Stevenson Ranch: A tale of different generations
People always seek out a place they feel is best for raising a family. Stevenson Ranch has been home for as long as I can remember. In many ways Stevenson Ranch is the textbook suburban dream “fit for raising a family.” For someone like my dad, who spent his childhood living in a one room apartment with his whole family in Mexico, getting to buy a house in an area like Stevenson Ranch had signified that he had made it.
Often mistaken (even by its own residents) as being a part of the city of Santa Clarita because of its proximity to the valley, it is right at the edge of Los Angeles County. Stevenson Ranch has no shortage of parks, restaurants, and hiking trails. It is even home historic sites like Mentryville and Pico Canyon, which were once successful oil boom sites, and are now known for being potential “ghost towns.” For all of its features, one cannot go without noticing the lack of diversity and generational divide among the community.
The rising costs of living in the area, makes it difficult for the “young millennial couple out of college” to settle down in the neighborhood. This has resulted in the community having a large population of older people, who often ideologically clash with the younger people (who are often the sons and daughters of the older generation), an observation that has recently been magnified during protests. One street corner will have people protesting against the police, while the other group will be defending them. I would like to better understand why these ideological differences often occur within the same households. Does it have something to do with the different forms of news consumption?
Being the son of a photojournalist, routinely going through the top stories of each day has been a staple of my family. My parents and I are LA Times subscribers. I also like to receive updates from other outlets on my phone. Since my father works for NBCLA and the news network, cable news has been a prevalent source for my parents as well. I believe that the younger generation in the community relies on social media while the older people may get their news from television.
When it comes to local news, most people turn to The Signal, which focuses on Santa Clarita Valley. I believe local news coverage here relies too heavily on The Signal and Stevenson Ranch will often be overlooked as a result of being one of the smaller areas within the Valley.
