Growing a Community

Have you ever seen a community garden? Community gardens are popping up in neighborhoods around the country. Centennial is not alone in recognizing the value of community gardens to not only help residents grow healthier food but to educate their children about the importance of nutrition, and to build the feeling of “community” among neighbors.

According to the American Community Garden Association there are many benefits to Community Gardens:

· Improves the quality of life for people in the garden

· Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development

· Stimulates Social Interaction

· Encourages Self-Reliance

· Beautifies Neighborhoods

· Produces Nutritious Food

· Reduces Family Food Budgets

· Conserves Resources

· Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education

· Reduces Crime

· Preserves Green Space

· Creates income opportunities and economic development

· Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots

· Provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

Community gardens are just one element that will be built into Centennial. We look forward to growing a community that can enjoy open space for farmers’ markets, community events, celebrations and harvest festivals, as well as educational programs about the importance of sustainability and healthy living.

The Painted Turtle

Imagine a cabin village nestled in a scenic valley created specifically to bring the joys of a traditional summer camp to children aged 7-16, who never would have dreamed that they could be exposed to such a life-changing experience.

Recognizing the significant benefits “The Painted Turtle Camp” brings to these children and their families—who all attend the camp free of charge—Centennial Founders sponsored its first fundraiser for the organization in 2007.

Centennial has been a long time supporter of The Painted Turtle and we are excited to be a sponsor of an upcoming event in late July. Centennial previously sponsored “Hot August Nights” at Tournament Players Club in Valencia and “Denim & Diamonds Casino Royale” was held at the Chimbole Cultural Center in Palmdale. Together the events raised more than $200,000.

The Painted Turtle Camp, which is part of the international Hole in the Wall Camps family founded by Paul Newman, includes a state-of-the-art medical facility, a gym and game room, arts and crafts center, a heated pool with wheelchair access, equestrian center, riding trails, a ropes adventure course and more. To learn more about The Painted Turtle visit www.thepaintedturtle.org.

The Painted Turtle is also raising funds as an official charity of the LA Marathon and 5K! Run, walk, or wheel to help change the lives of our campers. For more information, please contact marathon@thepaintedturtle.org.

Safe and Sound

Life is unpredictable and accidents are bound to happen, which means emergency services are a vital part of every community. At Centennial, the well being of our residents and neighbors’ is a top priority. We are allocating significant dollars and resources to improve response time and to ensure high quality emergency services.

We’ve met with a number of residents in the Mountain Communities and the West Antelope Valley and they’ve told us that they are dissatisfied with the lack of essential services and inadequate response times in their communities. We are determined to ease their concerns by incorporating emergency services at the on-set of Centennial, before the first resident moves in.

So whether you have a life-threatening situation or your cat is stuck in a tree, you can be sure an emergency response team will be there for you in a timely manner.

LA County Follows Centennial's Lead Banning Light Pollution

According to the LA Times today, LA County is going to restrict light pollution in rural areas so residents can see the skies at night. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-light-pollution-20110104,0,7286068.story

Centennial has already banned light pollution with our "dark skies" program. http://centennialscout.blogspot.com/2010/09/starry-nights.html

Supporter Spotlight: Dave & Jill Wade

Dave and Jill Wade of Lebec, Supporters since 2007 and founding members of Friends of Centennial.

If you’ve heard Dave Wade talk about Centennial, you know he is passionate about the new community. Dave and Jill’s support for Centennial is rooted in Tejon Ranch’s record of environmental sensitivity.

The Wade’s are pleased that Centennial will bring the convenience of much needed services without disturbing the tranquility of the mountains that drew them to the area.

“The commitment to quality and stewardship that Tejon Ranch has demonstrated shows that they take care of their land. We will enjoy the benefits and sense of community associated with Centennial while preserving the open space that makes this area so special.”

Centennial: A Walkable Community

Was there ever a time where you wished you didn’t have to get in the car and fight traffic to buy groceries, take the kids to school or to a park? At Centennial you can leave your car in the garage. Centennial has been designed as a series of compact walkable villages where most homes will be within one-half mile of a neighborhood park, schools, and retail stores. Centennial also is being planned with 7 – 8 foot paseos with landscaping between the pavement and pedestrian along main roadways and off-road trails to enhance a walking experience.

Need to get to your neighbor’s house on the other side of Centennial for a barbeque while carrying a bowl of potato salad? No problem. An internal transit system will be in place to take residents to any part of the entire community as well as to the two transit stations that will connect you with regional bus and train service into the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles County.

Question of the Week: Is the economic climate impacting Centennial?

From time to time we receive questions about Centennial to our e-mail address (info@centennialca.com). We welcome your questions about Centennial and will periodically feature questions on Centennial Scout.

