Santa Clarita Bicycling and Hiking Page
A note to all those that visit and have visited this site:
In the 25 years I lived in Santa Clarita, I saw a fair portion of its development. I saw it grow from a smaller city to a very large one. The population nearly tripled. Air quality was horrid (once even the worst in the nation), crime rose, and the quality of life slid rapidly. It was upsetting to see it be destroyed and replaced by cookie cutter junk. Too many places have gone that way. Santa Clarita used to be a place I enjoyed. I moved from it as soon as I could. I couldn't stand to see it destroyed anymore. I didn't leave my hometown, it left me 100,000 people ago. First it was the removal of the places I used to play around my neighborhood. Then it was seeing the streets turn into parking lots. Then there is what has been happening to Newhall. Santa Clarita, the people and the government, shunned that portion of the city for years. It was the first town in the valley. It was a bit of the history that made the city. It is now history. Starting with bypassing the main part, then closing the only through street, the destruction was only partially complete. It was completed when the streets were renamed to things they never were.
As a cyclist, I hated the city. The bike paths started nice, then more driveways were added, making them more unsafe. When I went to the City to complain about a section of Valencia Blvd and its treatment of the shoulders near Goldcrest Drive, I was told by the head traffic engineer I should ride on the sidewalk! They just don't care. When the City was founded, one of the principles it was founded upon was to slow development in the area. Not only did that not happen, it got worse. When Caltrans came to the City to revisit building the 126 Freeway across the City, they rejected it. Now a road is being built, with FEDERAL FUNDS, that is not even up to State standards, for developers. They call it the Cross Valley Connector. When they wanted to build a bridge over Soledad Canyon Road, they "saved" money by building it without shoulders. Those are for SAFETY! It also takes a rather circuitous route across the city, not only not saving time, but costing more money and fuel.
I have grown tired of being upset about what has gone on in Santa Clarita. It has brought me little to no happiness. I built this site in the hopes of educating people and perhaps they too might care about what was going on. It obviously didn't. I just don't care about it anymore. I hope that at some point, the people of Santa Clarita wake up, and see what has been done, and move to recall those in office. Sadly, one cannot recall the development.
With that, as of January 31, 2008, the Santa Clarita Resources Page will be no more. I am removing all but the Geology and Highways pages. The name and domain will also change, at a time to be determined. It is very sad for me to remove the page I have worked so hard to create. I have built this page from the Geology site in 1995 to what is online today. Parts of the pages, what aren't Santa Clarita-specific, will remain, integrated into a new Los Angeles Rocks N' Roads page. In the new site, I will expand the geology and highways pages to include a larger area, with less focus on the Santa Clarita area.
So please, do your part in trying to preserve what is left of a once great place to live. I also encourage all to explore the area. You might find some of what inspired me to put this site up in the first place.
E-mail, write, or call your City Council, Mayor, and City Manager. They are to blame for the destruction. They are to blame for the losses.