Valencia is a neighborhood in

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...

located within

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. It is one of the four unincorporated communities (along with Saugus, Newhall, and

Canyon Country Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River (California), Santa Clara River betwee ...

) that merged to create the city of

in 1987. It is situated in the western part of Santa Clarita, stretching from Lyons Avenue to the south (on the border with Newhall) to north of Copper Hill Drive, and from Interstate 5 east to Bouquet Canyon and Seco Canyon Roads. Valencia was founded as a master-planned community with the first development, Old Orchard I, built on Lyons Avenue behind Old Orchard Elementary School.

History

In 1769, the Spanish

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1 ...

, the first Europeans to see inland areas of California, came up and over the pass from the San Fernando Valley and camped near the river on August 8–9. They found a large native village there and witnessed a wedding celebration. Fray

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, a Franciscan missionary travelling with the expedition, named the river " Santa Clara" and noted in his diary that the place would be a good location for a mission. On the return trip, however, the party found a less strenuous trail through the

Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Communities in the Conejo ...

. Later travelers also preferred that route, and

Mission San Fernando Rey de España Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish mission in the Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on 8 September 1797 at the site of Achooykomenga, and was the seventeenth of the twenty-one Spanish mis ...

was established down in the valley. The master-planned portion of Valencia was first planned in the 1960s by the

Newhall Land and Farming Company

Santa Clara River. The next subdivisions to open were Old Orchard II and Valencia Hills. Development continues to the present day and is nearing completion. Valencia is notable for its landscaped boulevards connecting a mix of apartment buildings, single-family detached homes, shopping centers, office parks and industrial warehouses.

Community

Valencia is located along

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

; all incorporated portions of Valencia are east of the freeway, while unincorporated portions are west of the freeway. Tesoro del Valle, the northernmost subdivision of Valencia, is outside the city limits although it is east of Interstate 5 and within the city's sphere of influence. Valencia's residential areas are separated into villages, each with its own lifestyle (see

List of Valencia, California residential villages Valencia is a master-planned community located in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It lies mostly within the city limits of Santa Clarita (see Valencia, Santa Clarita, California), although some parts extend into unincor ...

). Almost all of Valencia's villages are close to schools, shopping, and other amenities. In many of the villages, homeowner associations oversee the quality and upkeep of housing developments ranging in size from a few dozen homes to over a thousand. Many villages also have a neighborhood watch program in force. The major north–south thoroughfare in Valencia is McBean Parkway, which runs from Copper Hill Drive in the north to

Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch is an unincorporated community in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, California. Stevenson Ranch is set in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains and lies west of Interstate 5 and the city of Santa Clarita. Steve ...

in the southwest where it becomes Stevenson Ranch Parkway. McBean Parkway passes by such landmarks as Chesebrough, Heritage, and Summit Parks, Bridgeport Lake; Hyatt Regency Valencia;

Westfield Valencia Town Center Westfield Valencia Town Center, formerly Valencia Town Center, is a shopping mall in the neighborhood of Valencia in Santa Clarita, California. Westfield Group first acquired a quarter-interest in the property in 2002 and a further quarter-intere ...

; Santa Clarita Valley Medical Plaza;

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (commonly referred to as Henry Mayo Hospital) is a 357-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. It was founded in 1975. Named after businessman Henry Mayo Newhal ...

; and the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

. Major east-west thoroughfares in Valencia (from north to south) include Copper Hill Drive, Decoro Drive, Newhall Ranch Road, Rye Canyon Road, Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia Boulevard, McBean Parkway (which runs east–west from Orchard Village Road to I-5), Wiley Canyon Road, and Lyons Avenue. Valencia contains most of the city's government buildings, hotels, car dealerships, medical centers, and corporate headquarters (see

Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

section below). Eleven of the city's twelve tallest buildings are in Valencia; the two tallest are 24305 Town Center Drive (headquarters of Princess Cruises) and the Hyatt Regency Valencia, both of which are tall. The Santa Clarita city hall is located in Valencia, at 23920 Valencia Boulevard. Valencia also has a system of paved pathways over or under the streets and boulevards, which are called ''paseos''. They connect the entire community, making it possible to travel throughout nearly all of Valencia on foot or by bicycle without crossing a street at grade level. The paseo network is connected to the

Santa Clara River Trail The Santa Clara River Trail is a paved bicycle and walking path in the city of Santa Clarita, California. The path is currently approximately in length and generally runs in an east–west direction and closely follows the path of the Santa Cl ...

which runs east along the Santa Clara River to Canyon Country. Valencia is split between two ZIP codes: the northern and eastern portions are in 91354, and the southern and western portions are in 91355.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, the population of Valencia was 63,670. 54.2% of residents were non-Hispanic white, 21.1% were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

, 19.2% were Asian American, 4.8% were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, and 2.3% were Native American.

Education

At the elementary school level, northern Valencia is served by the

Saugus Union School District Saugus Union School District (SUSD) is a public California school district located in Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County, California. The district serves students in grades TK/K-6 in Saugus, most of Valencia, and parts of Canyon Country. There a ...

, southern Valencia is served by the

Newhall School District The Newhall School District is an elementary school district in the Santa Clarita Valley that serves the Valencia and Newhall communities within the city of Santa Clarita, California, as well as the Stevenson Ranch community in unincorporated L ...

