Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.

It is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, northeast of Calabasas and west of Tarzana. To the north Woodland Hills is bordered by West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka. Running east-west through the community is U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway) and Ventura Boulevard, which starts in Woodland Hills and intersects Valley Circle Boulevard.

History

Little is known about the Chumash Indians, who were this community's earliest settlers. When the first white men rode in with the Portola Expedition in 1769 to explore the beautiful hills and valleys, they encountered the Indians and called the area the Valley of the Oaks.

It was in this area, now named Woodland Hills, that the treaty was signed to end the Mexican War. This cleared the way for California to be admitted to the union in 1850 as the 31st state.

Victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres (12 km²) in the area and founded the town of Girard in 1922.cite web | url = http://www.woodlandhillscc.net/Scripts/openExtra.asp?extra=38 | title = History (Woodland Hills) | accessdate = 2007-06-24] He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees. Although his early efforts were criticized as providing only dubious facade of economic activity (local lore has it that in order to attract development he erected false store fronts on Ventura Boulevard, for which he spent time in jail), the Girard Golf Course completed in 1925 continues to operate today as the Woodland Hills Country Club, and his scheme was ultimately successful in attracting interest in the community.

In 1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills, an appropriate name owing to all the trees that Girard had planted years earlier. Harry Warner bought 1,100 acres (4.5 km²) in the area in the 1940s for a horse ranch. The modern Warner Center commercial zone is named for Harry and features high-rise buildings, hotels, and shopping centers. A major transit hub — the western end of the Orange Line — opened here in October 2005.

The population of Woodland Hills is approximately 70,000. The area is known around "The Valley" and is known as having the warmest weather in the City of Los Angeles.

Woodland Hills is often very hot during the summer. In July 2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, hitting convert|119|°F|°C at Los Angeles Pierce College.

Emergency services

Fire service

Los Angeles Fire Department [http://lafd.org/fs84.htm Station 84] (Woodland Hills) and [http://lafd.org/fs105.htm Station 105] (Woodland Hills) serve the community.

Police service

Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby West Valley Community Police Station [http://www.lapdonline.org/west_valley_community_police_station] .

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Public schools serving Woodland Hills are under the jurisdiction the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Elementary schools include:
* [http://www.calabashelementary.com/ Calabash Street Elementary School]
*Lockhurst Elementary School
* [http://www.serraniaavenue.org/ Serrania Elementary School]
* [http://www.woodlakeschoolptsa.com/ Woodlake Avenue Elementary School]
* [http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Woodland_Hills_EL/ Woodland Hills Elementary School]

Middle schools include:
*George Ellery Hale Middle School
* [http://woodlandhillsacademy.org/ Woodland Hills Academy] (formerly known as Parkman Middle School)

High schools include:
*El Camino Real High School- Frequently wins City, State and National Academic Decathlon Contest
*William Howard Taft High School
*Henry David Thoreau Continuation High School

Private Schools

*Louisville High School All female Catholic High School
*Chaminade College Preparatory Private CO-ED Catholic High School
*Chatsworth Hills Academy, serving Preschool through Eighth
*Pinecrest Schools serving Preschool through Eighth Grade
*St. Bernardine of Siena serving Preschool through Eighth Grade
*St. Mel serving Preschool through Eighth Grade

Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities near Woodland Hills include:
*Los Angeles Pierce College (part of the Los Angeles Community College District in Woodland Hills

*California State University, Northridge
*Pepperdine University, Malibu
*Cal Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks
*University of California, Los Angeles

Public libraries

*Woodland Hills Branch of Los Angeles Public Library
*Platt Branch of Los Angeles Public Library

Demographics

Race

As of the census of 2000, there were 61,092 people. 74.8% White, 3.4% African American, 7.2% Hispanic/Latino, 5.9% Asian, and 6.8% Two or more races.

Median age

Median age: 40.8

Household size

Average household size: 2.66

Household income

Median household income (1999): $70,411

Median home cost

Zip 91364 (2007): $944,500

Cost of living

Zip 91364 (2007): 76.26% higher than the U.S. average.

