West Hills | |
|---|---|
 Escorpión Peak (aka: Castle Peak; 1,475 feet/450 m)—east face view from West Hills | |
 West Hills as delineated by theLos Angeles Times | |
  West Hills Location within Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley | |
| Coordinates:34°12′14″N118°37′44″W / 34.204°N 118.629°W /34.204; -118.62934°12′23″N118°38′20″W / 34.20639°N 118.638959°W /34.20639; -118.638959 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Owensmouth | 1912 |
| Canoga Park | 1930 |
| West Hills | 1987 |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.5 sq mi (22 km2) |
| Elevation | 899 ft (274 m) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
• Total | 32,267 |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 91304 & 91307 |
| Area code(s) | 818 & 747 |
West Hills is a neighborhood in the westernSan Fernando Valley region of the city ofLos Angeles,California.[2][3] It is bordered by mountain ranges to the west and the Los Angeles neighborhoods ofChatsworth to the north,Canoga Park to the east, andWoodland Hills to the south.[4]
The neighborhood was formerly the home of manyNative American tribes, and during the early Spanish and Mexican era was part of theMission San Fernando Rey de España. In the American era, West Hills was part ofOwensmouth, which was renamedCanoga Park in 1930. West Hills was established in western Canoga Park and retained its present name in 1987.
Several city parks are to be found within the community. The area is highly residential; there are some religious establishments and a few commercial areas in the community. Two private high schools are among the 13 schools within West Hills.
West Hills (formerly joined with Canoga Park) is located in the western San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and about 45 minutes (depending on traffic) fromdowntown Los Angeles. It is off ofU.S. 101 (theVentura Freeway) via the Valley Circle Boulevard/Mullholland Highway off-ramp.
According to the 2008Mapping L.A. project of theLos Angeles Times, West Hills is flanked on the north by theChatsworth Reservoir, on the east byCanoga Park, on the south byWoodland Hills, on the southwest byHidden Hills and on the west byBell Canyon inVentura County.[5][6]
In 1987, Los Angeles recognized the following description of the boundaries of West Hills Neighborhood Council:[5][6][7]
Starting at the centerline intersections ofTopanga Canyon Boulevard andNordhoff Street, westward down the centerline of Nordhoff extended in a straight line to the city limits of the City of Los Angeles; thence southward, following the border of the City of Los Angeles to the centerline ofVictory Boulevard; thence eastward down the centerline of Victory Boulevard to Shoup Avenue centerline; thence northward down the centerline of Shoup Avenue to the intersection of the centerline ofRoscoe Boulevard; thence eastward down the centerline of Roscoe Boulevard to the centerline of Topanga Canyon Boulevard; then northward down the centerline of Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the centerline of Nordhoff Street.[8]
Bell and Dayton creeks in West Hills are several of theheadwaters of theLos Angeles River that originate in the NorthwestSan Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles River itself begins at theconfluence ofArroyo Calabasas (Calabasas Creek) andBell Creek in Canoga Park. These and other small creeks supply stormwater and suburban runoff water to the Los Angeles River, and several are considered year-round creeks. Although the creeks are now channeled and run within concrete walls, they do form a significant urban wildlife landscape and contribute to the population of indigenous wildlife left within the San Fernando Valley.[citation needed]
Both Bell Creek and Dayton Creek in particular have received attention due to their headwaters origins inside theSanta Susana Field Laboratory in the Simi Hills. The SSFL is mandated for an environmental cleanup due to its uses as a testing center for rocket and missile engines, nuclear reactor research and fuel reprocessing, and high technology defense systems. It was also the site of a partial nuclear core meltdown in 1959.[9] Prominent contaminants includeradionuclides,VOCs-volatile organic compounds,Chromium,Lead,Benzene, and other components of rocket engine fuel and cleaning compounds.[10][11]
This region experiences warm and dry summers, with average temperatures peaking at 96 °F (36 °C) highs throughout August. West Hills has a climate similar to other locations in the west San Fernando Valley, such as nearby Woodland Hills with a long-established weather station at Pierce College. According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, West Hills has awarm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviatedCsa on climate maps.[12]
As of 2022, according to theLos Angeles Almanac there were estimated to be 32,267 residents of West Hills. The ethnic breakdown was 60.52%White (non-Hispanic), 15.73%Asian, 4.56%Black, 0.75%Native American, 0.05%Pacific Islander, 3.52% fromother races, and 11.25% from two or more races. 12.15% wereHispanic or Latino of any race.[1]
As of the 2010 census, and according to theLos Angeles Almanac, there were 38,814 people and 10,626 households residing in West Hills. The ethnic-racial medley of the neighborhood was 78.89%White, 11.97%Asian, 0.05%Pacific Islander, 2.11%African American, 0.36%Native American, 2.80% fromother races, and 3.82% from two or more races; 9.26% of the population wereHispanic of any race.
