Valencia unincorporated, CA

Highway 126 peels off Interstate 5 toward Ventura County right at the edge of unincorporated Valencia, a Los Angeles County strip along the freeway's west side across from the city of Santa Clarita. Up the slopes to the west, a large master-planned community is being built out in phases, so a new resident here is likely moving into a house that has never been lived in. And the ridge to the south belongs to Six Flags Magic Mountain and its water park, which set the rhythm of summer weekends. Outdoor time mostly happens a few minutes away. Across the 5, the river trail and paseo paths carry bikes and runners for miles without a stoplight, and to the south the foothills of Pico Canyon lead up to Mentryville, an old oil town kept as a park with its schoolhouse and docent tours. A little farther south on The Old Road, Lady Di's Cookies, a walk-in bakery since the 1990s, sells cookies, cupcakes and chocolate-dipped strawberries by the box. A cluster of burger stands, a seafood chain and a pie-and-coffee restaurant share the strip near the parkway, all used to feeding crowds headed for the park. For the weekly routine, most people cross the 5 into Santa Clarita, where Valencia Town Center anchors the shopping. The 5 and the 126 make both the Valley and the Ventura coast direct drives. The tradeoff is living next to a regional destination. Once the gates close, unincorporated Valencia goes quiet in a hurry, and the new streets in the hills feel like an ordinary suburb again.