La Crescenta-Montrose, California

La Crescenta-Montrose
census-designated place & unincorporated community

La Crescenta-Montrose from the air, looking North

Location of La Crescenta-Montrose in Los Angeles County, California.
Coordinates: 34°13′30″N 118°14′13″W / 34.22500°N 118.23694°WCoordinates: 34°13′30″N 118°14′13″W / 34.22500°N 118.23694°W
Country  United States
State  California
County Los Angeles
Area[1]
 • Total 3.437 sq mi (8.902 km2)
 • Land 3.426 sq mi (8.873 km2)
 • Water 0.011 sq mi (0.029 km2)  0.32%
Elevation 1, 540 ft (469.392 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 19,653
 • Density 5,700/sq mi (2,200/km2)
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 91214 (La Crescenta) 91020 (Montrose)
Area code(s) 818
FIPS code 06-39045

La Crescenta-Montrose includes both a census-designated place (CDP) and an Unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California.

Geography

The unincorporated part encompasses those parts of the Crescenta Valley and northwestern San Rafael Hills not in the cities of Glendale or La Cañada Flintridge. Only a small portion of Montrose is unincorporated, the vast majority of it lies within the City of Glendale. Both the unincorporated area and the portion of incorporated Glendale north of Montrose are collectively called La Crescenta-Montrose.

'La Crescenta-Montrose is bordered on the north by the Angeles National Forest, on the east by La Cañada Flintridge, on the south by Glendale, and the northwest by Tujunga. The Foothill Freeway runs through the southern portion of the area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the La Crescenta-Montrose area measures about 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2). The population was 19,653 at the 2010 census, up from 18,532 in the 2000 census.

Demographics

U.S. Census

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
197019,594—
198016,531−15.6%
199016,9682.6%
200018,5329.2%
201019,6536.0%
sources:[2]

2010

The 2010 United States Census[3] reported that La Crescenta-Montrose had a population of 19,653. The population density was 5,717.8 people per square mile (2,207.7/km²). The racial makeup of La Crescenta-Montrose was 12,807 (65.2%) White (57.9% Non-Hispanic White),[4] 142 (0.7%) African American, 70 (0.4%) Native American, 5,375 (27.3%) Asian, 12 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 533 (2.7%) from other races, and 714 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,232 persons (11.4%).

The Census reported that 19,652 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 1 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 7,088 households, out of which 2,700 (38.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,190 (59.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 784 (11.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 298 (4.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 212 (3.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 42 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,533 households (21.6%) were made up of individuals and 555 (7.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77. There were 5,272 families (74.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.26.

The population was spread out with 4,612 people (23.5%) under the age of 18, 1,635 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 4,590 people (23.4%) aged 25 to 44, 6,388 people (32.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,428 people (12.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.6 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

There were 7,350 housing units at an average density of 2,138.4 per square mile (825.6/km²), of which 4,568 (64.4%) were owner-occupied, and 2,520 (35.6%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.1%. 13,478 people (68.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 6,174 people (31.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, La Crescenta-Montrose had a median household income of $88,995, with 6.4% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[4]

2000

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 18,532 people, 6,945 households, and 4,944 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 5,407.0 people per square mile (2,086.1/km2). There were 7,108 housing units at an average density of 2,073.9 per square mile (800.1/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 72.93% White, 0.52% African American, 0.36% Native American, 18.68% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.69% from other races, and 4.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.91% of the population.

There were 6,945 households out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $60,089, and the median income for a family was $69,381. Males had a median income of $60,027 versus $38,532 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $30,196. About 3.9% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

Mapping L.A.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these neighborhood statistics based on the 2000 census.

The percentages of Asian and white people in La Crescenta-Montrose were high for the county. Median income at $82,693 was high for the county, The percentages of households that earned $60,000 to $125,000 and $125,000 and up were high for the county. 40.8% of residents 25 and older had a four-year degree, high for the county. The percentages of residents ages 35 to 49 and 50 to 64 were among the county's highest. The single-parent rate was 8.8 percent, low for the county. The percentage of veterans who served during Vietnam was among the county's highest.

