Living in Valencia, Where the Paseo Is the Shortcut

Valencia was drawn on paper before it was built, and you feel it the first time you walk out your front door, get on a paseo, and end up at a lake without crossing a single road.

Why do people come to Valencia?

• The paseos. A trail system that runs under the major roads instead of across them, so a walk, a bike ride or a run to a friend's house does not involve traffic.
• The lake at Bridgeport. Water, ducks, a path around it, and the kind of evening walk people move here for.
• Valencia Town Center. Shops, dinner and a movie, close enough to a lot of neighborhoods to walk or ride to.
• Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor. Season passes are a normal household expense here, and a Saturday can be a rollercoaster and home by dinner.
• Golf. Valencia Country Club and The Oaks Club at Valencia, both minutes from home.

What if I commute?

This is the part commuters get excited about. Two Metrolink stations are close by: Santa Clarita station on Soledad Canyon Road and Newhall station on Railroad Avenue, both on the Antelope Valley Line into LA Union Station. That means the drive downtown can become a train ride, and the hour you would spend with both hands on the wheel becomes an hour with a book, your email already answered, and no gas.

Driving instead? I-5 runs along the west side, with McBean Parkway, Magic Mountain Parkway, Newhall Ranch Road and The Old Road carrying most of the local traffic.

The practical answers

The last one on this list is the one that surprises people in escrow, so read it twice. In Valencia the school your address feeds is decided by the tract, not by the community name on the sign.

• City or county: part of the City of Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles County.
• ZIP codes: 91354 and 91355.
• Who planned it: The Newhall Land and Farming Company, with the first homes finished in 1967, which is why the whole place feels deliberate.
• Schools: William S. Hart Union High School District for grades 7 to 12, with Newhall School District or Saugus Union School District elementary campuses depending on the tract. Always confirm your assignment by address with the district.

There's a youth league game at one of the parks, a swim at the neighborhood pool, or a coffee that turns into an hour of wandering Valencia Town Center. Afternoons might mean a matinee, a round of golf with mountain views behind the fairway, or the short drive to Six Flags Magic Mountain, where a season pass is practically a local rite of passage.

Nobody plans most of that. It is just close enough that it happens.

Valencia is one name on nine different sets of streets, and the name itself is the least useful thing about it. What actually separates one Valencia neighborhood from the next is the year it was built, whether Mello-Roos sits on the tax bill, what the HOA takes care of for you, whether a paseo runs through it, and which high school the address feeds. Two homes with the same square footage, both honestly advertised as Valencia, can be a different monthly payment and a different school.

So this is the part of the page worth slowing down for. Here is how the neighborhoods people ask us about most actually compare, and what each one is really trading.

Bridgeport. Bridgeport was built in the early 2000s around a private, man-made lake. Nine smaller neighborhoods circle the water, tied together by walking trails, with a clubhouse and a community pool. Some homes look straight out at the lake, and the trail around it makes an easy evening walk.

Westridge. Westridge is one of the most expensive areas in all of Santa Clarita, and it is still part of Valencia. It is home to The Oaks Club at Valencia, formerly TPC Valencia, and Valencia Country Club, and it sits right off the 5 for commuters. One detail buyers often miss until they are in escrow is that Westridge is zoned to West Ranch High School, not Valencia High School.

The Woodlands. The Woodlands backs up to the golf course, so many homes look across the fairways toward the mountains. Along with Westridge, it holds some of Valencia's most expensive addresses.

The Summit. The Summit sits on a hill above the rest of Valencia with sweeping views. It is one of the older pockets, generally without Mello-Roos and with lower HOA dues, and the paseos run right through it.

Granary Square. Granary Square is another older pocket with low HOA dues and generally no Mello-Roos. Pools, parks, and paseos are part of everyday life here, and the shops and restaurants around Granary Square are close by.

West Creek. West Creek has its own community center, pool, and park system. It is one of the newer master-planned communities, built over roughly the last 20 years, and you can bike from here to Valencia Town Center.

Tesoro and West Hills. Up on the far north side of the valley, Tesoro and West Hills hold newer hilltop homes with views, master-planned parks, and paseos. Tesoro is known for its active HOA. In both, HOA dues and Mello-Roos are usually part of the monthly picture.

Northbridge. Northbridge is anchored by Northbridge Park, one of the most loved parks in the Santa Clarita Valley, and the paseos lead right to it.

A quick note on names. Valencia by FivePoint, once called Newhall Ranch, is a newer master-planned community being built west of I-5 in unincorporated Los Angeles County, outside Santa Clarita city limits. It shares the name, but it is a different community in a different jurisdiction, and its newer homes commonly carry Mello-Roos. This page covers the established Valencia east of the 5. If you are considering both, we will walk you through the differences.

The paseo system is the thing buyers don't fully appreciate until they live with it. Miles of paths run behind homes, through parks, and across neighborhoods, completely separate from traffic. They link neighborhood to neighborhood and park to park, and they connect to schools, which is why a trip to the park here so often skips the busy roads.

Nearly every Valencia neighborhood has a park within walking distance. Heritage Park is a big, well-loved one, with open lawns, playgrounds, and room for a birthday party or a reunion. Northbridge Park anchors its neighborhood, West Creek has its own park system, and Bridgeport has the lake, with bridges, trails, and playgrounds along the water.

Golfers have two courses close to home, Valencia Country Club and The Oaks Club at Valencia. Membership and access rules differ between clubs, so check with each one directly before counting on a tee time.

Not every errand should be a trip to the mall. Granary Square and the shops along The Old Road carry more restaurants and services, and Bridgeport Marketplace is the neighborhood version: groceries, a coffee, a haircut, dinner, all a few minutes from the lake.

This is the part of Valencia people stop noticing after a month, which is exactly the point. The ordinary stuff is close.

I-5 runs along Valencia's west side. McBean Parkway, Magic Mountain Parkway, Newhall Ranch Road, and The Old Road are the roads you will use every day to get in and out of the neighborhoods.

If you commute toward downtown Los Angeles, the 5 south is the route, and the clock changes everything. An off-peak drive and a rush-hour drive on the same freeway can feel like two different commutes. Drive your route at the hour you would really leave for work before you buy, and you will know exactly what you are signing up for.

Metrolink is the other option. The Santa Clarita station on Soledad Canyon Road and the Newhall station on Railroad Avenue both sit on the Antelope Valley Line, which runs to Union Station.

Many Valencia residents skip the long commute entirely. The Valencia Industrial Center is home to biotech, tech, and light manufacturing employers, and the hospital, the two colleges, and Town Center are all right here. Inside Valencia, the paseos handle a lot of the short trips on foot or by bike.