RURAL AREA IN THROES OF TRANSITION.Byline: Angie Valencia Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - Carlos Corona Corona, city, United States Corona (kərō`nə), city (1990 pop. 76,095), Riverside co., S Calif.; inc. 1896. The city developed as a primary citrus fruit producer and shipping center. There is also light manufacturing. gently bathes his 6-year-old horse, Saino, with a hose and a brush - pausing only to point across his property to a chunk of undeveloped land for sale. Then the 33-year-old Simi SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative resident wipes his brow and points out the home of his neighbor on Patricia Avenue who also keeps horses on his property. ``He, too, is worried,'' Corona says. ``He doesn't want to move.'' Corona and his neighbors are under siege these days as the local population boom threatens to crowd out the almost rural lifestyle on Patricia. Between 1980 and 2000, the population of the neighborhood - defined as south of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Avenue between First Street and Erringer Road - has soared 445 percent, from 401 to 2,180 people, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. city figures. In the same period, the number of dwelling units skyrocketed by 460 percent, from 158 to 889 house and apartment units. And more is one the way. As of March 12, two apartment buildings are under construction, three more have been approved for construction, and five others are under review - a total of 173 multifamily units in the works. ``Patricia Avenue is going through a transitional period and will get better and better with future development,'' said Manuel Carlito, who built a 36-unit senior-citizens building along Patricia Avenue in 1988 and recently got the green light to build two 20-unit buildings. ``Within a couple of years the whole neighborhood will be either all condos or apartment units.'' Given those rapid changes, the city's Department of Environmental Services The various combinations of scientific, technical, and advisory activities (including modification processes, i.e., the influence of manmade and natural factors) required to acquire, produce, and supply information on the past, present, and future states of space, atmospheric, staff is studying Patricia Avenue to see how growth will affect the need for city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. and the impact on its current residents. Findings and recommendations will be presented to the City Council by early May. That's what Corona fears - that development will phase out a way of life he has grown to love, as the neighborhood undergoes a transition from being historically a predominantly low-density, single-family area to a high-density, multifamily community. He lives comfortably in a three-bedroom home on one acre with his wife, two children, two dogs and four horses. It's an easy distance to his restaurant, El Pollo Norteo, along Los Angeles Avenue. But with more development on the way, he might consider moving. ``We don't want to move with our business being so close to home,'' he said in Spanish. ``But we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. yet. Who's to say that with all the new residents coming from all sorts of new development, there won't be some who'll be offended by the smell of horses, different type of lifestyle.'' The neighborhood now is a mishmash mish·mash n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge. [Middle English misse-masche, probably reduplication of mash, soft mixture; see mash. of older, midsize homes on sprawling lots, day-care centers day-care center: see day nursery. , medical offices, auto repair shops and apartment buildings. About half of the neighborhood's residential-zone land does not conform to Verb 1. conform to - satisfy a condition or restriction; "Does this paper meet the requirements for the degree?" fit, meet coordinate - be co-ordinated; "These activities coordinate well" city zoning. Also, five parcels, roughly four acres, have some kind of livestock - horses, chickens and, at one point, pigs. Mayor Bill Davis For the artist, animator, creative director, see . For the baseball player, see .
But, he said, so as long as residents don't sell to developers, the neighborhood's character will not change. ``Don't sell if you want it the way it is,'' Davis said. But rising land values make selling very tempting, and Patricia Avenue's lower density properties have great appeal to builders of town homes and apartments, said Councilman Glen Becerra. ``I'm sure some businesses will leave the area and make some money off the sale,'' Becerra said. ``Animal-keeping residents can decide what they want to do - stay and be built around or take their lifestyle to an area that has a longer-term possibility of continuing to stay animal-keeping.'' Angie Valencia, (805) 583-7604 angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Carlos Corona, center, and children Lenica, 6, and Carlos Jr., 8, live in a changing Simi Valley community. (2) The Coronas live comfortably on a one-acre Simi Valley property on Patricia Avenue with four horses and six pets. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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