Agoura Hills

Agoura Hills was once a very popular place to live outside of LA. Today, it's population has decreased in recent years but it still is an affluent community though it's no longer the "it" spot that it was in the 70's and 80's. About 30 minutes northwest of downtown LA, this city sits on the 101 freeway not far from the Santa Monica mountains and Malibu State Creek Park. At one point in its life, many years ago Agoura Hills was a popular destination for filiming westerns, but those days are long gone now that housing is everywhere.

Speaking of housing, there are some pretty incredible homes here with the usual hefty LA price tags, but you can find some nice homes in good areas for a decent price thanks to a real estate market that is just now beginning to show some life after a few rough years.

Entertainment in Agoura Hills is average. The restaurants are fine but surprisingly nothing out of the ordinary. You won't find any exciting night life or shopping here either. Most travel to nearby Westlake or Santa Monica for fun and trendy stores. Schools are considered very good and get high ratings from parents and excellent private schools are here as well. Crime is fairly low and overall viewed as a safe place to raise a family.

Agoura Hills is a very nice place to live if you prefer to reside in the outskirts of LA. Commuting is never fun and the short 30 mile drive to downtown can take over an hour depending on the time of day. And while Agoura Hills has been overshadowed by Calabasa as a popular place to live, it still offers a very nice lifestyle, though a tad boring.

In the 80’s, Agoura Hills was the place everyone who was afraid of Urban sprawl was running off to. It was considered the happening place to live. It is still a highly affluent area, but Westlake has displaced it as the place to be for the “White Flight” crowd. Agoura Hills now is one of those hyper-clean looking planned communities with the high walls and the manicured lawns, but it looks just a little bit dated, a little tiny bit worn down—kind of like a paint job that looked really great but now is a bit faded.

There is nothing wrong with living here, but costs are still much higher than most people would like to pay. The great schools almost make it worth it, but don’t expect to find anything interesting here. Taco Bell and the supermarket is all you will find in Westlake. There is one exception that I can think of to this general rule—the Lady Face Pub has a bit of character. It is definitely a good place to get a pale ale in an otherwise hum drum town.