| Woodland Hills | |
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| — Neighborhood of Los Angeles — | |
| ]Woodland Hills, California in the foreground, including Warner Center, from the Top of Topanga Overlook | |
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Woodland Hills
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.
Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section. On the north Woodland Hills is bordered by West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka, and on the south by Topanga and Malibu, California.
Some neighborhoods are in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Running east-west through the community is U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway) and Ventura Boulevard, whose western terminus is at Valley Circle Boulevard in Woodland Hills.
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The area was inhabited for approximately 8,000 years by Native Americans of the Fernandeño-Tataviam and Chumash-Venturaño tribes that lived in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills and close to the Arroyo Calabasas (Calabasas Creek) tributary of the Los Angeles River in present-day Woodland Hills.[1][2] The first Europeans to enter the San Fernando Valley were the Portola Expedition in 1769, exploring 'Alta California' for Spanish missions and settlements locations. Seeing it from present-day Sepulveda Pass, the oak savanna inspired them to call the area Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos (Valley of the Oaks).[3] The Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando) was established in 1797 and given the Valley's land, including future Woodland Hills. After the Mexican War of Independence the secularized Mission lands became the Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando.
Ownership of the southern half of the Valley, south of present-day Roscoe Boulevard from Toluca Lake to Woodland Hills, by Americans began in the 1860s. First Isaac Lankershim (as the "San Fernando Farm Homestead Association") in 1869, then Isaac Lankershim's son, James Boon Lankershim, and Isaac Newton Van Nuys (as the "Los Angeles Farm & Milling Company") in 1873,[4] and finally in the "biggest land transaction ever recorded in Los Angeles County" a syndicate led by Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times with Hobart Johnstone Whitley, Gen. Moses Sherman and others (as the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company) in 1910.[5] The area was so big that 12 years passed—Van Nuys and Canoga Park were founded—before anyone would get around to the Woodland Hills area.
Victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres (11.68 km2) in the area from Chandler's group and founded the town of Girard in 1922.[6] He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees.[6] His 300 pepper trees forming an arch over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. are Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972.[7] Although his early efforts were criticized as providing only a 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. Harry Warner, of the Warner Bros. Studio, bought 1,100 acres (4.5 km2) in the area in the 1940s for a horse ranch, named Warner 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 LACMTA Orange Line — opened here in October 2005.
The population of Woodland Hills is approximately 70,000. The region is recognized for having the warmest weather in the City of Los Angeles.
Woodland Hills is often very hot during the summer and gets very cool in the winter; on some winter nights the temperature has been known to dip below freezing. In July 2006 Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, hitting 119 °F (48 °C) at Los Angeles Pierce College. The climate is classified as a Csa in the Köppen climate classification, which is characterised by mild rainy winters and hot dry summers. This climate is often referred to as a Mediterranean climate.[8] The precipitation of Woodland Hills ranges from 17 to 23 inches (580 mm) annually: the lower amount of annual rainfall is in the lower portions in the Valley, whereas the higher amounts are in the hills surrounding.[9] Nonnatural flora often grown in the area is typical of Mediterranean vegetation: citrus, lavender, rosemary, cypress and many others.[10]
As of the 2000 Census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac, there were 67,006 people and 29,119 households residing in Woodland Hills. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 79.90% White, 6.97% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 3.34% African American, 0.33% Native American, 4.80% from other races, and 4.52% from two or more races. 11.94% of the population were Hispanic of any race.
Median household income in 2000 was $72,568. Median home cost in ZIP 91364 is (2007): $944,500 and cost of living in ZIP 91364 is (2007): 76.26% higher than the U.S. average.
In 2009 the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Woodland Hills neighborhood statistics: population: 59,661; median household income: $89,946.[11]
Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council is the local elected advisory body to the City of Los Angeles representing stakeholders in the Woodland Hills and Warner Center areas.
Los Angeles Fire Department Station 84 (Woodland Hills) and Station 105 (Woodland Hills) serve the community. Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby West Valley Community Police Station in Reseda and the newly built Topanga Division station in Canoga Park.[12]
The United States Postal Service Woodland Hills Post Office is located at 22121 Clarendon Street.[13]
Public schools serving Woodland Hills are under the jurisdiction the Los Angeles Unified School District. Much of the area is within Board District 4.[14]
Elementary schools include:
Middle schools include:
High schools include:
George Ellery Hale Charter Academy 6-8 grade
Colleges and universities in Woodland Hills include:
The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Woodland Hills Branch Library (Ventura Boulevard) and the Platt Branch Library (Victory Boulevard) in Woodland Hills.[24][25]
The Woodland Hills Recreation Center (Shoup Park) is a 19-acre (7.7 ha) park in Woodland Hills. The park has a small indoor gymnasium without weights and with a capacity of 300; it may be used as an auditorium. The park also has a lighted baseball diamond, outdoor lighted basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted American football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer (football) field, and lighted tennis courts.[26] Woodland Hills Pool is an outdoor seasonal unheated swimming pool.[26][27]
The Warner Center Park, also known as Warner Ranch Park,[28] is located in Woodland Hills.[29] The park, unstaffed and unlocked, has a children's play area and picnic tables.[28] Serrania Park in Woodland Hills is an unstaffed, unlocked pocket park. It has a children's play area, hiking trails, and picnic tables.[30] Alizondo Drive Park in Woodland Hills is an unstaffed, unlocked, and undeveloped park used for brush clearance once per year.[31]
Along the western boundary of Woodland Hills is the large Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, a regional park with a trail network for miles of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian rides. The trailhead and parking are at the very western end of Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Scheduled walks and programs are offered.[32] The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has various parks nearby to the south of the community. The Top of Topanga Overlook gives panoramic views of the verdant Woodland Hills neighborhoods and the Valley.[33]
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