The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, theSpanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanish name reflects the originalTongva-language name for the village ofSiutcanga, which can be translated to "the place of the oaks."[2][3]
In 1769, the SpanishPortolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north throughSepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley on August 5 and stayed two nights at the Tongva village ofSiutcanga ("the place of the oaks") near what is nowLos Encinos State Historic Park.[2] FrayJuan Crespi, a Franciscan missionary traveling with the expedition, named the valley "El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bolonia de Los Encinos" (The Valley ofSt. Catherine of Bologna of the Oaks).[4] All of Crespi's name was later dropped except "Encino".
The 2000 U.S. census counted 41,905 residents in the 9.5-square-mile (25 km2) Encino neighborhood — 4,411 inhabitants per square mile (1,703/km2), among the lowestpopulation densities for the city but average for the county. In 2008, the city estimated that the resident population had increased to 44,581.[6]
In 2000, the median age for residents was 42, considered old for city and county neighborhoods; the percentages of residents aged 50 and older were among the county's highest.[6]
The neighborhood demographic breakdown wasWhites, 80.1%;Latinos, 8.5%;Asians, 4.9%;Blacks, 2.4%; and others, 4.1%.
The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $78,529, considered high for the city. The percentage of households that earned $125,000 and up was high forLos Angeles County. The average household size of 2.3 people was low when compared to the rest of the city and the county.Renters occupied 38.4% of the housing stock andhouse- or apartment-owners held 61.6%.[6]
The percentages of divorced residents and of widowed men and women were among the county's highest. In 2000military veterans amounted to 10.6% of the population, a high rate for the county.[6]
Financial institution onVentura BoulevardPlaza de Oro Shopping Center, Ventura Boulevard
The local economy provides jobs primarily in health care (including one of twoEncino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center hospitals), social services, and professional services (accounting and financial services, real estate, and legal) sectors. There are approximately 3,800 businesses employing about 27,000 people at an annual payroll of $1.4 billion.[10]
TheUnited States Postal Service operates the Encino Post Office at 5805 White Oak Avenue and the Balboa Van Nuys Post Office at 4930 Balboa Boulevard.[13][14]
The Encino Park and Ride with 160 spaces is located at 5174 Hayvenhurst Avenue, which provides weekday connections to/from DowntownLos Angeles,LAX,Pasadena,Thousand Oaks and other locations via variousLADOT commuter buses.[15]
By 2000, forty-six percent of Encino residents aged 25 and older had earned afour-year degree, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of those residents with amaster's degree or higher was also high for the county.[6]
In 1982 the board considered closing Rhoda Street Elementary School in Encino. In April 1983 an advisory committee of the LAUSD recommended closing eight LAUSD schools, including Rhoda Street School.[21] In August 1983 the board publicly considered closing Rhoda, which had 262 students at the time.[22] In 1984 the board voted to close the Rhoda Street School.[23]
The Balboa Sports Complex in Encino includes a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a lighted football field, a lighted handball court, an indoor gymnasium without weights and with a capacity for 400 people, an unlighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts which can be used as Pickleball courts, and lighted volleyball courts.[30] The Sepulveda Basin Off-leash Dog Park is adog park in Encino.[31] The dog park has 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of leash-free dog area, a 0.5-acre (0.20 ha) small dog area, an on-leash picnic area, 100 parking spots, and public telephones.[32] The Sepulveda Garden Center, a community garden area in Encino, has about 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land and 420 garden plots.[33]
The stump pictured in 2008 is all that remains of the historic Encino Oak Tree.
The EncinoVelodrome has provided an outdoor oval bicycle racing track since 1961.[115]
Los Encinos State Historic Park features historic buildings, a small museum, and picnic grounds. In 2009 it faced closure due to California's budget crisis. The Park remains open today.[31]
The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area[116][117] is a large area with multiple golf courses, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, bike paths, and a lake bordered by about 2,000 Pink Cloud cherry trees that blossom in the spring. Encino Park was founded around 1937 and has a playground, as well as basketball courts and two lighted tennis courts.
For over a millennium, the area known as Encino was the home of a massiveCalifornia live oak known as theEncino Oak Tree. It is possible that Encino is named because of this particular tree. (Encino is the Spanish word for "evergreen" or "holm oak.") It was known for its size and longevity. The tree died on February 7, 1998, after anEl Niño storm felled it. Today there is a monument to the tree at the corner ofVentura Boulevard and Louise Avenue where the Encino Oak once stood.[118]
The 1992 movieEncino Man revolves around two geeky teenagers from Encino who discover a caveman in their backyard, frozen in a block of ice where he has to learn to live in the 20th century while teaching the teenagers about life[120]
In theColumbo TV series episode "A Bird In The Hand," the scene where Columbo visits a car dealership was filmed in Encino[123]
The 2022 comedy horror filmStudio 666 seesFoo Fighters frontmanDave Grohl battle supernatural forces while the band try to record an album in an Encino mansion[124]
In theGex video game series, the eponymous character grew up in Encino[125]
^Johnson, Clarence L.; Smith, Maggie (1985).More than My Share of It All. Smithsonian Institution.ISBN978-0-87474-564-1
^Westhoff, Ben (May 16, 2013)."Victoria Justice: The Kids' Choice".LA Weekly.Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. RetrievedJanuary 10, 2019."I think you go right here," says Victoria Justice, guiding a reporter toward her house in the Encino Hills, overlooking the mountains and just down the street from Martin Lawrence's pad.
^Pride, Ray (December 20, 2021)."Boogie Golden Hours: A Review of Licorice Pizza".Newcity Film. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2022.Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is a delicious, incident-filled but quietly complex vision of coming of age in the year 1973 in his well-traveled precincts of Encino and environs.
^"Studio 666". RetrievedFebruary 25, 2022.In Studio 666, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.
^Hanshaw, Carol Ann (1995). "A Bad TV Day".Gex(PDF) (Manual).Crystal Dynamics. p. 5.One week later, a moving van pulled up in front of the family's new ranch-style home in Encino, California, surrounded by white picket fences and white supremacists.
Geis, Gilbert (2011).White-Collar and Corporate Crime: A Documentary and Reference Guide: A Documentary and Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-0-313-38055-6.
