Ventura is a city of 106,700 people (2006) on the Southern California coast, about an hour and a half's drive away from Los Angeles. It's the county seat of Ventura County. It's known as the "Poinsettia City by the Sea", as poinsettias were a large crop in Ventura in the past. Even before that, it was called the Palm City due to its many Palm Trees, which are becoming more popular in town once again.
Ventura is surrounded by the chaparral covered hills and agricultural productive plains, which produce strawberries, avocados, citrus, flowers, and more. The city is very constrained by geography, lying between the Ventura River, Santa Clara River, Pacific Ocean, and the low hills of the Coast Range.
The city was founded in 1782 with the creation of Mission San Buenaventura. The city was known as San Buenaventura for some time, until it was shortened to Ventura by the railroad company to fit in timetables. It has since subsumed the towns of Saticoy and Montalvo, which are mostly incorporated into the City of Ventura now.
Ventura is often seen as Santa Barbara's lesser cousin. Though both cities have a similar climate, Santa Barbara has a richer population (except for Isla Vista!), UCSB, and is a more tourist oriented shopping. Ventura has stayed closer to its agricultural roots, but has made great strides in the last ten years to create a more tourist-friendly downtown.
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