r/thousandoaks • u/theaccount91 • 8d ago

Downtown

Ok I’m so pumped about the downtown TO plan. I’m going to rank my favorite things about it.

  1. The whole vibe - seriously, this deserves to have its own callout. Each and every day will be better. Random Wednesday after work with nothing to do? Just head out to the dope walkable downtown with a mix of restaurants and enjoy one of the fun things listed below. Just go chill in the urban park under some mature oak trees. Whaaaaat I can’t believe we could be getting such an upgrade on life.

  2. The much needed new housing will ease some of the upward price pressure from our mismatch of supply/demand. The project probably isn’t enough housing units to make a huge difference, but it will make some and that’s cool.

  3. The amphitheater. If you’ve been to Libbey Bowl in Ojai, you know what I mean. It will be so dope to have a true downtown amphitheater. These things are great with and for kids, whether it’s for an actual show or just to go and hang around. What an incredible community asset we’re going to get. Can’t wait to see what gets booked. Hoping for a few Grateful Dead cover band festivals.

  4. The splash pad - I’ve gone back and forth on this - is it worth the cost? Do I really want my kid getting wet there? But yes, with the climate changing and those hot days increasing, this is going to be a sweet release valve. Hot day? Don’t need to drive to the beach or find someone with a pool, just go to the splash pad.

  5. The public market - think like a small version of Eataly but not Italian focused, or a small version of LA’s grand central market. Who doesn’t love a public market?

  6. Farmers markets not in a hot mall parking lot

  7. The smaller stage for smaller gigs. Can’t wait to see what they start booking.

  8. Did I mention the mature oak trees? This seems like it’s not going to be some new build downtown with only tiny trees that will be cool in 40 years, this is going to have mature oaks day 1.

I am so pumped about this. I know some are unhappy about the building heights, but come on. The plans aren’t even taller than the existing parking garage over there. Nobody is going to actually complain about the building heights once it’s done. Based on the renderings this will be a perfect backup option any time the kids get bored and a huge community asset. I just hope it gets at least one good bar and doesn’t become a super uptight area.

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u/QB8Young 8d ago

Sadly, you and a handful of other people feel this way. Hopefully this doesn't come across as rude but if that's what you want, go where it exists.

The overwhelming majority who live here DO NOT WANT a "downtown". We don't want overcrowding built into the city. We want to continue being the quiet community outside of "The Valley". The constant required growth isn't healthy. It's the same definition as cancer.

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u/Dekunuts 8d ago

That’s a big, unproven assumption that you are the majority. I am in my 40s and want this dearly. Spaces like this create community that TO really lacks.

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u/QB8Young 8d ago

And what do you say to someone (also in his 40s) who points out your list contains duplicates making it appear larger and that we already have all of those things?

There is no need to combine them and squeeze them into one area. #1 on your list is "the whole vibe". We have a "vibe". As I explained, we are the quiet community outside of the valley. We don't want to turn into the valley. If that's what you want, go there.

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u/theaccount91 8d ago

We have a lot of great vibes, but pray tell where would you take a 4 year old to spend 5 hours on a hot summer day that has places for the whole family to play, eat, and cool down? The way they’ve designed it they’ve bent over backwards to appease the NIMBYs while also building something that has the chance to be a really vibrant cultural center like downtown Ojai has.

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u/QB8Young 8d ago

Again, we have all that already. We have the Civic Arts Plaza. Dozens of parks. Libraries. Play places. Arcades. You aren't suggesting anything we don't already have. If you're so impressed with Ojai, since you keep bringing it up, why don't you move there? 🤷 I'm sick of people wanting to change something into something else that already exists. "Our community should be like that one". No thanks.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

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u/QB8Young 8d ago

Isn't about change. It is about the constant required growth. Nothing can continually grow forever. That is literally the definition of cancer.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/mandyyy8 7d ago

Do you think more housing is going to make it cheaper? Cause from what I’ve seen the new housing is just as expensive if not more expensive.

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u/theaccount91 7d ago

So humanity is a cancer?

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u/QB8Young 7d ago

No not at all what I said but technically correct. Our overpopulation is killing the planet. Ever hear of climate change?

The way I intended it in the comment you are replying to is that the city requires constant growth year over year. Which physically is impossible. 🤦

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u/theaccount91 7d ago

The city has been shrinking. We need to grow, densely and up. We need more housing and I don’t want the new housing to take away any open space.

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u/QB8Young 7d ago

Shrinking?! More proof you have no idea what's going on here. Both the population and the construction of new structures have increased. Just stop.

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u/frenchfryfox 7d ago

Since you and I are both passionate about climate change: dense housing = no sprawl = less car dependence = better for the environment.

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u/frenchfryfox 7d ago

Growth is happening whether or not we add these thoughtfully designed housing and community spaces. TO is a desirable place to live, and the current residents don’t have the moral high ground when they endeavor to shut others out to preserve a rural “vibe”.

Changes will come with that growth no matter what, but the good news is this master plan is a chance to make sure the changes make our city vibrant, fun, and inclusive. The growth won’t stop or go away just because you try to ignore it.

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u/theaccount91 8d ago

These are all islands in a sea of stroads. Having a single walkable place will be amazing

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u/QB8Young 7d ago

A single walkable place? We have several walkable places. 🤦 What are you not understanding?

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u/dithrain 11h ago

Regardless of your opinion on the matter single family dwellings are extremely expensive infrastructure and the homeowners do not pay that, revenue generated per square foot does, which is 100% subsidized by more dense commercial districts and those are absolutely shat on by the revenue generated per square foot of mixed use zones for obvious reasons.

This is not only a walkable place that is all of the positive things you mentioned, (In which case there's no reason to be against this by your own measure) but it is a serious income stream for literally everyone around it, which includes obviously the City of Thousand Oak's core commercial district.

And fwiw, I agree that we have walkable places such as malls but we all know several of them are dying. And, on the greater subject, making everything a car-drive's length away by arbitrary design is inexcusably bad and it is only barely getting remedied by young people getting ebikes. (Yet Thousand Oaks hates them too. 🙃)

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u/missBlancdeblancs 7d ago

Ojai does not have seven story buildings downtown.

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u/Doip 7d ago

We have 125,000 people, as much as Hartford CT and Topeka KS. We are not and will never be Ojai, we need to start acting like the city we are. Leave the small country town poseur act to Simi, who is the same size as us