Oxnard, California

The City of Oxnard is the largest city in Ventura County in terms of population, as well as one of the world's most important agricultural centers, with it's distinction as the strawberry and lima bean capital. It was incorporated as a city in California in 1903, and named after the Oxnard brothers who opened a sugar factory on it?s plains in 1882. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 170,358, but a May 1, 2005 California Department of Finance estimate shows the city's population at just over 200,000, with the Oxnard-Ventura Metropolitan Area at nearly half a million people.

Geography and Climate

Oxnard is located at 34°11'29" North, 119°10'57" West (34.191292, -119.182497){{GR|1}}.

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 94.8 km² (36.6 mi²). 65.6 km² (25.3 mi²) of it is land and 29.2 km² (11.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 30.83% water.

Related Topics:
United States Census Bureau - Km² - Mi²

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Cityscape

The city is home to many neighborhoods. From Silver Strand to Southwinds, Hollywood Beach to Hueneme, El Rio to La Colonia, Pleasant Valley to Rose Park, most of the neighborhood names come from farms and ranches that were annexed by the growing city, physical terrain features, ocean landmarks, major streets, major events, or subdivision names coined by enterprising developers.

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The Beaches

The city of Oxnard is home to over 20 miles of scenic, unspoiled and uncrowded coastline. The beaches in Oxnard are large and the sand is exceptionally soft. The sand dunes in Oxnard have been used to recreate Middle-Eastern desert dunes in many movies. There are very little rocks or driftwood piles at most beaches, but Oxnard is known to have dangerous rip-currents at certain beaches. Oxnard is home to world-class surf, although it's best surf is inaccesible to the general public because it breaks at the beach inside the Navy base at Point Mugu. Only those with access to the base can surf it's fast-moving (and at times up to 15 foot) break.

Related Topics:
Middle-Eastern - Navy - Point Mugu

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Beaches in Oxnard include Mugu Rock State Beach, Ormond Beach, Hueneme Beach, Silverstrand Beach, Hollywood Beach, Mandalay Beach, Oxnard State Beach, Oxnard Shores, 5th Street Beach, McGrath State Beach and Rivermouth Beach.

Related Topics:
Mugu Rock State Beach - Oxnard State Beach - McGrath State Beach

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The Port

Port Hueneme is the only deep water port between the Port of Long Beach and the Port of San Francisco, and the only military deep water port between San Diego Bay and Puget Sound. It is operated jointly by the United States Navy and the Oxnard Harbor District.

Related Topics:
Port - Port of Long Beach - Port of San Francisco - San Diego Bay - Puget Sound - United States Navy - Oxnard Harbor District

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The port is a shipping and receiving point for a wide variety of goods destined for the Los Angeles Basin, and beyond including automobiles, pineapples, and bananas. Agricultural products such as onions, strawberries, and flowers are shipped.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles Basin - Automobile - Pineapple - Banana - Onion - Strawberries - Flower

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The United States Navy maintains a facility at Port Hueneme, in support of the naval air station at Point Mugu to the south, with which it comprises Naval Base Ventura County. Port Hueneme is the West Coast home of the Construction Battalion, the famous "Seabees," as well as a link in the coastal radar system.

Related Topics:
United States Navy - Point Mugu - Naval Base Ventura County - West Coast - Seabees

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The Harbors

Oxnard is home to two harbors: Channel Islands Harbor and Ventura Harbor. Channel Islands Harbor is located on the south shore of Oxnard and is nicknamed the "Gateway to the Channel Islands" because of the high number of operations that sail to the islands out of the harbor. Both harbors are vital fishing industry harbors and the fish caught off the Oxnard coast is served in restaurants around the world.

Related Topics:
Channel Islands Harbor - Ventura Harbor - Fishing industry

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The Fields

The Oxnard Plain is full of the richest, most fertile soil in all of the world. In the years of Oxnard's booming growth during the 70's and 80's, many farms and ranches were annexed for development, and many new development plans threatened much of the plain's farmland in the near future. In 1995, a grassroots effort known as SOAR was initiated by farmers, ranchers and citizens in an effort to save the vast agricultural assest of the Oxnard Plain.

Related Topics:
Oxnard Plain - 1995

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The SOAR Initiative

The original Napa Valley, California Initiative passed in 1990 was used as a template for the city of Ventura SOAR (passed by voters in 1995), the City of Thousand Oaks measure (adopted in 1996), and the Ventura County SOAR (approved in 1998). The Napa Valley Initiative was chosen as the template for the Ventura County SOARs because it had withstood legal challenge all the way to the Supreme Court.

Related Topics:
Napa Valley, California - Ventura - Thousand Oaks - 1996 - 1998 - Ventura County - Supreme Court

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The SOAR measure is a General Plan Amendment. California law allows for lawmaking by initiative, including the amendment of city and county General Plans. The SOAR measure prevents changes in specified land use categories of the General Plan unless the land use change is approved by a (simple) majority of voters. In other words it locks in certain land

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use categories and puts the keys in the hands of the voters.

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The requirement of a vote of the people provides greater protection to those valuable resources the measure specifies. For example, the County of Ventura SOAR protects three land use categories: Open space, Agriculture and Rural Land. Parkland is protected by the Thousand Oaks measure.

Related Topics:
County of Ventura - Thousand Oaks

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A second type of SOAR Initiative, called CURB, was devised to further fortify SOAR protected lands. CURB, a companion initiative to the county SOAR, applies to cities. The CURB is an urban boundary line that is drawn around a city and a vote of the people is required before a city can urbanize land outside the CURB line. This double protection precludes instances where a city may annex from the county lands protected by SOAR and develop them without a vote of the people. Sprawling cities often expand outward by annexing more land into their boundaries for urbanization. CURB is an acronym that stands for City Urban Restriction Boundary.

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The Climate

The weather conditions are considered by many to be the some of the best in the world. No other place is as temperate or as consistently sunny and dry.

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The city is situated in a Mediterranean, or dry subtropical climate zone, experiencing mild winters that are warmer than average, and mild summers that are cooler than average. Offshore breezes keep the communities of Oxnard cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those further inland. The average mean temperature is 61 degrees. Average minimum temperature is 52.4 degrees and the average maximum temperature is 69.6 degrees. In the winter, rain is a possibility. Generally the weather is cool and dry in all seasons, with 354 days of sunshine a year.

Related Topics:
Mediterranean - Subtropical - Winters - Summers

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