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Revision as of 04:54, 7 February 2008
Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California.
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
Victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres (12 km²) in the area and founded the town of Girard in 1922. 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."
Woodland Hills is often very hot during the summer. In July 2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, hitting 119 degrees Fahrenheit at Los Angeles Pierce College.
Emergency services
Fire service
Los Angeles Fire Department Station 84 (Woodland Hills) and Station 105 (Woodland Hills) serve the community.
Police service
Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby 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:
- Calabash Street Elementary School
- Calvert Street Elementary School
- Lockhurst Elementary School
- Serrania Elementary School
- Woodlake Elementary School
- Woodland Hills Elementary School
Middle schools include:
- Hale Middle School
- Woodland Hills Academy (formerly known as Parkman Middle School)
High schools include:
Thoreau Continuation High School is in the area.
Taft and El Camino Real are multiple United States Academic Decathlon winners.
Los Angeles Pierce College, which is part of the Los Angeles Community College District, is also found in Woodland Hills.
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 in Close Proximity
California State University, Northridge
Pepperdine University (Malibu)
Cal Lutheran University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Public libraries
Los Angeles Public Library operates the Woodland Hills Branch and the Platt Branch.
Demographics
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: 40.8 Average household size: 2.66 Median household income (1999): $70,411
Famous residents
- Born and raised in Woodland Hills:
- Jamal Anderson, NFL football player
- Jason Bateman, actor who played Michael Bluth on Arrested Development
- 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
- Mark Saul, actor on All That
- Jan Smithers, actor on WKRP in Cincinnati
- Prior to being convicted of fraud, teenage entrepreneur Barry Minkow bought a mansion in Woodland Hills.
- 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
- Lisa Kudrow, actress on Friends graduated from William Howard Taft High School
- 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.
- Asia Carrera, actress
- Will Smith, actor, rapper
- Xzibit, hip hop artist
- Dr. Dre, hip hop artist/producer
- Christopher Knight, actor "Peter Brady" on the Brady Bunch. Attended El Camino Real High School.
- David Sherrill, actor. Attended William Howard Taft 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
- 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
- Steve Abbott actor
Notable Businesses
- Blue Cross of California headquarters
- Boeing
- 21st Century Insurance headquarters
- Univision Music Group headquarters
- Health Net, Inc. headquarters
- Panavision headquarters
- United Online headquarters
- Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade
Footnotes
- ^ "History (Woodland Hills)". Retrieved 2007-06-24.
External links
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