Famous residents

* Born and raised in Woodland Hills:
** James Toghia, astronaut
** Robin Yount, baseball Hall of Famer, Milwaukee Brewers, graduated from William Howard Taft High School
** Jamal Anderson, NFL football player
** Jason Bateman, actor who played Michael Bluth on "Arrested Development"
** Captain Beefheart, musician, artist, born and raised in Glendale, California but resided in Woodland Hills in the late 1960s and 1970s
** Emmett Chapman, inventor of the Chapman Stick.
** Buddy Collette, legendary jazz multi-instrumentalist who was the first black musician to break the color line on television, on the Groucho Marx Show in the early 1950s.
** Hanshi Frank W Dux, conntroversial Ninjutsu master.
** Brad Garrett, actor who played Robert on "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Brett Gurewitz, guitarist and songwriter for Bad Religion. Attended El Camino Real High School.
** Christopher Mintz-Plasse, actor in Superbad, attended El Camino Real High School
** Janel Moloney, actress on "The West Wing" attended El Camino Real High School
** Mark Saul, actor on "All That"
** Jan Smithers, actor on "WKRP in Cincinnati"
** Many Hollywood notables spent their later years at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.
**Buster Keaton, comedian and actor, during early '60s was the "honorary mayor of Woodland Hills"
** Ted Cassidy, actor who played Lurch on "The Addams Family" lived here until he died in 1979 (his ashes were supposedly buried in his yard)
** Joe Don Baker, actor
** Bobby Diamond, Los Angeles lawyer and former actor
** Lisa Kudrow, actress on "Friends" graduated from William Howard Taft High School
** Chad Muska, born in Lorain, Ohio and currently lives in Woodland Hills.
** Paige Hurd, actress who played Vanessa in "Beauty Shop"
** Sara Paxton, actress
** Eazy-E, hip hop artist. Attended William Howard Taft High School.
** Ice Cube, hip hop artist. Attended William Howard Taft High School.
** Everlast, singer, hip hop artist. Attended William Howard Taft High School.
** Wilmer Valderrama, actor. Attended William Howard Taft High School.
** William Smith, Musician. Band Creed Attended William Howard Taft High School.
** Asia Carrera, pornographic actress
** Will Smith, actor, rapper
** Xzibit, hip hop artist
** Dr. Dre, hip hop artist/producer
** Angelo Moore, musician, lead singer of Fishbone, attended El Camino Real High School
** Jennifer Flavin- Model, wife of actor Sylvester Stalone Attended EL Camino Real High School
** Billy Zabka- actor who played bad guy in The Karate Kid - Attended El Camino Real High School
** Christopher Knight, actor "Peter Brady" on the Brady Bunch. Attended El Camino Real High School.
** Taylor Rain, pornstar, current resident
** DeForest Kelley, Actor, Best known for playing Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek
** America Ferrera, actress who plays Betty in "Ugly Betty" - Attended El Camino Real High School
** Kim Basinger, actress and model
** Telly Savalas, actor (Kojak)
** Greg Graffin, vocalist and co-founder of Bad Religion. Attended El Camino Real High School.
** Jay Bentley, bass guitarist and co-founder of Bad Religion. Attended El Camino Real High School.
** Nigel Olsson, Drummer and vocalist for the Elton John Band.
** John Mahon, Percussionist and vocalist for the Elton John Band.
** Regis Toomey, Actor
** Nick Hexum, lead singer of alternative band 311
** Ty Miller, Actor
** Yehuda Gilad, Professor of Clarinet, University of Southern California, one of the most famous and sought after teachers in the world.
** Noel Webb, Violinist, composer, and actor.
** Mike Dimkich, touring guitarist THE CULT
** Steve Smith, wide receiver, New York Giants, played collegiately at Univ. of Southern California.
** Carrie Fisher, Star War's Princess Leah, and her parents Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, lived in Forest Hills, a development in Woodland Hills.
** Jodie Foster, Academy Award winning actress, lived in Forest Hills, a development in Woodland Hills
** Samantha Potter, America's Next Top Model contestant

Notable Businesses

*Blue Cross of California headquarters. BCC is now Anthem (a huge banner hangs on the building).
*Boeing
*21st Century Insurance headquarters
*Univision Music Group headquarters
*Health Net, Inc. headquarters
*Panavision headquarters
*United Online headquarters
*Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade
*Soup's Grill Milwaukee Brewers' pitcher, Jeff Suppan's restaurant

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.woodlandhillscc.net/ Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce]