Thousand Oaks, Ventura, California, United States

Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. The City of Thousand Oaks is a premiere community recognized for being one of the most desirable places in all of California to live, work, recreate, and raise a family. Thousand Oaks is home to some of the nation’s top schools, outstanding parks, and a myriad of shopping opportunities, including one of the largest auto malls in the nation. Thousand Oaks is a Tree City, USA, and has been named one of the county’s greenest cities.

Located in between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks is nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains approximately 40 miles (64 km) from Downtown Los Angeles, and is less than 15 miles (24 km) from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills. Thousand Oaks was incorporated in 1964, but has since expanded to the west and east. The city forms the central populated core of the Conejo Valley.

It is named after the many oak trees that grow in the region, though many have disappeared. Thousand Oaks is a desirable area to live, with over 15,000 acres of natural publicly owned open space located within the City’s boundaries. The City prides itself on its designated open space with 150 miles of trails for hiking, biking, or just leisurely walking. The Civic Arts Plaza featuring world-class entertainment, musicals, concerts, children’s shows, ballets, and much more.

Thousand Oaks are known for their schools and educational opportunities, family orientation, strong sense of community. Thousand Oaks values collaboration with residents and businesses. This commitment to public-private partnerships is most evident in the adoption of the City’s blueprint for a revitalized downtown, the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Specific Plan.

Some of the City’s most impressive accomplishments have come in the realm of infrastructure improvements. Public infrastructure enhances quality of life, and ensures the mobility of residents and businesses, now and in the future. The City’s efforts at local electricity generation have also been very successful, especially at our wastewater treatment plant.

Thousand Oaks is a part of is the Amgen Tour of California. Thousand Oaks has served as host to the final stages of this international cycling race on several occasions. The Amgen Tour of California is the nation’s largest and most recognized cycling event.

Economy
While agriculture was the dominant industry in Thousand Oaks until the 1950s, a number of high-tech companies moved to Newbury Park in the 1960s. Thousand Oaks city’s economy is based on a range of businesses including biotechnology, electronics, automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, healthcare, and financing. Today it is home to a number of high-tech and biotech companies, and has been dubbed “the next Silicon Valley” for this reason.

Thousand Oaks has been named one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. It was ranked the seventh richest city in America by Trulia in 2013, while it was ranked the 13th wealthiest U.S. city by NerdWallet in 2016.

Amgen, Teledyne Technologies, SAGE Publications, and Skyworks Solutions have corporate headquarters in the city, while Bank of America, Baxter International, General Dynamics Corporation, Verizon, Verizon Wireless, Volkswagen, Audi, General Motors, BMW, Silver Star Automotive Group, and Anthem Blue Cross manage regional offices.

Thousand Oaks also has large employers as Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center, Conejo Valley Unified School District, City of Thousand Oaks, Hyatt Hotels, and California Lutheran University headquartered in the city. The city was also the former home to the corporate offices of Wellpoint and GTE, which later became Verizon, which relocated in the last decade. Hewlett-Packard was also previously located here.

J.D. Power and Associates is headquartered in Thousand Oaks. J.D. Power began moving its employees from its former headquarters in Agoura Hills, California, to its current headquarters in the Westlake section of Thousand Oaks in the weekend after April 11, 2002. The communities of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Agoura Hills are served by the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, one of the few in California to receive four-star accreditation from the United States Chamber of Commerce.

Main Attractions
Thousand Oaks is located in beautiful Ventura County, with miles of coastline and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.As part of the beautiful and scenic Conejo Valley,Thousand Oaks offers a variety of recreation, leisure, and retail/shopping options for the entire family. Thousand Oaks is designed around travel by car. As a bike-friendly city, some of the primary retail and commercial streets have dedicated bike lanes.

The Oaks is a regional destination offering the only major enclosed shopping center within a 20-mile radius and drawing consumers from all over the Southern California region. In addition to retail and a luxury movie theater, there are numerous dining options from the Cheesecake Factory to Lazy Dog Café.

of multi-use trails, there’s an abundance of recreation options in Thousand Oaks. From equestrian trails, to hiking, cycling, running, walking. One of the City’s finest parks is Wildwood Park, comprised of 1,825 acres of open space, 14 trails covering 17 miles, and two waterfalls that flow year-round.

Gardens of the World
Gardens of the World is a botanical garden in Thousand Oaks, California, situated directly across Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, within the downtown core of the city. Established in 2001, the botanical garden is 4.5 acres (1.8 ha). It is home to a French garden and waterfall, an English rose garden, an Italian grapevine garden and a Japanese garden with koi ponds and a pagoda. The park is used for walking and picnicking, and guided tours of the gardens are available.

The gardens in the park are connected by a concrete trail which loops the gardens. The iron entry gate from across the Civic Arts Plaza leads onto a parterre in the French Garden in front of a massive waterfall. To the right through the arches lies the English Perennial & Rose Gardens and its pergola. This garden features 400 rose bushes. The Italian Garden near the Bandstand lawn contains a grape arbor and an Italian chain fountain. Tucked in the corner is the Japanese Garden featuring a koi pond, decorative rock waterfall, a pagoda and stream with a wooden bridge.

The Californian Mission Courtyard includes native California flora and murals of the remaining 21 California Missions. There is also a statue of Father Junipero Serra in this part of the park.

Conejo Valley Botanic Garden
Conejo Valley Botanic Garden is located in Thousand Oaks, California, and consists of a peak with vista views along with 15 hillside botanical gardens. The 33-acre (13.6 ha) site consists of a vast variety of endemic plants, water-conserving plants, oak trees, and indigenous wildlife. A children’s garden area was added in March 2003, known as Kids’ Adventure Garden. It provides a teaching laboratory for what flora works and what does not work in the Conejo Valley.

The Oaks Shopping Center
The Oaks is a two-level indoor/outdoor, regional shopping mall located in Thousand Oaks, California. Over five million visit the mall each year. The mall was originally built in 1978 and was renovated in 1993. Starting in February 2007, the center has undergone an extensive upgrade including interior finishes, restrooms, entrance canopies and skylights to reflect a modern Spanish and Santa Barbara-influenced design.

Additional features include a 10-unit Spanish Dining Hall and amenities like family restrooms with granite, stacked flagstone and limestone tile. Centered on the theatre are four sit-down restaurants: Lazy Dog Cafe and Red Robin, which are both connected to a 112,330-square-foot (10,436 m2) retail expansion in an outdoor environment, while Olive Garden is located across the parking lot. The Cheesecake Factory is located inside the Shopping Center with patio dining available.

It has featured several fashion shows highlighting the latest fashion in the retail stores. The shows were produced by Marilyn Shore Studios. The Oaks Shopping center also offers a variety of activities for all Holidays such as photos with Santa for Christmas, photos with the Easter bunny in April, and handing out candy on Halloween. The annual ArtWalk presented by Conejo Valley Art Museum takes place at The Oaks. It features arts, designer crafts, outdoor exhibitions and live music.

Culture space
Conejo Valley Art Museum has showcased collections from artists such as Elizabeth Williams, David Rose and Howard Brodie. Chumash Indian Museum on Lang Ranch Parkway has displays of Chumash artifacts and a reconstructed Chumash village. Another museum, the 1876 Stagecoach Inn, is located in Newbury Park and is a California Historical Landmark.

Also in Newbury Park is Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center, a museum at the foothills of Mount Boney, which is a sacred site for the Chumash people. American Radio Archive is a museum at Grant R. Brimhall Library dedicated to the history of radio. It contains one of the largest collections of radio broadcasting in the United States and in the world. California Museum of Art is located at The Oaks Shopping Center.

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is home to two theaters: the 1,800-seat Fred Kavli Theatre and Ray Scherr Forum Theatre. Willie Nelson, Paul Anka, Vince Gill, Kris Kristofferson and Peter, Paul and Mary have performed at Fred Kavli Theatre. Entertainers such as Liza Minnelli, Bill Cosby, David Copperfield, BB King, Sheryl Crow and Mikhail Baryshnikov have also performed at the Civic Arts Plaza.

