Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, in the eastern Conejo Valley where the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) climbs into the Santa Monica Mountains. Incorporated in 1982, it is one of the county's newer cities, and its founders intentionally kept its low-density, semi-rural character even as suburban growth accelerated around it. The area's name has a colorful origin: it derives from Pierre Agoure, a 19th-century French Basque rancher who settled in the valley. The spelling was simplified when a post office was established, and the community took the name Agoura Hills upon incorporation. Before that, the conversion of Highway 101 into the Ventura Freeway in the 1950s transformed a rural crossroads into a growing residential area, with early tracts such as Hillrise, Liberty Canyon, and Lake Lindero. Today Agoura Hills is an affluent, family-oriented suburb with a strong connection to the outdoors. The city abuts the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and its trailheads lead into a network of chaparral-covered hills, oak-shaded canyons, and ridgeline vistas. Open space and ridgeline protections keep development restrained, so much of the community feels green and uncrowded. Residents are served by the highly regarded Las Virgenes Unified School District and enjoy proximity to the shopping and dining of Westlake Village and Calabasas. Most of the city is devoted to homes, open space, and neighborhood parks, with commercial activity concentrated along the 101 corridor. Commutes to Los Angeles and the western San Fernando Valley follow the 101 Freeway, giving Agoura Hills a practical—if sometimes lengthy—link to the region's employment centers while preserving its mountain-edge setting.