TheLos Angeles Times reported that the 2000 U.S. census counted 30,814 residents in the 8.53-square-mile (22.1 km2) West Hills neighborhood—or 4,551 inhabitants per square mile (1,757/km2), among the lowestpopulation densities in Los Angeles, which itself has an overall lower population density.[4]
In 2000, the median age for residents was 39, considered old for city and county neighborhoods; the percentages of residents aged 35 and older were among the county's highest.[13]
The neighborhood was considered "moderately diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of white residents. The breakdown waswhites, 70.9%;Latinos, 11%;Asians, 11.3%;blacks, 2.5%; and others, 4.3%. Iran (13.8%) and the Philippines (8.4%) were the most common places of birth for the 22.7% of the residents who were born abroad—a low percentage for Los Angeles.[4]
The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $103,008, considered high for the city and county. The percentage of households that earned $125,000 or more was high forLos Angeles County. Renters occupied 12.6% of the housing stock, and house and condominium-owners occupied 87.4%.[4]
The percentages of married people were among the county's highest. In 2000, there were 785 families headed by single parents, a low percentage for both the city and the county.[4]
Eleven percent of the population were military veterans, a high rate for the city and the county, and the percentages of veterans who served duringWorld War II or theKorean War were among the county's highest.[4]
The 1980 census showed 32,370 people living in the area that later became West Hills, of whom 92% were white, 7% Hispanic, 1% black, 4% Asian and 3% other. Families constituted 90% of the population, and 72% of the residents owned or were buying their own homes. Fifty-three percent had attended college.[14]
The present day West Hills area was the homeland ofNative Americans in theTongva-Fernandeño andChumash-Ventureño tribes, that lived in theSimi Hills and close toBell Creek and other local tributaries to theLos Angeles River. Native American civilizations had inhabited the San Fernando Valley for an estimated 8,000 years.[15][16] The village, Hu'wam, of the Chumash-Venturaños, was located at the base of Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) near present-dayBell Canyon Park.[17] It was a meeting and trading point for them with the Tongva-Fernandeño andTataviam-Fernandeño people.[18] A cave near Hu'wam, known as the Cave of Munits, is the believed home of a mythical Chumash shaman named Munits, who was killed by an eagle after murdering the son of a Chumash chief.[19] Escorpión Peak is one of nine alignment points in the ancestral Chumash homelands, believed essential to maintaining the balance of the natural world.[20]
From 1797 to 1846, the area (future West Hills) was part ofMission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). AfterMexico won independence from Spain, it later became part ofRancho Ex-Mission San Fernando inAlta California. In 1845, a separate land grant forRancho El Escorpión was issued by GovernorPío Pico to threeChumash people: Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Urbano's son Mañuel.[21] It encompassed the land west of present-day Woodlake Avenue in West Hills, with itsadobe ranch buildings (present 1840s—1960s) sited beside Bell Creek near present-dayBell Canyon Park.[22][23]
California was admitted to the United States in 1850, with Spanish and Mexican land grants requiring a federal land patent to retain ownership.[24] The United StatesPublic Land Commission patented the Rancho to original grantees Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel in 1876.[25][26] In 1912 the Chumash heirs sold Rancho El Escorpión to George Platt. He established a dairy operation on renamed Platt Ranch variously called Ferndale, "escorpion," or Cloverdale Dairy.[27] The Rancho El Escorpión-Platt Ranch was not incorporated into Los Angeles and its water system until 1958 and was left undeveloped until 1961.