Lately we’ve received a number of inquiries about the effects of the current economic downturn on Centennial. Actually, the current conditions make this just the right time to be in the planning process. Centennial is the solution a lot of local residents are waiting for. The new town will bring jobs and drive economic growth in the region.

Once we begin building the new town, Centennial will help address the housing needs of a growing region. Southern California’s population is projected to grow by 3.5 million by 2020 and we need to plan accordingly.

Centennial will be built-out over a period of 20 years and between now and then it is reasonable to expect the economy and the housing market to rebound.

Help Wanted

It seems like everyone is talking about the economy these days. In particular, the US job market is a hot button topic. We at Centennial are excited to be able to contribute the Country’s job growth.

A highlight of master-planned communities like Centennial is that they plan for jobs, amenities and vital services that the region needs to thrive. Since Centennial is a self-sustaining community, we’ve planned for a wide range of job opportunities from entry level to professional services, including teachers, firefighters, doctors, nurses and attorneys. In fact there will be more than 30,000 permanent jobs available once the 20 year build-out of Centennial is completed. That is 1.3 jobs to every one home created!

Job growth at Centennial will start before we even lay a brick. Nearly 30,000 construction jobs will be ongoing for the entire 20 year build-out.

It is our hope that Centennial can help people live the American Dream.

Starry Nights

There’s nothing like looking up in the sky and seeing hundreds of beautiful stars. It’s an experience only a few in the LA Metro area can enjoy on rare nights. In the mountain communities, it’s a nightly spectacle. And we intend for it to stay that way with our “dark skies” program. Within the bounds of Centennial, all the lights will be aimed downward for minimal light pollution. Beyond the downward lighting, all outdoor lighting will be non-glare to further protect light projecting up. All signs will have dark backgrounds with minimally colored characters.

Light pollution wastes energy, is harmful to the natural ecosystem and can even cause insomnia. Other health and environmental effects of light pollution are still being investigated, but the bottom line is, it isn’t good for anyone. As always, the environment and well being of our residents and neighbors are our greatest priority, which is why we are striving to make our community one of the best anywhere.

The Mighty Oaks

The oak trees play an important role within the Tejon Ranch ecology and the Centennial community. There are 181,000 oak trees living on the Centennial site now.

Ninety-nine percent will be protected and preserved. For every oak tree that must be removed, more will be planted in its place. Three new oaks will be planted for each standard size and ten for every heritage size. All in all, over 5,000 new oaks will be planted. Besides the present oaks on site, another estimated 268,000 oaks will be preserved in our off-site mitigation areas. There will be a nursery on-site to nurture the new trees which will be planted in the community, or to expand nearby existing oak tree stands.

Better Passing on the Newhall Pass

To make commuting smoother on the I-5 through the Newhall Pass in Santa Clarita, we are part of a coalition that spearheaded environmental and impact studies and secured funding for significant improvements. Funds for these improvements have been committed with construction to begin in 2011.

The plans include adding mandatory truck climbing lanes over the Newhall Pass so we can get those sluggy 18-wheelers, U-Hauls and other large trucks off the primary lanes, leaving them for cars only. This alone will guarantee a zippier drive. HOV lane also will be added, which will not only open up more lanes, but encourage carpooling. Additionally, the construction will create 10,000 jobs.

These improvements to the I-5 are slated to be done before we break ground on Centennial. Planning ahead is the only way to stay ahead!

School Bells Before Doorbells

A top-flight school system is one of the first stepping-stones to creating a great community. This is why we have worked with the Gorman School District to set aside six sites for state-of-the-art facilities for Kindergarten through 8^th grade. Also included in our plan are two first rate high schools with Antelope Valley Union High School District that will be a set piece in the Centennial community.

Disney brings 3,000 jobs close to Centennial

The Walt Disney Company will bring close to 3,000 jobs to our neck of the woods by 2013. And, if all goes as planned for Centennial, we should be only a couple of years from offering a great place to live, go to school, shop and play to these Disney cast members, as the company calls employees.

The big new studio/production facility will occupy a 56-acre campus off Highway 14 in the Golden Oak Ranch northeast of Santa Clarita and only ___ miles from Centennial. In fact, Disney workers would be within a short __-minute commute from Centennial and would not even have to travel on I-5.

Disney’s decision to locate in northern LA County reinforces our belief that jobs will come to more affordable areas because of lower land costs and proximity to quality homes and good schools that will help them attract qualified workers.

Welcome Friends!

Centennial is now in public review and, in addition to our regular newsletter and emails, we decided to set up a blog to make it easy to post updates, answer questions and solicit feedback from our neighbors and friends. This blog is our online town square where it’s easy and quick to talk back and forth. So, send us your questions and thoughts and we’ll get back to you immediately.

Btw, Scout is a forerunner and guide as well as a messenger so we thought it was a great moniker for our blog.