Oxnard

Oxnard is located in Ventura County, California, also the largest city in the county with the highest population. Located on the Oxnard plain, the area is one of the most important agricultural areas in the world. It’s well known for growing strawberries and lima beans.

Oxnard was founded in 1903. There are two Navy bases in Oxnard, one being Point Mugu and the other is Port Hueneme. The busiest port between San Francisco and Los Angeles is the Port of Hueneme. Amtrak, Union Pacific, Southern California, Greyhound, Intercalifornias, Metrolink and many others make stops in Oxnard making it a major transit hub. Oxnard also has its own airport the Oxnard Airport. It’s a small airport so it only travels to Los Angeles International Airport. In the future a major airport may be built, but it is still in discussions. The city is also home to many major companies.

The city is situated in a subtropical climate. The residents enjoy mild winters, which are slightly above the national average and mild summers, which are slightly below the national average. This is because of the ocean breezes. The average temperature is 60º with a minimum temperature of 52º and a maximum temperature of 70º. The weather is usually cool and dry, and enjoys 354 days of sunshine. It hasn’t snowed in the area since 1942.

History of Oxnard

The Chumash Indians once inhabited the area of Oxnard before the Europeans arrived. In 1542, the first European to come to the area now known as Oxnard was Juan Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer, who claimed the land as Spain. Soon, ranching began among the California settlers and in 1850 American farmers began to grow lima beans and barley.

Henry Oxnard, a successful beet factory operator and his three brothers, built a two million dollar factory just inland from Port Hueneme. In 1897, not long after the beet campaign, a new town began to emerge. Although the city was named after them, the Oxnard family never lived in the Oxnard area. In the late 1890s, the town began to grow and a railroad station was built to service the factory.

In June of 1903 Oxnard was incorporated and opened its first library in 1907. The naval bases Port Hueneme and Point Mugu were built before and during World War II to navigate between San Francisco Bay and the Port of Los Angeles.

In the mid 1990s, Oxnard began to grow and develop areas away from the downtown area with homes, retail industry and a new harbor. With the rise of high tech, defense industry and financial industries, more educated Caucasian, white collar professional class began to move from the older parts of town to the newer parts where many new suburban neighborhoods were being built.

Demographics 2000
Population – 170,358

Median Household Income – $48,603

Median Family Income Median – $49,150

Age – 29

Education in Oxnard

The area of Oxnard is served by the Oxnard School District. There are 17 elementary schools, 5 middle schools and the high schools are served by the Oxnard Union High School District with 9 schools. The district embraces challenges and provides many opportunities for the community. The district is also ready to meet new challenges. The key components for this effort are the introduction of standard based instruction. The school offers intervention for at risk children of all grades, extended library hours, after school tutors, double hours of Reading and English and comprehensive counseling.

Economy of Oxnard

Oxnard is driven by manufacturing, agriculture, defense, finance, high tech, transportation, tourism and international trade. Port of Hueneme is one of the busier commercial ports in the area.

There are big named companies in the area of Oxnard like Sysco, Procter & Gamble, Vivitar, Raypak, Seminis, Boss Audio and Drum Workshop.

Neighborhoods are broken up into districts. The Del Norte District has 5 neighborhoods, Central District has 11 neighborhoods, North East District has 4 neighborhoods, North West District has 14 neighborhoods, Southcentral District has 10 neighborhoods, Southeast District has 10 neighborhoods, and Southwest District has 10 neighborhoods.

Recreation in Oxnard

Home to just over 20 miles of coastline, Oxnard has large uncrowded beaches with extremely soft sand. Many of the sand dunes in the area have been recreated to look like the the desert dunes in Middle East for many movies. One of these movies was The Sheik that starred Rudolph Valentino.

Most beaches have driftwood or rock piles and certain beaches in Oxnard are known for dangerous rip tides at some beaches. This makes Oxnard famous for first class surfing. Some of the beaches in the area include: Silver Strand Beach, Ormond Beach, Oxnard Shores, Mugu Rock State Beach, Hollywood by the sea beach, Hueneme Beach, McGrath Beach, Rivermouth Beach, 5th Street Beach, Hollywood Beach, and Oxnard State Beach.

There are many cultrual institutions in Oxford. Some of these include New West Symphony, Seabee Museum, Henry Oxnard Historic District, Ventura County Maritime Museum, restored Craftsman and Victorian homes, Murphy Auto Museum, Los Angeles Times, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard Independent Film Festival, The Oxnard Performing Arts Center, Herzog Winery, Gull Wings Children’s Museum, Elite Theater Compnay, Petit Playhouse, Heritage Square, Otis Chandler, and Transportation and Wildlife.

With a mild climate year-round there are many outdoor activites to enjoy and Oxnard offers many shopping and dining spots around the area. You won’t find a better place settle down in.