Conejo Players Theatre has over 200 active members and was established in 1958. Hillcrest Center for the Arts is home to Gothic Productions, Young Artists Ensemble, Thousand Oaks Actors Guild and other groups. Hillcrest Center is also home to Classics in the Park, which arranges annual summer concerts in Conejo Community Park. Galleries include Fred Kavli Theatre Gallery, Thousand Oaks Community Art Gallery and William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art.

California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University (CLU) is a private liberal arts university in Thousand Oaks, California. Numerous films have been shot on campus and in surrounding areas, including Spartacus, Welcome to Hard Times, Wuthering Heights, Lassie, and Gunsmoke. Notable speakers at CLU have included U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush.

CLU hosted the preseason training camp for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League for 27 years and serves as the year-round training site for the Los Angeles Rams. Cal Lutheran has been called the West Coast’s “Cradle of Coaches”; nearly 1 in 4 of football coach Bob Shoup’s players would go on to coach at some level. 144 players have become football coaches, and several have been drafted to the NFL.

Grant R. Brimhall Library
The Grant R. Brimhall Library serves as the main library for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. The Grant R. Brimhall Building is located on Janss Rd. near State Route 23. There are 81,000 square feet (7,500 m2) in the main building and 3,000 square feet (280 m2) in the adjacent Special Collections Storage building. It serves Thousand Oaks, including Newbury Park and Westlake Village. It is the largest library in Ventura County, the largest library in the region, and one of the largest in Southern California.

American Radio Archive was part of the Special Collections Department at the library, and featured one of the largest collections of broadcasting documents in the United States, or perhaps in the world. It had a collection of 23,000 radio- and TV scripts, 10,000 photographs, and 10,000 books related to the history of radio. Furthermore, it contained archives of notable individuals such as Bob Crosby, Rudy Vallee, Norman Corwin, and Monty Masters.

American Radio Archives
American Radio Archives is located within the Thousand Oaks Library in Thousand Oaks, California and contains one of the largest collections of radio broadcasting in the United States and in the world. The archives was established in 1984 by the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation. The collections include 23,000 radio and TV scripts, 10,000 photographs, 10,000 books on radio history, and 5,000 audio recordings.

The Thousand Oaks Library system was created in 1982. The American Radio Archives are part of the Thousand Oaks Library’s special collections, which also include information on the early history of Conejo Valley, including manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, and maps. Not all finding aids are currently online, but the library is making a slow push to publicize finding aids and indexes of materials. American Radio Archives is located in the main branch location of the Thousand Oaks Library system.

American Radio Archives and Museum offers one of the largest collections of radio broadcasting in the United States and in the world. It has a collection of 23,000 radio and TV scripts, 10,000 photographs, 10,000 books on radio history, and 5,000 audio recordings. Notable collections include the Bob Crosby, Norman Corwin, Carlton E. Morse, Monty Masters, Rudy Vallée, and KNX AM collections. The Radio Series Scripts Collections contains scripts from 1930-1990, while the Radio Sound Records Collection contains recordings from 1932-1994.

The collections include scripts, books, personal papers, sound records, photographs, correspondence, and other material reflecting the history of radio- and TV broadcasting. Collections at the American Radio Archives tend to be named for the person who compiled the material. Oftentimes this is the script authors, but may also be a producer, actor, an institution, etc.

Thousand Oaks Community Gallery
Thousand Oaks Community Gallery is a public art gallery located adjacent to Newbury Park Library in Newbury Park, California. The gallery was established in February 1991, and features a variety of workshops, visual arts exhibitions, photographies, paintings, artist presentations and events. The 3,000 sq. ft. gallery is one of Conejo Valley’s primary visual arts facilities. Besides showcasing the work of acclaimed and professional artists, the gallery also presents locally based artists and art contests.