Comparison of La Crescenta-Montrose with nearby neighborhoods
Most percentages are rounded to the nearest whole figure.

•• Tujunga[6] La Crescenta-
Montrose[7]		 Glendale[8] La Cañada
Flintridge[9]		 Pasadena[10]
Population 26,527 18,507 195,047 20,381 134,941
White 61% 66% 54% 71% 39%
Latino 26% 20% 20% 5% 33%
Asian 7% 20% 16% 20% 10%
Black 2% ½% 1% ½% 14%
Household income $58,001 $82,693 $57,112 $148,996 $62,825
College degree 22% 41% 32% 64% 42%
Median age 36 38 37 41 34
Single parents 14% 9% 9% 7% 13%
Veteran 10% 11% 6% 11% 8%
Foreign born 30% 28% 54% 19% 32%
Where? Mexico,
Iran		 South Korea,
Iran		 Armenia,
Mexico		 South Korea,
Iran		 Mexico,
Philippines
Ethnic diversity
for L.A. County		 Moderate Average High Moderate Average
Home ownership 55% 65% 38% 90% 46%

Schools

Schools in La Crescenta-Montrose are a part of the Glendale Unified School District.

Elementary Schools

Middle Schools

High Schools

Independent Study

Private

Politics

In the state legislature La Crescenta-Montrose is located in the 25th Senate District, represented by Senator Carol Liu and the 43rd Assembly District, represented by Assemblyman Mike Gatto. Federally, La Crescenta-Montrose is located in California's 28th congressional district, and is represented by Congressman Adam Schiff.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Crescenta Valley Station in La Crescenta, serving La Crescenta and Montrose.[12]

History

The area was originally part of the homelands of the Tongva people. It became part of Rancho La Cañada, a Mexican land grant given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to a Mexican schoolteacher from Pueblo de Los Ángeles, Ygnacio Coronel (1795–1862).

The Great Flood of 1934

In November 1933, wildfires raged through the nearby San Gabriel mountains above the communities of La Crescenta, La Cañada and Montrose. During the last week of December of that year, a series of winter storms pounded the mountainside with 12 inches of rain. On New Year's Eve, more heavy rains led to sporadic flooding.

Around midnight, hillsides in at least three mountain locations collapsed sending millions of tons of mud and debris into the Crescenta Valley neighborhoods below.[13]

More than 400 homes were destroyed in La Cañada, La Crescenta, Montrose and Tujunga. Scores of people were killed, and hundreds were left homeless. Entire families were wiped out. The mudslides that began in the mountains above La Cañada and La Crescenta carved a path of destruction all the way to the Verdugo Wash and beyond.

Some Montrose residents sought shelter from flooding at American Legion Post 288, which was destroyed, killing 12.[14]

Storm drain under construction

Parts of Foothill Boulevard were buried under 12 feet (4 m) of mud, boulders and debris. The mud was deep enough to bury cars completely on Montrose Avenue. Miles of Honolulu Boulevard were inundated by several feet of sand and silt.

Two notable victims of the flood were silent-era identical-twin child actors Winston and Weston Doty, who died at the age of 20.[15][16]

Following the disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the County of Los Angeles built a flood control system of catch basins and concrete storm drains, designed to prevent a repeat of the 1934 disaster.[17]

The flood was commemorated in Woody Guthrie's song "Los Angeles New Year's Flood".[18] To honor the victims of that New Year's calamity and to mark its 75th anniversary a small monument was dedicated January 1, 2004, at Rosemont and Fairway Avenues, in Montrose, near where the American Legion Hall had stood.