, and a small portion of western Valencia is served by the

Castaic Union School District Castaic Union School District is a public school district serving unincorporated Castaic, portions of unincorporated Valencia, and a very small portion of the city of Santa Clarita within Los Angeles County, California, offering elementary and sec ...

. The boundary between the Saugus and Newhall School Districts follows Valencia Boulevard (from The Old Road to Magic Mountain Parkway) and Magic Mountain Parkway (from Valencia Boulevard to Bouquet Canyon Road/Railroad Avenue). Junior high and high school students in Valencia attend schools in the

William S. Hart Union High School District The William S. Hart Union High School District (commonly referred to simply as the Hart District) is a school district in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It serves all of the valley's high school students (grades 9� ...

. Valencia includes Rio Norte and Arroyo Seco Junior High Schools, and Valencia High School.

Hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile Wo ...

, Saugus, West Ranch, and

Castaic Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bureau ...

High Schools; Placerita and Rancho Pico Junior High Schools; and Castaic Middle School also serve parts of Valencia. Castaic Middle School is part of the

, not the Hart District. Valencia is home to

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loca ...

, a community college, and

, an arts university.

Attractions

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newh ...

is located in unincorporated Valencia. It includes 20 roller coasters, the most of any amusement park in the world. The

shopping mall, owned by

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in Fra ...

, is the primary commercial center of Valencia. It occupies an area bounded by Valencia Boulevard to the south, McBean Parkway to the west, Magic Mountain Parkway to the north, and Citrus Street to the east. It includes over of retail space and contains 134 stores and 46 restaurants.

Anchor stores In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. W ...

include

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

, H&M,

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equi ...

, and Forever 21; there is also a Regal Edwards movie theater. Valencia is home to an ice rink known as The Cube — Ice and Entertainment Center (formerly Ice Station Valencia). It is used for

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. In 2020, Ice Station Valencia was on the brink of permanent closure due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, until the Santa Clarita city council unanimously voted to acquire the building for $14.2 million. On February 23, 2021, the city council sold Ice Station to American Sports Entertainment Company and the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. The city is currently in the process of renovating The Cube to include two large ice rinks (one NHL-size rink and one Olympic-sized rink) and one small ice rink known as The Pond. The rinks, covered with insulated floors, would double as venues for conventions, business meetings, concerts, birthday parties, and filming. The Cube opened on April 12, 2021, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Cube is located on Smyth Drive, across the street from Valencia High School. Valencia includes two golf courses:

Valencia Country Club Valencia Country Club is an 18-hole golf course in the Valencia neighborhood in Santa Clarita, California. The course is a Robert Trent Jones design and was established in 1965. In 1998, the course hosted the Los Angeles Open. Major champion and ...

and Vista Valencia Golf Course. The Oaks Club is located in nearby

Economy

Companies based in Valencia include

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue. It w ...

Honda Performance Development Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD) is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations center for Honda's American motorsports programs and is ...

Precision Dynamics Corporation Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC) is an American international identification device manufacturer headquartered in Santa Clarita, California with offices abroad in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. The company makes identification devic ...

condomman.com CondomMan.com is an online retailer of condoms and healthcare products headquartered in Valencia, California. Its web operations were launched in 2002. The website distributes over 10 million condoms yearly to customers, non-profit organization ...

Newhall Land and Farming Company

U.S. HealthWorks U.S. HealthWorks, Inc. was an American healthcare provider network with headquarters in Valencia, California. It offered: * Occupational health care, including preventive care. * Pre-employment and post-offer exams and screening return-to-work ...

, and the American division of Advanced Bionics. Sunkist,

Mechanix Wear Mechanix Wear, Inc. is an American safety company headquartered in Valencia, California, that produces high performance work gloves in the automotive, industrial, tactical and construction segments. Partnership On 14 July 2020, NASCAR and Mec ...

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched ov ...

, and

WayForward WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as ...

are headquartered in unincorporated Valencia.

Climate

Notable people

Marielle Jaffe Jaclyn Marielle Jaffe is an American actress, singer and model. Background Jaffe was born in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. She made her feature film debut as Aphrodite Girl in the 2010 film '' Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightnin ...

, actress and model *

Annett Davis Annett Davis (born September 22, 1973) is an American beach volleyball player, who won the silver medal at the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships, alongside Jenny Johnson Jordan. Career Throughout her career, she has partnered with Jen ...

, beach volleyball player * Jeff Draheim, film editor *

Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...

, Olympic gold medalist swimmer *

Taylor Lautner Taylor Daniel Lautner (; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for playing shapeshifter Jacob Black in '' The Twilight Saga'' film series. Lautner began his acting career playing bit parts in comedy series such as '' ...

, actor *

Dee Dee Myers Margaret Jane "Dee Dee" Myers (born September 1, 1961) is an American political analyst who served as the 19th White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration. She was the first woman and the second-youngest p ...

Naya Rivera Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series '' Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...

(1987–2020), actress *

Michael Trevino Michael Anthony Trevino (born January 25, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tyler Lockwood on The CW's ''The Vampire Diaries''; and as Kyle Valenti in Roswell, New Mexico. Early life Trevino was born in Los Angeles. ...

, actor * Shane Vereen, professional football player *

Tamara Witmer Tamara Witmer (born March 21, 1984) is an American model, actress and reality television star. She is best known for her appearance as ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month, Miss August 2005, the cover girl for the October 2006 issue and appeared ...

, model *

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...

(1973–2013), actor

References

{{Authority control Planned communities in California Neighborhoods in Santa Clarita, California