Chapter 4 - Megalopolis

Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County with a population of 176,971 in January 2011.  It is the 24th largest city in the State of California.  In Los Angeles County, Los Angeles with
a population of 3.8 million, Long Beach with less than 464,000, and Glendale with slightly over 192,000 were larger than Santa Clarita.  Overall, Santa Clarita plays an important role in the County based on its size.  Santa Clarita's population grew by 17.5% from 2000 to 2010 and was almost twice the growth experience in all of Los Angeles County. Only the communities of Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley grew faster than Santa Clarita. 




Public Options Provided to the Community

1.  Transit Buses
        - Santa Clarita Transit buses people all around the valley and also has ones that go down to the  
          valley and north towards Santa Barbara

2.  Henry Mayo Hospital
        - Located in the northwest part of Newhall (which I unfortunately have visited multiple times)

3.  Valencia Town Center Mall/Car Dealerships
        - Over 100 stores and restaurants along with an IMAX Movie Theatre

4.  Six Flags Magic Mountain Amusement Park
        - My sister's first job
        - Created tons of new jobs and visitors

5.  Two Bowling Alleys
        - Valencia Lanes in Newhall
        - Santa Clarita Lanes in Canyon Country (where I bowled in a league for about eight years)

6.  Police and Fire Stations
        - Police station located in the center near the car dealerships
        - Ten fire stations scattered throughout the valley
        - Public Library inside

7.  Three Local Freeways (I use these freeways to commute up there at least once a week)
        - The 5 which extends from Southern California up through Northern California
        - The 126 travels west through Fillmore towards Ventura and quickly connects to the 101 north
        - The 14 is on the east side of the valley which starts at the 5 near Balboa and extends up through
           Palmdale and Lancaster

8.  Parks and Recreation Areas
        - The major Rec Center is in Canyon Country where most of the city sports teams play except
           for softball teams which play at Central Park in Saugus (also has a skatepark)
        - Countless parks and rec centers scattered throughout almost every housing tract in the valley
        - Most equipped with pool and basketball courts
        - The majority of them have jungle gyms
        - 4 golf courses within the valley
9.  Paseos
        - Pathways leading over 30 miles around town (all I used when riding my bike around town)


Sources:

- My Knowledge and Experiences
- http://www.santa-clarita.com