In popular culture

In the spring of 2012, a large black bear managed to wander regularly from the Angeles National Forest into the La Crescenta-Montrose-Glendale residential area, rummaging through trash cans and showing a preference for Costco meatballs and tuna. The bear was subdued in La Crescenta and returned to the forest.[19] A Twitter account from an individual posting as "GlenBearian" appeared with updates from the bear's perspective.[20]

The historic 1946 La Crescenta Motel, formerly known as the May Lane Motel, with its classic postwar L-shaped layout on Foothill Blvd., has been used as a location for numerous feature films and television shows, such as Glee, Criminal Minds, Mad Men and True Blood.[21]

Rockhaven Sanitarium on Honolulu Avenue, built entirely of rock, opened in 1923. It became known as the "Screen Actors' Sanitarium," housing such patients as Billie Burke and Gladys Baker, mother of Marilyn Monroe. Closed in 2006, the property is slated for refurbishment and re-opening as a library.[22]

Another, more notorious sanitarium existed in La Crescenta from the 1920s to the early 1960s. A few yards west of the La Crescenta Motel, on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Rosemont Avenue, is the site of the Kimball Sanitarium, which was housed in a large, foreboding, converted Victorian mansion built in the 1880s. Bela Lugosi attempted to overcome his morphine addiction at the Kimball, as represented in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood. Actress Frances Farmer, misdiagnosed as a "paranoid schizophrenic," received insulin shock therapy at Kimball. Plans to expand the sanitarium were rejected by local residents in the early 1960s and the sanitarium was finally torn down. Construction workers readying the building for demolition found padded cells, straight-jackets and manacles attached to the walls. The site became sprawling shopping plaza, and a Ralphs supermarket currently occupies the spot where the disreputable sanitarium once stood.[23][24]

During an as-yet undiagnosed episode of manic depression (bipolarism) in 1996, actress Margot Kidder attempted to walk 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles to the La Crescenta home of her friend, writer Rosie Shuster. Kidder was discovered in Glendale and hospitalized.[25]

Government and infrastructure

Crescenta Valley Town Council

The Town Council has nine elected members, with three alternate members, serving as an advisory body for the unincorporated areas of La Crescenta and Montrose. The council's purpose is to listen to and communicate "residents’ needs, ideas and concerns to the appropriate public agencies, City, County and State, including the Supervisor of the Fifth District, Michael Antonovich, its official representative on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors."[26]

Health

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Glendale Health Center in Glendale, serving La Crescenta and Montrose.[27]

USC Verdugo Hills Hospital is a 158-bed nonprofit primary-care facility. It features emergency services, inpatient and outpatient diagnostic and treatment facilities, a family birthing center, and bariatric and orthopedic surgical services.[28]

Media

La Crescenta and Crescenta Valley area is served by the Crescenta Valley Weekly newspaper, and the Glendale News Press newspaper.

Points of historical interest

St. Luke's of the Mountains Episcopal Church was designed and built by the famous artist Seymour Thomas in 1924. Constructed of natural stone from the valley, it is reminiscent of a woodlands church in northern Europe. It is considered to be the architectural centerpiece of the valley. St. Luke's is located at 2563 Foothill Blvd.

Le Mesnager Barn is a stone barn perched high above the valley, built in 1911 by George Le Mesnager, a French patriot, to store and process grapes from his vineyards in the Sparr Heights area. These grapes supplied his "Old Hermatage Vinyards" winery in downtown Los Angeles. There is still a Mesnager Street in the downtown area where the winery had been located. It is owned by the City of Glendale, which plans to restore it as an educational nature/history center. Le Mesnager Barn is located in Deukmejian Wilderness Park at the top of Dunsmore Ave.

La Crescenta is home to one of two American ashrams founded by Indian mystic and poet Swami Paramananda. The Ananda Ashrama is located at the top of Pennsylvania Avenue near Deukmejian Wilderness Park.[29]

The La Crescenta Woman's Club began in 1911, incorporated in 1923, and built its beautiful clubhouse in 1925. The structure has been the social center of the valley for most of the last century, and is the home for the organization's many charitable and social events. The La Crescenta Woman's Club is located at 4004 La Crescenta Avenue.

Sparr Heights Community Center was originally built in 1930 as the real estate office for the Sparr Heights residential tract, then named Oakmont Park. It was later donated to the residents of the area, and has been a community hall and senior center since then. Sparr Heights Community Center is located at 1613 Glencoe Avenue.