Conejo Valley Art Museum
Conejo Valley Art Museum is a museum located at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks, California. Established in 1978, the museum showcases fine art, modern art, abstracts, textiles and sculptures. Displays are changing periodically and often include artwork featured on national tours. Exhibitions here have included oil paintings, prehistoric pottery, quilts, photographs, sketches and print making. Its store offers folk art, literature and jewelry.

The museum has hosted art collections from artists such as Howard Brodie, David Rose and Elizabeth Williams. Conejo Valley Art Museum presents the annual Thousand Oaks ArtWalk, includes outdoor art exhibitions and live music.

Chumash Indian Museum
Chumash Indian Museum is a Native American Interpretive Center in northeast Thousand Oaks. It is located in Oakbrook Regional Park, a 432-acre park which is home to a replica of a Chumash village and thousand year-old Chumash pictographs. Dedicated to preserving the cultural and historical legacy of the Chumash people, the museum was established in 1994 and is operated by the nonprofit Oakbrook Park Chumash Indian Corp.

It became a designated archaeological zone in 1971 after the discovery of nearly twenty caves at the property. It was designated Ventura County Historical Landmark #90 in 1983. It is designated Thousand Oaks City Landmark No. 5. The museum is home to exhibits of various Chumash artifacts, paintings and historical items.

Stagecoach Inn Museum
The Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, California, originally known as the Grand Union Hotel, was used as a resting area for people who traveled from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Besides a hotel and stagecoach stop, it has also been used as a post office, church, restaurant and military school. It is California Historical Landmark No. 659 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It played a major role in the development of the stage line transportation network in California. The hotel was also the first business venture in the Conejo Valley.

Today, the inn is owned by the Conejo Recreation and Park Department and operated as a historic museum. The museum includes a rebuilt Timber School (originally built in 1889), a carriage house and blacksmith shop, nature trails, and the “Tri-Village”, a small group of three houses: the pioneer house, the adobe, and the Chumash “ap”. There is also a gift shop located inside the museum. A director and volunteers operate the museum, being members of the Conejo Valley Historical Society (CVHS). There is also a Jr. Docent program for children and teenagers aged 8–18. It is a dominant cultural and educational gathering place for thousands of residents and visitors to Newbury Park.

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza
The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is a performing arts center and city hall for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. Across Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Gardens of the World, the site is considered the downtown core of the city. The immediate areas surrounding Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza was among the first populated parts of the Conejo Valley. The site, which was previously home to the Jungleland USA theme park, was home to some of the valley’s first settlements in the 19th century.

Bank of America Performing Arts Center includes the Fred Kavli Theatre, an 1,800-seat theater Kavli Theatre and the 394-seat Janet & Ray Scherr Forum. Music director Elmer Ramsey was instrumental in the development of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. The New West Symphony is the resident orchestra. They are also resident orchestra of the Oxnard Performing Arts Center and Santa Monica’s Barnum Hall.

Surrounding
The main natural attraction is the Santa Monica mountains which contains a national recreation area for hiking, camping, etc.

Wildwood Regional Park
Wildwood Regional Park is a suburban regional park in the western Simi Hills and Conejo Valley, in Ventura County, California. The park consists of 1,765 acres (7.14 km2), and is connected to adjacent open-space areas comprising an additional 1,400 acres (5.7 km2). The park offers recreational outdoor activities, including hiking, mountain biking, jogging, horseback riding, picnicking, educational tours, interpretive programs, camping, and wildlife viewing.

Some of the popular attractions in the park include the 70 feet (21 m) cascade of Paradise Falls, as well as the Arroyo Conejo Creek and creek-bed, the large wooden teepee, the Nature Center and Indian Cave. The Lizard Rock formation is a serrate volcanic outcropping in the Mount Clef Ridge. At Lizard Rock, Teepee Overlook, and similar higher elevation areas, there are panoramic views of the Conejo Valley.

Wildwood is home to over 27 miles of hiking trails. The four principle trails are the Mesa-, Moonridge-, Wildwood Canyon- and Santa Rosa Trails. Over 250 plant species have been recorded in Wildwood, as well as 37 species of mammals, 70 bird species, and 22 species of amphibians and reptiles.

