The closest airports in the area are the Bob Hope Airport (BUR) located about 20 miles south of Santa Clarita in Burbank, California, the General Wm. J. Fox Airfield (WJF) located approximately 30 miles northeast of Santa Clarita in Lancaster, California, the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) located roughly 31 miles south of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles, California, and finally the Long Beach Airport (LGB) located around 45 miles south of Santa Clarita in Long Beach, California.

The City of Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County. It is located approximately 35 miles northwest of downtown LA and includes most of the Santa Clarita Valley. It is ranked at number 18 as one of the top 100 places to live by Money Magazine in 2006 and has been ranked by the FBI as the sixth safest city in the United States with a population of at least 100,000 residents.

Incorporated in 1987 after the joining of several existing communities, including Valencia, Newhall, Saugus and Canyon Country, Santa Clarita's most well known attractions are the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, the California Institute of the Arts and the Santa Clarita Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. There are a series of bike trails and walking paths throughout the city and bicyclists can ride all the way from the eastern end of the city in Canyon Country all the way to Valencia. This path follows the Santa Clarita River and Soledad Canyon Road. The city also has many fine neighborhood parks, including a recreation center in Canyon Country that includes an aquatic park with Olympic size swimming pools. Many of the parks include lighted tennis courts, basketball courts and baseball fields, hiking trails and over 3,000 acres of open space. There are also several public and private golf courses located in Santa Clarita. Santa Clarita's close proximity to Hollywood has made it the location of several TV shows and movies, which may make it seem very familiar to some visitors.

Southern California has a climate that is classified as Mediterranean. There are two distinct seasonal changes, categorized by the amount of rainfall received - a dry summer and wet winter with modest variation in temperature. In the dry season, a Pacific high-pressure system dominates the weather pattern creating warm and very dry air and a thick marine layer that typically advances inland during the night and burns off to hazy sunshine by midday. Surface pollutants trapped under the marine layer, or fog, create the Los Angeles area's infamous smog. In winter, the high system is no longer dominant and storms fed by subtropical moisture bring lots of rain into southern California during the months of November through March. Afternoon sea breezes of 10 to 15 mph are common. Strong offshore winds, known as Santa Ana winds are common, but rarely cause damage.