I lived in Simi Valley for a year when I worked at Countrywide Home Loans. At it’s peak, CW had 3 locations and 10,000 jobs in Simi Valley.
The place was a a huge trailer park until Countrywide relocated there from Pasadena and the housing bubble kick started development.
I know people that moved out there back in the day for the new big homes for 200K. After a couple of years, they move back to LA. Nothing to do there, and weather sucks, 100 degrees in the summer.
Simi Valley is the reason why I moved to San Diego. LA was getting way too expensive, and I was looking at the prospect of moving back to Simi Valley if i wanted to buy a home in the near future. It’s like living in Santee or El Cajon.