First of all, the real name of the city is San Buenaventura. a title officially bestowed in 1866 -- which is Spanish for "city of good fortune." The name San Buenaventura derives from the Catholic mission established here in 1782 by Father Junipero Serra. The original mission, chapel, and grounds have all been beautifully restored and maintained, as has the downtown Old Historic District that surrounds it.  

For obvious reasons, nobody ever actually uses San Buenaventura, and for all practical purposes, the city is Ventura. 

Even though the city only takes up 21 square miles, it is the hub of the county.  The city is centrally located 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 25 miles southeast of Santa Barbara via Highway 101 (aka the Ventura Freeway).  It is 364 miles south of San Francisco. 

With a population of 109,000, Ventura is well known for its beaches, shopping, arts, agriculture and strong economic base, which is diversified among public and private industry, education, health care and agriculture.  

The most fascinating statistic that we discovered while researching Ventura was the fact that the population of the town has quadrupled in the last two decades.  So - in 1980 or so there were just 22,000 people in the city!  That's a testament to the town's quality as a place to live and work.