First Impressions

As I recall,
it was raining when I first arrived in Simi Valley December 1963.
I was six years old.
My first memory was my parents calling a place called Chicken Delight to deliver dinner,
 they got lost,
so it's fair to assume the chicken dinner was cold that night.

 The first and for many years only traffic signal in town was at Tapo st. and Los Angeles Ave,
 just west of the train depot.
Eucalyptus trees lined the entire length of our "Main Street" Los Angeles Ave.
Tract homes by the hundreds were just beginning to sprout up,
 but acres and acres of orange groves were still everywhere.

In 1960, Simi Valley was a small town with a little over 8,000 residents,
and by 1965 the number rose to over 40,000,
me being one of the many newcomers.



The only way into town from the east was the two lane winding Santa Susana pass road,
 and the only way out west was highway 118 through Moorpark.

Many of the old ranch and farm houses still coexisted with the new arrivals,
 but most if not all have since been torn down.
The original high school which soon became Center Jr. High school had a lovely classic brick two story main building complete with an auditorium (destroyed in the 71 earthquake)

The new (and still ugly) Simi high school was just being built.
The even newer and equally ugly Royal high would be built a few years later.

To many former  residents myself included,
Simi became a bland community void of any real personality.........
But once upon a time not so long ago,
the smell of orange blossoms filled the air,
and I feel very fortunate to have grown up their.

The last time I visited
 was back in 2005 when my brother Doug and I took a drive down memory lane,
and could hardly recognize what Simi had become.

Likely I will never return again, except in my mind.

Join me as I recall the days when Simi was a small town,
 and a wonderful place to be a kid.