Ojai

Ojai neighborhoods are in a delightful small town in the midst of the Santa Paula Mountains. Homes range from small cabin like houses to very upscale estate like homes. The area is considered a town of artists and craftsman. The major industry in this town is tourism.

 The valley is about 10 miles by 3 miles  wide and the population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.

The city’s self-styled nickname is “The Shangri-La of Southern California”, referring to the similarities between the health-and-spirituality-focused region and the mystical sanctuary of James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. 

The city was laid out in 1874by real estate developer R.G. Surdam and named Nordhoff, California, in honor of the writer Charles Nordhoff. Leading up to and during World War I, American sentiment became increasingly anti-German. Across the United States, German and German-sounding place names were changed. As part of this trend, Nordhoff was renamed Ojai in 1917.

The public high school in Ojai is still named Nordhoff High School. The public junior high school, named “Matilija”, formerly served as Nordhoff Union High School and still features large tiles with the initials “NUHS” on the steps of the athletic field.

Since Ojai is lined up with an east-west mountain range, it is one of few towns in the world to have a “Pink Moment” occur as the sun is setting. The fading sunlight creates a brilliant shade of pink for several minutes on the Topatopa Bluffs, over 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above sea level at the east end of the Ojai Valley.

The Ventura River flows through the Ventura River Valley, draining the mountains surrounding Ojai to the north and east and emptying into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Ventura. The Ventura River was once known for its steelhead fishing before Matilija Dam and Lake Casitas were constructed, eliminating habitat for this trout species.

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(all data current as of 4/19/2024)

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Schools

• Ojai Unified School District
• Chaparral High School
• Matilija Junior High School
• Meiners Oaks Elementary School
• Mira Monte Elementary School
• Nordhoff High School
• San Antonio School
• Summit Elementary School
• Topa Topa Elementary School

Other schools

The Ojai Valley is home to several private boarding schools:

• Besant Hill School (formerly Happy Valley School)
• The Thacher School
• Ojai Valley School
• Villanova Preparatory School
• The Oak Grove School
• Monica Ros School (preschool through 3rd grade)
• The Brooks Institute of Photography’s Ventura Campus is about 10 miles (16 km) south of Ojai on State Route 33
• The Ojai Valley is also home to: the Montessori School of Ojai, a private day school, Laurel Springs School, which specializes in distance education and home-schooling, and Global Village School, a progressive K–12 homeschooling program.
• Camp Ramah in California is in the hills of Ojai.

Ojai Planning on housing