Moorpark

Moorpark began in 1900 as a railroad town on the Southern Pacific line, and its High Street downtown still has the depot-era storefronts and the Moorpark Melodrama theater. For most of the twentieth century it was a farm town known for apricots and eggs. Incorporation in 1983 and the 23 Freeway extension turned it into a commuter city for the Conejo Valley.

The city has several distinct parts: the original downtown and the neighborhoods along Los Angeles Avenue; the Campus Park and Campus Canyon areas near Moorpark College; the Mountain Meadows and Peach Hill planned communities south of the freeway; and the newer tracts and estates in the hills to the north and east.

Most of the housing is tract construction from the 1980s through the 2000s, with two-story homes on lots of 5,000 to 8,000 square feet in HOA communities such as Mountain Meadows, Peach Hill and the Moorpark Highlands. These set the middle of the market. The older neighborhoods near downtown and Campus Park carry single-story homes from the 1960s and 1970s at the lower end.

Larger properties on acreage and view lots in the northern hills, and the gated and country-club communities on the east side, set the top of the market. Condos and townhomes are found near the 23, Los Angeles Avenue and the college.

The Moorpark Unified School District serves the city, with Moorpark High School and neighborhood elementary and middle schools, and Moorpark College is on the east side of town. Boundaries follow streets, so check a specific address with the district.

The 23 Freeway runs south to Thousand Oaks and the 101 in about ten minutes, and the 118 runs east to Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley. The Moorpark Metrolink and Amtrak station downtown serves the Ventura County Line. Happy Camp Canyon Regional Park and the Arroyo Simi trails are at the city’s edges, and Camarillo and the coast are reached by Highway 118 through the Santa Rosa Valley or by the 23 and 101.