| Porter Ranch | |
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| — Neighborhood of Los Angeles — | |
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Porter Ranch
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Elevation | 1,280 ft (390 m) |
| Population (2000)[1] | |
| • Total | 15,840 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 91326 |
| Area code(s) | 818 |
Porter Ranch is an affluent neighborhood in the northwest region of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. It is bounded by Chatsworth on the south and west, Northridge on the south, and Granada Hills on the north and east. The Santa Susana Mountains, which separate the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, lie to the north. The principal thoroughfares are Corbin Ave., Porter Ranch Drive, Tampa Ave. and Reseda Blvd., running north-south, and Sesnon Blvd., Rinaldi St. and the Ronald Reagan Freeway (State Route 118), running east and west. The Porter Ranch ZIP code is 91326.
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The district is largely composed of gated communities of upscale single-family homes. Most residents commute by automobile to business hubs of Simi Valley, Downtown Los Angeles and the commercial hub of Woodland Hills, at the San Fernando Valley's southwest corner. The community is also close to the Chatsworth and Northridge stations served by the Metrolink commuter rail system that links the San Fernando Valley with Downtown Los Angeles and Ventura County.
In the late 19th century, Benjamin Porter purchased a part of the Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando land grant in the foothills of the Santa Susanas above Northridge. Primarily wheat fields for its first several decades, wild wheat survived into the 1980s. The relatively isolated area later became the site of numerous movie stars' horse ranches. As with the rest of the San Fernando Valley, suburban development eventually came to Porter Ranch. However, the area was the last portion of the San Fernando Valley within the Los Angeles city limits to be developed. Key segments of the 1982 blockbuster film E.T. the Extra-terrestrial were filmed in Porter Ranch. The Steven Spielberg classic includes several shots from above of the Porter Ranch neighborhood beneath the hillside Palisades Park. Brasilia Dr., Killimore Ave. and Granada Circle appear most often in E.T. Many of the bicycle chase scenes as well as the Halloween sequence were filmed on those streets and elsewhere within that neighborhood. Porter Ridge Park, at the north end of Reseda Blvd., was used for the park scene at the end of the movie.
The original Porter Ranch tract was built in the early to mid 1960s, it was part of the community of Northridge. Later, homes were built starting at the rim of the North Ridge, accessible by Tampa Ave or Reseda Blvd, also there were homes built north of Devonshire Blvd West of Tampa Av. The original tract homes were build in the mid 1960's just north of San Fernando Mission Blvd west of Reseda Blvd about half of these homes were torn down in the late 1970s to build the 118 freeway. Major construction did not occur until the 1970s.
In the late 1960s and into the 1980s, there were two horse and rider statues which marked the unofficial entrance to Porter Ranch. One was located on the North West corner of Tampa and Devonshire. The other was a North East corner on Devonshire and Tunney. They were eventually removed to allow more residential development.
About 1969, there was a major wildfire which started near what is now Magic Mountain. There was no structure losses in Northridge, but one homeowner died trying to reach his family/home on top of the ridge. The fire reached Rinaldi Blvd between Tampa and White Oak.
As of the 2000 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac there were 15,840 people and 5,271 households residing in Porter Ranch. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 61.66% White, 33.25% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.86% African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.51% from other races, and 3.48% from two or more races. 5.19% of the population were Hispanic of any race. 38.83% of the population was foreign born; of this, 79.3% came from Asia, 7.5% from Europe, 7.0% from Latin America and 6.2% from other parts of the world.
Median household income in 2000 was $95,000, with 47.7% of households having incomes over $100,000 (4 times the US average).
In 2009, the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Porter Ranch neighborhood statistics: population: 24,923; median household income: $121,428.[2]
Los Angeles Fire Department Station 8 and Station 28 are in the area.
Los Angeles Police Department operates from the nearby Devonshire Police Station, serving the community.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Pacoima Health Center in Pacoima, serving Porter Ranch.[3]
The United States Postal Service Ranch Post Office is located at 19300 Rinaldi Street.[4]
The area is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The area is zoned to Castlebay Lane Elementary School in Porter Ranch and Frost Middle School in Granada Hills. As of September 2008 LAUSD plans to build a K-8 school at Mason Street at Sesnon Boulevard.[5]
Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth serves western portions of Porter Ranch. Eastern portions of Porter Ranch are zoned to Granada Hills Charter High School in Granada Hills; residents of the Granada Hills zone are eligible to attend Northridge Academy High School.
A new public charter high school was being opened to serve the area. Porter Ranch Charter High School was expected to open in Fall 2009. http://www.prchs.org
The area is also served by several private schools, including:
Los Angeles Public Library operates the Porter Ranch Branch.[6]
Palisades Park is an unstaffed park in Porter Ranch. Porter Ranch is also home to the worlds smallest park, Rinaldi Park, at the corner of Rinaldi Street and Reseda Boulevard.[7]
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