Westridge

What is it like to live in Westridge?

Westridge is the community people picture when they think of Valencia at its most polished. It was built between 2002 and 2004 on about 800 acres of rolling hills south of Valencia Boulevard, wrapped around the TPC Valencia golf course and a 150-acre oak preserve. The streets are wide and quiet, the landscaping is immaculate, and the paseos connect you to the two recreation centers, the park and the clubhouse without crossing a major road. On resident surveys it scores among the friendliest neighborhoods in the valley, and you feel that quickly. There are holiday events at the Horizon Clubhouse, summer evenings at the pools, and neighbors who have known each other for twenty years.

It is also the community that gives you the widest range of homes under one master plan. You can buy a townhome, a family home on a cul-de-sac, or a custom estate behind a guard gate, all with the same amenities and the same schools.

What are the neighborhoods inside Westridge?

Westridge is made up of ten neighborhoods, each with its own sub-association. Knowing them helps you shop.

• Westridge Estates is the guard-gated custom enclave along the golf course and the oak preserve, with homes from about 3,000 square feet to well over 10,000, and three to seven bedrooms.
• Oakmont is gated, with larger homes of roughly 3,100 to 5,400 square feet, many backing to the course.
• Masters offers four to six bedroom homes of 3,300 to 4,300 square feet on the fairway side.
• Emerald has detached homes in the 3,500 to 4,200 square foot range.
• Montanya is gated, with homes of about 2,700 to 3,500 square feet.
• Bent Canyon is partly gated, with homes of 3,100 to 3,600 square feet.
• Sundance is gated, with four and five bedroom homes around 2,400 to 2,800 square feet.
• Bella Ventana is a gated townhome neighborhood, three bedrooms, about 1,700 to 2,000 square feet.
• Cypress Point and San Abella are the attached options, with townhomes and condominiums from about 1,500 to 2,500 square feet.

Belcaro is another name you will hear, a sub-tract of the estates along the preserve. If you are moving from elsewhere in Valencia, it is a natural step up. If you are coming from the Westside or the San Fernando Valley, it is often the first place I show people who want new-feeling construction with real amenities.

What do homes cost in Westridge?

Westridge covers a wide band because it covers so many home types. Townhomes and condominiums in Bella Ventana, Cypress Point and San Abella generally trade in the high six hundreds to the high eight hundreds. Detached homes in Sundance, Montanya, Bent Canyon, Emerald and Masters run from roughly $1.1 million to $1.6 million depending on size, lot and whether you back to the course. Oakmont and the Westridge Estates start around $1.5 million and reach past $3.5 million for the largest custom homes, with a recent five-bedroom estate of about 5,650 square feet pending at $3.36 million.

For estate sellers, pricing here is about finding the right comparable, which often means looking at the whole valley’s estate market rather than the last sale on your street. For buyers, the value story is simple. You are getting a resort-style community, top schools and no Mello-Roos, which changes the monthly math compared with a similar home in a newer tract.

What are the HOA dues and what do they cover?

Every home in Westridge belongs to the Westridge Valencia Master Association, which maintains the recreation centers, pools, spas, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, park, clubhouses, paseos and the common landscaping that makes the community look the way it does. Most homes also pay a sub-association for their specific neighborhood, which covers things like gates, private streets and, in the attached neighborhoods, building exteriors and roofs. The combined amount varies by neighborhood, and I pull the exact figures, budgets and reserve studies for any home we consider so you know what you are paying for and how well it is managed. In my experience, Westridge’s associations are well run, and that shows in the condition of the community.

Does Westridge have Mello-Roos?

No. This is one of the community’s quiet advantages. Most master-planned neighborhoods built in Santa Clarita after the mid-1990s carry a Mello-Roos special tax, often in the range of $1,500 to $5,000 a year depending on the tract. Westridge was built without one. Your property tax is the standard Los Angeles County rate on your purchase price, and I still review every tax bill for any small assessments before we write.

What are the schools?

Westridge shares its schools with Stevenson Ranch, and that feeder pattern is one of the main reasons families choose the area. Oak Hills Elementary, a California Distinguished School in the Newhall School District, is right at the edge of the community. Rancho Pico Junior High and West Ranch High School, both in the William S. Hart Union High School District, are a few minutes away. College of the Canyons is close for dual enrollment and community programs. Private options in Valencia and Stevenson Ranch are within a ten-minute drive.

How is the commute?

Westridge sits on the west side of Valencia with quick access to the 5 via Valencia Boulevard or Pico Canyon Road. Burbank and the San Fernando Valley are typically thirty to forty-five minutes, and downtown Los Angeles around an hour in traffic. The Newhall Metrolink station is about ten minutes away for the train. Many residents work in the valley itself, at Henry Mayo, College of the Canyons or the Valencia industrial center, and for them the commute is under fifteen minutes.

What is the lifestyle like?

The golf course sets the tone. The Oaks Club at Valencia is a private membership club with an 18-hole championship course designed to weave through the oaks, and many residents are members. If golf is not your thing, the oak preserve trails, the two rec centers and the paseos give you plenty of reasons to be outside. Valencia Town Center, with its restaurants and theaters, is about ten minutes away. Old Town Newhall is fifteen. Residents list walking, hiking, dogs and gardening as their top interests, which tells you what the evenings look like here.

Who is Westridge right for?

Families who want the West Ranch feeder pattern with resort-style amenities. Move-up buyers from elsewhere in Valencia or Stevenson Ranch who are ready for a bigger home or a gated street. Golfers, obviously. And anyone relocating from Los Angeles who wants a community that feels finished and cared for from the day they arrive. If you are considering Westridge, tell me which neighborhood you are drawn to and I will show you the differences in person, including the ones that do not come through in listing photos.