Tarantula Hill
Tarantula Hill, also known as Dawn’s Peak, is a 1,057-foot-high (322 m) peak in Thousand Oaks, California. It was once a volcanic mound but went dormant 16 million years ago. The hill is located near the center of the Conejo Valley. Atop the mountain there is a 360-degree panoramic view of the Conejo Valley, the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. There is also a fenced-in water reservoir located on top. Climbing Tarantula Hill is a steep 0.5-mile (0.80 km) trail; the trailhead is located at 287 West Gainsborough Road.

Sherwood Country Club
Sherwood Country Club is a private, member owned golf and country club in Lake Sherwood, California set at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains just south of city of Thousand Oaks. Sherwood is home to a championship 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, driving range and Georgian architecture golf clubhouse.

Adjacent to the golf club is the tennis clubhouse, swimming pool, gymnasium, fitness facility and spa. There are a total of 12 tennis courts, including 8 hard courts (one with stadium seating), two clay courts and two grass courts. The tennis club also includes an outside sand volleyball court, all of which can be lit for night play.

Sherwood was the host of multiple off-season events. It hosted the Shark Shootout, a team-play event hosted by Australian great Greg Norman, from the event’s inception in 1989 to 1999. It then hosted the World Challenge, a PGA Tour-recognized golf tournament hosted by Tiger Woods each December, from 2000 to 2013.

Satwiwa Culture Center
Satwiwa was a former Chumash village in the Santa Monica Mountains of Newbury Park, California. Satwiwa has been inhabited by Chumash Indians for over 10,000 years. It is situated at the foothills of Boney Mountain, a sacred mountain for the Chumash. Native-American culture is often showcased through a variety of contemporary programs, arts and displays. Traditional- and religious ceremonies and dances are still held at Satwiwa.

Satwiwa was purchased by the U.S. National Park Service in 1980. Situated in the Santa Monica Mountains of Newbury Park, California, the Satwiwa Native-American Indian Culture Center is operated in partnership between Native Chumash Indians and the U.S. National Park Service. The center offers a diverse range of educational lectures and workshops, Native-American art displays, and more.

Over 100 miles of trails can be found within Point Mugu State Park, which is one of California’s largest state parks. Almost half the state park’s total area make up Boney Mountain State Wilderness Area, a natural wilderness surrounding Mount Boney, a sacred mountain to the Chumash people. There are numerous overlapping trails throughout the surrounding area, and trails are utilized by both runners, hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers, and others.

Joel McCrea Ranch
The Joel McCrea Ranch in Thousand Oaks, California is also known as the August DuMortier Ranch. The ranch is rare surviving example of the large cattle ranches and fields of grain which once dotted the Santa Rosa and Conejo valleys in eastern Ventura County.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the site includes eight contributing buildings and four contributing structures on over 220 acres (89 ha). One surviving building dates from 1890 from August DuMortier’s ranch; the main house, an avocado-shaped pool, and a cabana/poolhouse were built in 1933; a maid’s residence and various other contributing and non-contributing buildings date from later.

Events
The annual Scandinavian Festival (“Scan Fest”) is an annual weekend spring festival which takes place at California Lutheran University every April. The festival was the first held as an accomplishment of John J. Nordberg, who was instrumental in getting the first American-Scandinavian Foundation chapter chartered in Thousand Oaks. The festival was established in order to boost cultural ties between California Lutheran College and the Nordic Countries. The festival offers foods, folk dances, music, literature and art from the Nordic Countries, including from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and the Faroe Islands. The first festival was held in 1974 and was attended by over a thousand visitors.

OakHeart Country Music Festival is an annual outdoor country music concert held in June at the Conejo Creek Park fields. It is put on by the Borderline Bar and Grill and the Rotary Club. Previous performances include Rodney Atkins, Tyler Farr, Justin Moore, Josh Turner, Big & Rich, Jana Kramer, as well as other major names in country music.