Entertainment Complex Would Prove Simi Has Come of Age

I have lived in Simi Valley since 1962 and have seen a lot of changes. I also had the good fortune to live in Orange County in planned communities such as Irvine, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach and Laguna Hills and have been able to see how good planning in these communities makes for more beautiful surroundings with extensively landscaped streets and intersections and, most important, quality development.

These factors contribute to a better quality of life, increased pride in community and lower crime rate.

With increased development here in Simi Valley, we are fortunate to be attracting high-income housing with tract homes selling in the $600,000 range. With this increased affluence in our community, there is a growing need for high-quality ,entertainment, dining and shopping experiences.

Like it or not, Simi Valley is becoming the Irvine / Westlake /Newport Beach of the future. If we want to keep our residents’ retail tax dollars here, we must accommodate their needs to stay in town. Otherwise, we will lose their business to the surrounding areas. With similar growth in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, perhaps we should consider developments that, for once in our history, would actually be a draw from those communities as well.

Almost every weekend I have to drive to Orange County to Newport Beach’s Fashion Island or Irvine’s Spectrum Entertainment Complex or to the Promenade at Westlake to get to the quality dining, shopping and entertainment that I expect for me and my family. Quite frankly, I should not have to do this. Why should I and many other residents be forced to do so?

When you’re at a complex such as those mentioned above, you don’t just spend an hour or so shopping; you spend an entire day entertaining your whole family. I love to take in the latest movie at a state-of-the-art theater with stadium seating, dine outside surrounded by beautiful fountains and cruise high-end shops and stores. If you’re lucky, your development has a Super Sega-type establishment for your kids to go nuts in. (The one at the Irvine Spectrum is awesome; kids young and in their 40s love this place.)

It would be a great thing for our city fathers to envision such a complex here in town, located at the property that city officials are holding out for an enclosed mall. I have news for you: Enclosed malls are dead, a thing of the past. The new retail experiences are open-air, multiuse, super-quality and detailed designs with extensive landscaping and outdoor elements such as fountains, ponds and waterfalls, surrounding buildings that have superior architectural design and project a very positive image of the community. And, by the way, they produce a very large retail tax base.

I urge each and every City Council member to take a drive south on Interstate 5 to Irvine’s Spectrum Complex, spend half a day there, then take 20 minutes and go on to Newport’s Fashion Island, to experience a quality outside development--mall-like but better. View what could be our future if you have the insight to seize the opportunity now.

Simi Valley’s future is worth the drive. If council members can’t do that, then at least they should pay a visit to the Promenade at Westlake or even the Calabasas Commons to get an idea what I and many other residents are demanding locally. If done right, we would bring in the more affluent residents from the surrounding areas and provide quality entertainment to us all.

Why do I have to drive long distances to find a movie theater with stadium seating? That’s crazy--and look at all the tax dollars you’re missing.

Simi Valley has come of age. Let’s take advantage of it and only allow very high-quality development for what precious space there is left. With the right planning now and redevelopment of our older areas with extensive landscaping and redesign, we can and will become the jewel of Ventura County.