West Hills was originally part ofOwensmouth (founded 1912) and renamed Canoga Park (1931).[28]
There's a community identity that didn't previously exist, a forum for people to be involved in community affairs.
— Joel Schiffman, West Hills Property Owners Association[29]
Under the leadership of Joel Schiffman, residents of a three-square-mile area in western Canoga Park began a petition campaign in 1987 to separate from the larger community and establish a neighborhood of their own to be called West Hills, the same name that a 303-home subdivision in a nearbyunincorporated area had carried for years. The Los Angeles city district of 4,700 single-family homes and 35 businesses would be bounded byRoscoe Boulevard on the north, Woodlake Avenue, Sherman Way and Platt Avenue on the east, Victory Boulevard on the south and the county line on the west. Proponents said the change would give the area "political clout" and increase property values. The drive, which was opposed by the Canoga ParkChamber of Commerce, was partially financed by a real estate firm, whose owner, Lynn Garvanian, said the name change would "add 5% to the value of homes." The campaign was quickly criticized as "snobby and greedy" by members of the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce but defended by supporters who said it would allow the neighborhood to preserve its residential character.[30][31] Petition leaders said they hoped a new name would separate the more affluent West Hills area from Canoga Park's "fading factories, agingsubdivisions andX-rated bars and theaters."[29]
They're looking for the betterment of a community by renaming it. There's no magic in words.
— William F. Vietinghoff,
Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce[32]
As the petition drive expanded to include three more areas—two on the edge of theChatsworth Reservoir and one on the western edge of Canoga Park—the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce took an official stand against the separation, with president William Vietinghoff calling it "a source of division and disharmony ... an extremely dangerous precedent for the whole San Fernando Valley." Council memberHal Bernson, however, said he did not "look at it as a slam against Canoga Park—just as a group of people wanting identity."[33]
On January 16, 1987, CouncilwomanJoy Picus accepted petitions representing 3,364, or 77% of the 4,333 households in the area within her councilmanic district, and she immediately said she would direct the city's transportation department to put up boundary signs as the residents requested.[29] Many of the latter expected the name change to add thousands of dollars of value to their properties.[34] Two weeks later Picus added another two-mile-wide section of Canoga Park that gave West Hills the Fallbrook Mall and Platt Village shopping centers, along with several smaller retail strips and some older residential tracts built inflatland areas. This addition was denounced by Schiffman, who said it did "a lot to erode the community identity we sought."[34]
...no further petitions. I didn't know this was going to grow. I just want this to go away.
