Santa Clarita, California

cal405
8mo ago
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I'm in the demographic you described. Santa Clarita is a "family oriented" city. There's a serious lack of entertainment and venues directed to adults. There's a few bars here and there but they're nothing special.

Nevertheless, there's plenty of friendly people--some of whom are parents--with interests beyond being parents. The friends I've made in town are people with a shared interest or hobby, most recently musicians but in the past I've met a lot of people through sports (basketball and tennis).

If you move here, you will have to put yourself out there to find folks to hang out with, but honestly, that would be true in almost any city.

What's it like living in Santa Clarita? Do you like it?

Describe Santa Clarita in one word?

For someone coming from China? Open.

There is so much space in Santa Clarita. The houses are huge, the roads are huge, the population is comparatively small for the size of the town. You can generally drive across Santa Clarita in no time, the lights are all relatively well timed, and have smart sensors.

Do people there usually go to the valley for international food?

No real need to do that depending on what sort of international food you're looking for. There's a good selection of every major international food type a person wants.

Are there any chinese markets/restaurants? (authentic)

Having been to China (Guongdong) about 14 times , staying 3-4 weeks at a time, and seen what authentic Chinese food is, you will never find authentic Chinese food restaurants in SCV. They would never survive in America outside of China towns, the amount of bones, ligaments, cartilage and fat you find in real Chinese food would be a major turn off.

The restaurants all serve Americanized asian fusion type of stuff, or American Cantonese style food. If your friend likes Cantonese style food, then that might be acceptable. The food here will be a lot sweeter than authentic Chinese food though.

There's plenty of markets where you can buy authentic ingredients though. Even regular grocery stores have an okay selection of proper vegetables and spices. The only area that might be lacking is the meat and fish. Coming by some of the pieces that Chinese people often eat (chicken feet?) might be a little harder or require ordering in advance, but still manageable. Same with fish, most fish sold at regular grocery stores are already filleted and de-boned, so you might need to order in advance if you want a whole fish.

Are people friendly?

Yeah they generally are. This is a fairly wealthy area, that isn't too crowded, so that contributes to an overall happy mood. There's plenty of bitchy stay at home soccer moms (karens), that feel entitled, but that's really only an issue if you work at retail stores or food service.

How is the traffic?

Within the town, pretty good. You can drive across it pretty quickly any time of the day. The stop lights are usually well timed, and have smart sensors. Leaving the town to go towards LA? Broken…

How is it for entertainment?

Not so good, and to do anything generally requires driving. It's not like in the cities in China where you can generally walk out of your apartment and do a lot of stuff. When I would walk around in China, there were always groups doing exercises, or synchronized dancing, or fishing or other outdoor activities in the evenings. You never see anything like that in Santa Clarita. There's no real night life here.

Plakchup
1y ago
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SCV is an amazing place to raise a family and live at. It's clean and safe but housing can be pretty expensive. It's basically a better version of Palmdale in a way where you will not find jobs locally and will have to commute a minimum of 1 hour in any direction. We had the opportunity to leave and buy a place in the valley but chose to buy a townhouse in SVC because we just loved the city that much. I can't see myself living anywhere much else. Porter rach is really expensive, similar to stevenson ranch. Valencia is more expensive as well housing wise. You most likely will have to look in saugus, canyon country or newhall for more affordable housing.

The worst part is the traffic; it's really bad not going to sugar coat it. Your best bet would b e to have a hybrid or remote job so you do not need to leave the city as often. There are some tech jobs in santa clarita but super rare, like MSP's for example (but I would never want to work for one). As said it's really just homes and stores out here.

Elevated_Kyle
2y ago
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2. We’ve had all three of our kids (ages 8, 5 and 7 months) at Henry Mayo and each time was fantastic. Our second was born in the car in the ER drop off (guess we mistimed that one!) and their staff could not have handled it any better.

3. Piccola(s) - I’m partial to the new one off Plum Canyon. Larsens bar seating and happy hour is awesome. The Local is fun. Grand Panda has the best Chinese in town - one in Newhall and another in Saugus. Sabor is the best Mexican in town. Egg Plantation has the best breakfast. Piccola, Larsens and Sabor are perfect for date night.

4. Tons of awesome hikes in town. Placerita, Towsley and many more.

5. Santa Clarita is clean, quiet and has awesome schools. It’s not going to have all the night life it you aren’t terribly far from it when/if you desire it. Admittedly our restaurant scene is immature to say the least but it’s growing.

Enjoy!

Living Santa Clarita California Pros and Cons