They Don’t Call Colony Perfect, They Call It Home : Moorpark: Cars whiz by and trains rumble through at all hours. However, residents say their old section of the city is special.

The real estate agent had only one comment when Tony and Yolanda Simen inquired about Moorpark’s Virginia Colony neighborhood:

“You’re not going to like it.”

To be sure, Virginia Colony can be a tough sell. The neighborhood, one of Moorpark’s oldest, is a tiny residential island surrounded by a flood control channel, a major highway and two industrial parks.

What’s more, Southern Pacific Transportation Co.’s main rail line cuts through the community, and the clatter of trains can be heard at all hours of the day and night.

Of course, property is cheaper here than elsewhere in the city--a benefit the Simens considered.

But the couple found something even more appealing about the neighborhood, something not immediately apparent to outsiders.

“It was the people,” said Tony Simen, 54, who built his retirement home on land he purchased in Virginia Colony four years ago.

Simen said the 300 or so residents in this predominantly Latino neighborhood are like a family. In fact, many are related by birth or marriage and, in some instances, have lived there for half a century or more.

“Property doesn’t change hands that often in this area, because normally it’s passed down through families,” Simen said as he walked along Avenida Colonia one day recently, pointing out his neighbors’ houses and their histories.

“The man across the street is 102 years old,” Simen said. “He’s lived there 70 or 80 years. His name is Jose Rodriguez.”

“The man next door is Susano Lopez. He’s 93 years old. His son got married and moved across the street, that’s Benny Lopez. And his other son, Peter Lopez, moved into the house next to him.”

He may not be Latino or have deep roots in the community, but Simen said he and his neighbors share the same values and concerns, and that’s all that matters.

“The people here are very close knit,” Simen said. “If your transmission breaks, and somebody’s cousin’s brother knows how to fix transmissions, they do it. That’s how they get along.”

Dixie Aguirre, who has lived in the neighborhood more than 50 years, said that’s the way it’s always been. “We’re like one family because we all look out for one another.”

Aguirre said her family, originally from Arizona, moved to Virginia Colony in 1939. Her father, Manuel Rodriguez, a ranch hand, was one of the community’s settlers.

Aguirre said her father chose Virginia Colony for much the same reason others did and continue to do so--affordable land prices. The family’s first house, she said, was on the same Avenida Colonia site where Simen’s now stands.

“It was just a big empty space in those days,” Aguirre said of the neighborhood. “There was no water, no lights or gas. We used a wood stove. Back then this was way out of town. It was like we weren’t even part of the town.”

The neighborhood hasn’t grown much over the years, partly because it is sandwiched between the Arroyo Simi and California 118. There are only about 50 houses, a handful of which have been built in the last five years. Most range in price from about $100,000 to $200,000.

Because of the neighborhood’s size, residents said, they have been able to get to know and depend on each other.

“It’s always been a good place to raise kids,” said Mary Hatcher, who has lived there for 60 years. “I raised nine kids here myself. . . . Everybody knows everybody. We take care of each other, whatever they need, baby-sitting, food, whatever.”

Hatcher said her mother, who has since died, was also among the Colony’s first settlers, moving there with her family from Arizona when she was only 9.

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Hatcher said that although her children have grown and left, she has never felt the urge to live anywhere else. Two sisters, Margaret Jackson and Victoria Sanchez, still live down the street.

“For me, this was like paradise,” Hatcher said. “I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never had trouble, never had anything stolen out of my house. It’s like one big, happy family.”

Neighbor Francis Ramirez, whose brother Ray is married to Dixie Aguirre, said she has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years. She stayed, she said, because she wanted to live close to her mother, who still lives next door.

As it turns out, her uncle, a niece and her brother also live nearby.

“Even though I got married, I wanted to live up here,” she said. “I didn’t want to go anyplace else.”

Despite Moorpark’s booming development in the 1980s, Virginia Colony remained isolated. Much of the growth occurred in the hills at the southern end of the city.

And so did many of the improvements.

It was only three years ago that Virginia Colony’s two streets--Avenida Colonia and Nogales Avenue--were paved and gutters and sidewalks put in. City officials said there was no funding available before.

However, residents were not given to complaining. They raised little ruckus when a business park was proposed and eventually built at the east end of the neighborhood. A large cement company already sat at the western end of the community.

Then the Planning Commission agreed two years ago to allow two Los Angeles brothers to hold weekend paint-ball games on a ranch nearby, and the residents of Virginia Colony did something they never had before. They got angry.

Simen and John Aguirre, Dixie’s son, led the charge.

“Since I moved here, I guess the neighborhood has gotten more active,” Simen said. “I’m a loud mouth, and I start (rallying) the neighbors . . . when something’s not going the way we like it, we high-tail it to City Hall and scream and complain.”

Residents successfully appealed the commission’s decision to the City Council, where they argued that the weekend war games would bring increased traffic, noise and vandalism to their neighborhood.

Councilman Bernardo Perez said officials were surprised at the sudden activism.

“Before they were not very vocal,” he said. “Every once in a while, one or two would call us and we’d meet with them one on one. But in this situation, the residents put together a coordinated and influential effort.”

The paint-ball victory spurred them on. Residents began pushing the city for a neighborhood park, saying their children were often forced to play in the street because they had no place else to go.

“We thought, ‘Everybody else has a park, we want one,’ ” Simen said. “So we started campaigning for it.”

The residents eventually won that battle too. In September, the city dedicated a new park in Virginia Colony.

Residents are proud of their accomplishments and are quick to credit Simen with rallying them to action.

“We started being more active when Tony moved in,” said John Aguirre. “We got together and joined up and made

ourselves heard at City Council. It started to become like a little project to improve the neighborhood.”

Another welcomed improvement to the community is the recent opening of the Simi Valley/Moorpark freeway connector, which has diverted much of the heavy traffic off California 118. The highway runs within a few feet of several houses.

Before the freeway connector opened, more than 20,000 vehicles a day zoomed passed Virginia Colony on California 118. Although no figures are yet available to determine how much traffic has decreased on the highway, residents say it has fallen off considerably.

“That’s the best thing that’s happened,” Hatcher said. “Now you can go to town and not worry about traffic.”

As for the constant rip and rumble of trains that pass through her neighborhood, she said it doesn’t bother her much.

“My house shakes, but I don’t pay no attention,” she said.

But Dixie Aguirre said she has become concerned about the increased train traffic since Metrolink began commuter service a year ago. The result is more frequent trips and faster-running trains.

“I think we’re going to have to complain,” Aguirre said. “It didn’t bother me before but now they’re going by so fast it just shakes the whole house up, and you can just feel the weight. Who do I complain to?”

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Aguirre’s son, John, who moved back home with his parents in 1987 after living in Texas for 10 years, said he has a better appreciation for his neighborhood than ever before. He said he has enjoyed working with Simen to campaign for improvements.

“I realized this is my neighborhood,” he said. “I enjoy living here. This is where I was brought up. My grandmother lives across the street. She’s 90 years old. My uncle used to have a store here. My father had a barbershop for 25 years. He knew every head in Moorpark.”

Aguirre said he appreciated the fact that a newcomer like Simen could see past the traffic, noise and other problems and see what really made the neighborhood special.

“He could have gone and looked for a higher-priced property in a more upscale neighborhood,” Aguirre said. “But he was able to identify this place as a peaceful area.”

Ramirez, John’s aunt, said residents welcome all newcomers.

“That’s the way we are,” she said. “When somebody new comes, we say ‘Oh, here comes another one. Hooray!’ Now they won’t close this place.”