La Crescenta Elementary School was built in 1887 at the corner of Foothill and Dyer, but soon moved to a new location at La Crescenta and Prospect. A wooden schoolhouse was built on this site in 1890. A larger school building replaced it in 1914, and the present structure was erected in 1948.

The Old School Bell: La Crescenta's school bell first rang students to school from across the valley in 1890. It was placed in storage from 1948 until 1976, when it was re-hung and dedicated with a plaque listing the names of the kids in the first class at La Crescenta Elementary. The bell is now rung once a year in June by the graduating students. The Bell is located in front of La Crescenta Elementary School.

La Crescenta Presbyterian Church is a striking church building constructed in 1923. This is one of the oldest congregations in the valley, first meeting in the 1880s. In the congregation's early years they shared facilities with the elementary school, as did the Episcopals that later built St. Luke's. La Crescenta Presbyterian Church is located at 2902 Montrose Avenue.

Some of the streets in the Montrose neighborhoods are designed in a rose pattern with the streets laid out in a circular pattern, thus the name Montrose.

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Census
  2. ↑ "CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING (1790-2000)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  3. ↑ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - La Crescenta-Montrose CDP". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0639045.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  6. ↑ "Tujunga" entry on the Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website
  7. ↑ "La Crescenta-Montrose" entry on the Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website
  8. ↑ "Glendale" entry on the Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website
  9. ↑ La Cañada-Flintridge" entry on the Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website
  10. ↑ "La Crescenta-Montrose" entry on the Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/disting2008.asp
  12. ↑ "Crescenta Valley Station." Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Retrieved on January 21, 2010.
  13. ↑ Montrose flood roared through the Crescenta Valley as 1934 began
  14. ↑ The Los Angeles Times, January 2, 3, 4, 5, 1934
  15. ↑ "Trojan’s Famous Twin Cheer Leaders Drown" - San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) January 3, 1934 pg. 8
  16. ↑ San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) January 20, 1934 pg. 3
  17. ↑ "Images of America: La Crescenta" Mike Lawler and Robert Newcombe. Arcadia Pub. 2005
  18. ↑ http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Los_Angeles_New_Years_Flood.htm
  19. ↑ "Black bear contained in La Crescenta back yard." Los Angeles Times blogs, LA Now, April 10, 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/black-bear-contained-in-la-crescenta-backyard.html Retrieved 5/23/12
  20. ↑ Stevens, Matt. "Glendale Bear joins Twitter, but is a no-show on trash day." Los Angeles Times blogs, LA Now, April 5, 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/welcome-to-twitter-glendale-bear.html Retrieved 5/23/12
  21. ↑ Lawlor, Mike. "Treasures of the Valley: La Crescenta Motel as a Movie Location." Crescenta Valley Weekly, April 26, 2012.http://www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/viewpoints/04/26/2012/treasures-of-the-valley-mike-lawler/ Retrieved 5/23/12
  22. ↑ Grainger, Maggie. "Documentary Goes Behind Rockhaven Sanitarium Gates." Montrose Patch, December 12, 2010. http://montrose.patch.com/articles/documentary-goes-behind-the-gates-of-rockhaven Retrieved 5/23/12. "The Crescenta Valley: Then and Now." Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. http://www.cvhistory.org/thennow/thennow.htm Retrieved 5/23/12
  23. ↑ Newcombe, John. "Rancho La Cañada: Then & Now." http://www.rancholacanada.com/history.html Retrieved 5/25/12
  24. ↑ "The Crescenta Valley: Then and Now." Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. http://www.cvhistory.org/thennow/thennow.htm Retrieved 5/25/12
  25. ↑ Reed, J. D. "Starting Over." People Magazine, September 23, 1996, Vol.46, No. 13. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20142326,00.html Retrieved 5/23/12
  26. ↑ What We Do, Town Council website
  27. ↑ "Glendale Health Center." Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.
  28. ↑ Verdugo Hills Hospital website
  29. ↑ Ananada Ashrama, La Crescenta, website: http://www.anandaashrama.org/ retrieved 5/25/12

External links