The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is one of the most unique things that exist in all of Ventura County. In fact, this Presidential Library is the most visited presidential library in the entire United States (pre COVID).
One question that people might ask is, why was the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library specifically built in Simi Valley?
According to an LA Times article from 1987:
“President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan are familiar with the locale and have been kept apprised of the site-selection process, Jones added.
The property, located on a mesa in an unincorporated area between the cities of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, is being donated by developers Donald E. Swartz and Gerald W. Blakeley. Their partnership, Blakeley Swartz, owns the land, which is part of a 640-acre parcel that the firm hopes will also be the site of a 200- to 300-room hotel and conference center and a 600-unit senior citizen housing project. The site is about 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
The current zoning for the land, however, calls for it to remain undeveloped, and all of the zone change proposals, including one for the presidential library and research center, must receive approval from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.
Foundation officials expect the library and museum, a Western-style complex featuring Spanish roof tile and adobe bricks, to draw about 100,000 visitors a year.”
In 2006, the Reagan Library hit its highest attendance numbers in a single year at over 440,000 attendees for that calendar year.
When Ronald Reagan moved to California in 1937, it didn’t take long for him to decide that this would be his home state for the rest of his life, and when he passed away in 2004, he had nearly lived in Southern California for 70 years.
But why Simi Valley? The answer appears to be pretty simple: Simi Valley was close enough to Los Angeles that tourists could visit the Library without having to travel too far, Ventura County is an aesthetically beautiful locale, and there was enough open land to build it there.
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