One of the first websites to chronicle life, living, and the special characteristics of the Santa Clarita Valley will shut down at the end of the month, SCVTalk has learned. SCVResources.com, Mike Ballard’s famed site, has served up geology info, pictures, commentary and bike maps on the Santa Clarita Valley since 1995, making it one of the oldest websites in town.
Ballard has continuously updated the website throughout the years but explains on his site that he’s “upset about what has gone on in Santa Clarita” over the last decade. He said he created the website to “educate people” about geology and rampant over-development, a topic he frequently railed against.
Ballard says the geology information and highway information pages will stay online, but his articles about bike maps, developers, local history, and several pages of photographs, will be taken offline.
Ballard has also used his website to chronicle bicycle tours across the state of California. It’s not clear if he’s lived in Santa Clarita recently; he says he’s currently a student at a San Diego college.
One of the more interesting pages on his site is titled “Dumb Developer Tricks.” Over the years, Ballard photographed developer billboards then mocked or corrected information on each sign.
Even if you don’t agree with Ballard’s position on development, the environment, or city matters, you owe it to yourself to visit his site before it goes offline. He’s got a lot of interesting SCV history and some great information on local geology, trails, and more.