GUARDIAN AVENUE

How did Guardian Avenue come about? Back in the 1980s the Brandeis-Bardin Institute decided to developed some of their property on a land lease basis. It turned out that there was little market for business park land leases. So the property was sold after a tentative tract map and specific plan were approved. Guardian Avenue started out as Brandeis Avenue, but that was changed at the request of the first industrial firm that moved in and built a building - Guardian Products. Well, any business must respond to economic realities, and Guardian Products soon moved production to Mexico and another firm moved into the building they vacated. The street name will probably remain even though Guardian Products, as a Simi Valley business, will soon be forgotten by most people.

The location of Guardian Avenue is dictated by the presence of a very large Calleguas Municipal Water District water line that predated the street by several decades. The line runs under the street. A significant portion of the domestic water supply for southern Ventura County is carried by the line on its way to Wood Ranch Reservoir. So, that’s why the street is where it is.

                                                                                    Mike Kuhn

11-15-04