Canyon Country pretty much represents the entire Eastern section of the Santa Clarita Valley. I like to describe our valley as a big piece of pie with the 5 freeway being the West side and the 14 freeway being the East side. Canyon Country runs along the 14 freeway and is actually one of the largest sub-cities within Santa Clarita.

Castaic sits on the very North Western part of the Santa Clarita Valley where the 5 and the 126 freeways intersect. Sometimes people will say to me, “I don’t want to go way up to Castaic.” Well, for commuters who live off Hillcrest Parkway in Castaic (right off the 5 freeway at Hasley Canyon), their commute would actually be shorter than if they were to live in Saugus or certain parts of Canyon Country.

When people think about the Santa Clarita Valley, they think about a suburban bedroom community with outstanding schools and a conforming look – very planned. Yet as much as people love to live in Santa Clarita sometimes they don’t want a tract home, they don’t want the same thing that everyone else has. For people who don’t, Newhall may be the answer.

Sand Canyon is a part of Canyon Country that is arguably the best place to go when people want to be in Santa Clarita but “away from it all.” Sand Canyon is right off the 14 freeway with its Southern boundary being the Angeles Mountains.

I have a real fondness for Saugus because the first single family home I bought was in Saugus in a neighborhood called Mountain View. Mountain View is at the top of Seco Canyon, and at the time that was the very end of Saugus.

Stevenson Ranch was initially developed in the late 1980’s and is located West of the 5 Freeway and along Stevenson Ranch Parkway which turns into McBean Parkway as soon as you cross the freeway East into Valencia. Stevenson Ranch has become a very popular part of town for three reasons.

When I moved to the Santa Clarita Valley in the 1980’s, all I really knew was “Valencia.” I equated Valencia with the Santa Clarita Valley, and I really wasn’t familiar with Newhall, Canyon Country or Saugus and part of the reason was the incredible marketing job that the Newhall Land and Farming Company did to promote Valencia.

I remember when my wife and I first got engaged and she asked me “where do you want to live?” We were both from the San Fernando Valley and found that it no longer met our interest, especially with regard to raising a family. She suggested a new area known as “Valencia” and I said, “Why do you want to move way out there?” Well, in 1986 we put a deposit down on a new townehome and we have lived here ever since.