Editing Ventura County, California (section)

===Modern period===
[[File:California Orange Grove2.jpg|thumb|Orange grove outside of Santa Paula, California]]
[[File:Victoria Avenue.jpg|thumb|right|Typical rush-hour traffic in Ventura]]
Ventura County can be separated into two major parts, East County and West County, which are divided by the [[Conejo Grade]].<ref>Brant, Cherie (2006). ''Keys to the County: Touring Historic Ventura County''. Ventura County Museum. Page 133. {{ISBN|978-0972936149}}.</ref> East County consists of all cities east of the Conejo Grade. Geographically East County is the end of the [[Santa Monica Mountains]], in which the [[Conejo Valley]] is located, and where there is a considerable increase in elevation. Communities which are considered to be in the East County are [[Thousand Oaks, California|Thousand Oaks]], [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]], [[Lake Sherwood, California|Lake Sherwood]], [[Hidden Valley, Ventura County, California|Hidden Valley]], Santa Rosa Valley, part of Westlake Village, [[Oak Park, California|Oak Park]], Moorpark, and Simi Valley.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} A majority of these communities are in the Conejo Valley.

West County, which is everything west of the Conejo Grade, consists of communities such as [[Camarillo, California|Camarillo]], Oxnard, Somis, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore.<!-- Fillmore appears to be North of the grade, as does Simi Valley --> West County consists of some of the first developed cities in the county. The largest beach communities are located in West County on the coastline of the [[Channel Islands of California|Channel Islands]] Harbor.

Starting in the mid-20th century, there was a large growth in population in the East County, moving from the [[San Fernando Valley]] in Los Angeles and out into the Conejo and Simi Valleys. Part of the [[Conejo Valley]] is situated in [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]]. This part consists of [[Calabasas, California|Calabasas]], [[Hidden Hills, California|Hidden Hills]], [[Agoura Hills, California|Agoura Hills]], [[Agoura, California|Agoura]], and [[Westlake Village, California|Westlake Village]]. The other half of the Conejo Valley, which belongs to Ventura County, consists of [[Lake Sherwood, California|Lake Sherwood]], [[Hidden Valley, Ventura County, California|Hidden Valley]], [[Oak Park, California|Oak Park]], [[Thousand Oaks, California|Thousand Oaks]], and [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]], which was formerly an unincorporated area that is now the most westerly part of Thousand Oaks. Many working-class people migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of [[East Los Angeles (region)|East]] and [[Central Los Angeles]]. As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the [[U.S. Route 101]] corridor. Making the U.S. 101 a full freeway in the 1960s, and the expansions that followed, helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. The communities that have seen the most substantial development are Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park. The neighboring East County area of [[Simi Valley, California|Simi Valley]] saw its already considerable population of nearly 60,000 inhabitants in 1970 grow to over 100,000 over the following two decades.

Development moved farther down the [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. 101]] corridor and sent population rising in West County cities as well. The largest population growth there has been in Camarillo, Oxnard, and Ventura. Development in the East County and along the US 101 corridor is rare today, because most of these cities, such as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, are approaching build-out. Although the area still has plenty of open space and land, almost all of it is in greenbelts between the cities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Comprehensive Review of Water Service/Outside Area Update |department=Administrative Report:City Council Action Date January 23, 2012 |publisher=[[Ventura, California|City of Ventura]] |date=January 5, 2012 |access-date=October 3, 2016 |url=http://www.cityofventura.net/files/file/meetings/city_council/2012/01-23-12/item%2013.pdf  |archive-date=October 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003215857/http://www.cityofventura.net/files/file/meetings/city_council/2012/01-23-12/item%2013.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Because of this, its private low-key location, its country feel, and its proximity to Los Angeles, the Conejo Valley area has become a very attractive place to live. Like most areas of Ventura County, it once had relatively inexpensive real estate, but prices have risen sharply. For example, real estate in Newbury Park has increased in price by more than 250% in the last 10&nbsp;years.{{When|date=January 2022}}

====Thomas Fire====
{{main|Thomas Fire}}
The Thomas Fire was a massive [[wildfire]] that affected Ventura and [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara]] Counties, and one of [[December 2017 Southern California wildfires|multiple wildfires]] that ignited in [[Southern California]] in December 2017. It burned approximately {{convert|281,893|acre|sqmi ha|0}}, becoming the largest [[List of California wildfires|wildfire in modern California history]], before it was fully contained on January 12, 2018.<ref name="largest wildfire">{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-thomas-fire-size-20171222-20171222-htmlstory.html|title=Thomas fire becomes largest wildfire on record in California|author1=Michael Livingston|author2=Javier Panzar|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 23, 2017|access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref>

The Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1,063 structures, while damaging 280 others;<ref name="31,000 acres">{{cite news|url=http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/12/04/fast-moving-brush-fire-burns-100-acres-in-ventura-county/|title=Deadly Thomas Fire in Ventura County explodes to 31,000 acres overnight, 150 structures burned|work=Fox5News|date=December 5, 2017|access-date=December 5, 2017}}</ref> and the fire caused over $2.176 billion (2018 USD) in damages,<ref name="charting">{{cite web|url=https://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2018/04/charting-the-financial-damage-of-the-thomas-fire|title=Charting the Financial Damage of the Thomas Fire|author=Annette Ding|publisher=The Bottom Line|date=April 10, 2018|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref><ref name="agriculture suffers" /> including more than $204.5 million in suppression costs, becoming the seventh-most destructive wildfire in state history.<ref name="grows">{{cite news|url=http://abc7.com/thomas-fire-chars-230k-acres-moves-into-santa-barbara-county/2764882/|title=Thomas Fire grows to 230,000 acres as it continues destructive path into Santa Barbara County|author=Chelsea Edwards|publisher=ABC 7|date=December 11, 2017|access-date=December 11, 2017}}</ref> The agriculture industry suffered at least $171 million in losses due to the Thomas Fire.<ref name="agriculture suffers">{{cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/money/business/2018/01/23/over-170-million-damage-sustained-ventura-countys-agricultural-industry-thomas-fire-according-data-p/1055678001/|title=Ventura County agriculture suffers over $170 million in damages from Thomas Fire|author=Tyler Hersko|newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]]|date=January 23, 2018|access-date=January 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hersko |first=Tyler |date=January 3, 2018 |title=Burned by Thomas Fire, Ventura County farmers look toward recovery |newspaper=Ventura County Star |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/money/business/2018/01/03/burned-thomas-fire-ventura-county-farmers-look-toward-recovery/971672001/ |access-date=February 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2019/11/27/valley-fever-symptoms-treatment-cases-ventura-county-california/4311056002/|title=Valley fever rate stays high in Ventura County, sparks debate about fire, global warming|last=Kisken|first=Tom|date=November 27, 2019|newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]]|language=en|access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> [[Southern California Edison]] paid the county over $11 million in claims related to damages and costs since its equipment was likely associated with one ignition point of the fire near Santa Paula.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/28/ventura-county-fires-edison-thomas-fire-woolsey-claims-resolved/2730318001/|title=The money is in: County gets more than $16M from Edison|last=Wilson|first=Kathleen|date=December 28, 2019|newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]]|language=en|access-date=December 30, 2019}}</ref>