A town long associated with the US Navy, Port Hueneme, CA has some excellent attractions to offer. These include the city’s Historical Society Museum, Missile Park, US Navy Seabee Museum, the Beach Park and the Point Hueneme Lighthouse. This beacon for mariners is right up there with the name Hueneme, which is the Hispanized version of the Ventureño Indian words for “resting place.”

In terms of livability, this small coastal town in Ventura County has the grade of A+ for its amenities and a B for its crime rate. It’s near enough to the city of Los Angeles for residents to commute to work there, but it’s far enough to have that small town ambience of peace and quiet.

It calls itself the “Friendly City by the Sea” and it is all that and more. Its beginnings are based on the discovery of an underwater canyon that the “Father of Port Hueneme” Thomas Bard converted into a base for the city’s wharf in the early 1900s. Furthermore, because it is located by the Santa Barbara Channel, its port is protected by outlying islands.

The city is known for its progressive laws for marijuana sales and farming, ahead of other places in Ventura County. Revenue from the legalized cannabis trade helped the city balance its deficit in 2019.

In an unfortunate political story, Dick Velthoen, a popular Port Hueneme mayor of 25 years, retired in 1999 with a sexual harassment and racial discrimination suit filed against him. His terms in office were deemed by residents as central to making the community become what it is, a prosperous and attractive small town.

The city government remains a stable and progressive one standing on the tradition left by Velthoen, a football star-turned politician. It has an excellent source of information in the Prueter Library, which, as part of the Ventura Public Library system, has vast resources to offer.

Added to these hometown resources are national ones that can be found online, like LegalMatch’s online Law Library of legal articles. This is vital support for the company’s clients, who go to LegalMatch to match up with a specific lawyer they urgently need, like a divorce or DUI expert.

Organizations like Ventura County Legal Aid, Inc., Self-Help Legal Access Center and California Rural Legal Assistance can provide free legal services to those who cannot afford representation for tenant, immigration, civil rights, employment or family law cases, among others.