decade, Simi Valley has waged an aggressive campaign aimed at attracting new businesses and jobs. And the effort has met with some notable success.

Since 1980, the city has added 1.8 million square feet of commercial space and 5.3 million square feet of industrial facilities, resulting in an estimated 15,000 new jobs, said Assistant City Manager Jay Corey.

The newly created jobs have had a significant effect on the number of residents who commute outside the city to work. In 1980, more than 70% of the work force in Simi Valley traveled to Los Angeles and elsewhere to earn a living. In 1989, with the city’s population at more than 103,000, the number of those commuting to work was 60%, Corey said.

In fact, some of the firms now in Simi Valley went there from the San Fernando Valley. For example, Cardkey Systems Inc., with 220 employees, moved from Chatsworth to Simi Valley in 1989.

Tony Wilson, senior marketing specialist with the security firm, said the company had shopped around the San Fernando Valley for a site on which to build before deciding on Simi Valley. He said it was simply cheaper to lease space in Simi Valley.

“The San Fernando Valley is becoming very expensive to run a business in,” Wilson said. “Over the last few years, it has just skyrocketed.” Wilson attributed the high cost of leasing space, in part, to the development of Warner Center in Woodland Hills.

He said about 30% of Cardkey’s employees live in the San Fernando Valley, with the rest in Simi Valley and other parts of Ventura County. When the company announced that it was going to move, he said, only two of its employees left because of the commute.

Bugle Boy, a national clothing manufacturer, also made the move from Chatsworth to Simi Valley in 1989 for basically the same reason as Cardkey--it was cheaper, said Genevieze Squires, a company official. Bugle Boy employs about 500 people, she said.

Besides better land value, the city’s location and quality of life have played a big part in attracting new businesses, city officials said.

In addition, Simi Valley has consistently been listed among the safest cities of its size in the state in terms of major crimes committed each year, according to FBI statistics. The city also enjoys the highest median household income in Ventura County at $48,700.

Some of the other businesses that have located in Simi Valley since 1980 include Farmers Insurance Group; First Interstate Bancard Co.; Micom Systems Inc., a manufacturer of data communication systems; and Whittaker Corp., a manufacturer of air traffic control systems and radar tracking equipment. The Upjohn Co. also plans to build a plant in the city next year, and Volkswagen of America Inc. announced plans in July to open an automobile design center in the city.

“I think collectively we have done a very good job” of attracting business, said Nancy Bender, executive director of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce. “I think we have a very upscale and diverse type of industry, which was our goal.

“One of the things we did not want to do is attract one type of industry, so if the market went soft in one area, it wouldn’t be harmful to our economy.”

One such case in point is Gibraltar Savings, which established its corporate headquarters in the city in 1987, employing 800 people. The savings and loan had plans to expand its offices and increase its work force to 3,000 employees before it fell into federal receivership last year.

In June, Security Pacific Bank purchased some of Gibraltar Savings’ assets. However, the savings and loan’s Simi Valley office is still being operated under the supervision of federal regulators, and it is uncertain what will happen to the property.

Despite disappointment over Gibraltar Savings, the city continues to move forward. Corey said that while the city in the past has concentrated on attracting industry, the emphasis is shifting toward commercial, with the primary goal being to construct a regional mall.

Melvin Simon & Associates, the nation’s second-largest shopping center developer, has proposed building a $200-million mall on a 60-acre site just north of the Simi Valley Freeway, between 1st Street and Erringer Road.

The developer has said it hopes to open the two-level mall, which would include five department stores, by the end of 1993. In addition to providing hundreds of jobs, the mall is expected to generate an estimated $3 million in annual revenues for the city.

That would provide a significant boost to the city’s current sales tax revenue, which was reported at $6.7 million for the 1989-90 fiscal year. As in most cities, such revenues are Simi Valley’s single largest source of income to pay for such city services as street maintenance and fire and police protection.

In addition to the economic benefits, Stratton said, the mall will serve as a focal point for the community.

“The mall seems to be part of our culture,” Stratton said. “It’s like the downtown of old Midwestern towns. It is a necessary part of your city. It provides a feeling that the city is complete.”

The city is also looking forward to the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which is expected to attract 250,000 to 300,000 visitors a year.

The library, which is being built on 100 acres of unincorporated land at the southwest end of the city, is scheduled to open in February.

“I think the Reagan Library will be very beneficial to our economy,” Bender said. “It will bring a steady flow of people to visit and in turn they will spend their money in the city.”

Bender said the Chamber of Commerce already uses the library in its promotional campaigns to lure companies to Simi Valley. In addition, she said a book promoting the city and the library will be published next year, to coincide with the opening, and will be distributed at bookstores across the country.

“When something that noteworthy locates in a community, people will want to become more familiar with the community,” Bender said. The library, she predicted, is going to “make a major change in the perception, and interest, in Simi Valley. It’s going to be rather awesome.”

So is it still fair to refer to Simi Valley as a bedroom community?

“I wouldn’t refer to it that way anymore,” Bender said. “Maybe 10 years ago, but not now. I think we have too much activity here. I think we have started to come out of that era.”

Stratton, on the other hand, isn’t so sure.

“It probably still is a little bit” of a bedroom community, he said. But, he added, “we try not to think of ourselves that way.”