— Joy Picus,
City Council member[34]
In what was called a "stampede,"[35] other areas sought entry into West Hills, one homeowner on Santa Susana Place saying residents there wanted to "divorce ourselves from Canoga Park's element."[34] Council member Hal Bernson agreed to add a square-mile area with 423 households bounded byRoscoe Boulevard on the south, Parthenia Street on the north, Shoup Avenue on the west andTopanga Canyon Boulevard on the east, although the commercial northwest corner of Roscoe and Topanga Canyon boulevards was to remain in Canoga Park. Those additions meant that from nearly a third to nearly half of the former Canoga Park was to be part of the new West Hills.[14][32]
Still, a demand continued for admittance to West Hills.[35] A community meeting scheduled for August 31, 1987, had to be repeated later the same evening when some four hundred people packed a meeting room at theFallbrook Mall to wrestle with the decision on where the final boundary should be. The later event drew three hundred.[35] A poll was taken among about 8,500 residents in an area between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the recently adopted West Hills border at Woodlake and Platt avenues to choose an eastern border. More than a hundred protestors gathered in front of Picus's office to protest any enlargement of West Hills, chanting "Hell, no, we won't grow!" But other residents wound through the area in car caravans, shouting from megaphones and waving signs urging "Vote to Fallbrook."[36] In the end, Picus made a controversial decision to move the eastern boundary of West Hills from Platt and Woodlake avenues to Shoup Avenue, a decision that did not please everybody.[37]
In 1994, the Canoga Park and West Hills communities achieved a "partial rapprochement" when business leaders voted to form a united Canoga Park/West Hills Chamber of Commerce,[38] which is still in existence.
Three ranches and a silent film star's estate in West Hills have been awardedLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument status recognition and protection, and two are city parks. In addition, on the western edge of West Hills huge open space preserves provide an undeveloped greenbelt and nearby recreation opportunities. The high number of neighborhood parks here offer sports fields and courts, play areas for children, and community rooms.
All of these large Parks are open for walks, hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian riding; sunrise to sunset.
The Lederer Estate, which was owned by stage actor and early film starFrancis Lederer (1899–2000), has two separate structures and their settings that are each a registeredLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument—LAHCM. These are: the former residence and its outdoor patio rooms, gardens, and grounds; and the equestrian stables and its patios. Lederer was the honorary Mayor of Canoga Park (pre-West Hills) for many years. In retirement he taught theatre classes, and was a member of the L.A. City Parks Board of Directors. The landmark buildings are located west of and near the West Hills Post Office and West Hills Hospital.
The 29-acre (120,000 m2) Peppergate Ranch was located between Orcutt Ranch and Chatsworth Reservoir. The ranch's residence was designed by master architectPaul R. Williams (1894–1980) in theRanch Style.[64] It was built in 1939 for Talton R. Craig, founder of the Craig Movie Supply Company. The T.R. Craig Residence is aLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (#992; in 2011), located on Pinelake Drive. Peppergate Ranch was subdivided, as Woodlake Estates and Pinelake Estates, in the 1960s.[65]
West Hills, made up of what was formerly a section of the Canoga Park neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, is represented by CouncilmemberJohn Lee. It borders Canoga Park and another Los Angeles neighborhood, Woodland Hills, as well as the city of Hidden Hills, all located within the San Fernando Valley.
TheLos Angeles Public Library operates thePlatt Branch Library at 23600 Victory Boulevard. In 2015, the Neighborhood Councils of West Hills and Woodland Hills-Warner Center agreed to share jurisdiction over the library and its grounds, making it a part of both West Hills and Woodland Hills.[72]
The West HillsNeighborhood Council (WHNC) has a website, public meetings, and sponsors events and activities. It is governed by a 25-member board of directors that is elected by West Hills stakeholders (residents and local business owners). The council also is a resource as the city's official forum for individuals and the community to learn about, discuss and take positions on local and citywide issues.[73]
TheUnited States Postal Service: The West HillsPost Office is located at 23055 Sherman Way, West Hills, 91307 (where Platt turns into Sherman Way).[76] The community's ZIP Codes are 91307 and 91304.
West Hills is within the:
West Hills is located in Los Angeles County and is represented byLindsey Horvath.[79]
The West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, located at Medical Center Drive and Sherman Way, serves the local community as well as patients from several cities inLos Angeles andVentura Counties.[80][81] The West Hills Hospital Surgical Center opened in 1996, and performs procedures in specialties such asgeneral andhand surgery (done by The Hand Center of Southern California),gynecology,gastroenterology, andorthopedics.[82] The West Hills Hospital and Medical Center facilities also include a large maternity ward and anoncology unit. The Grossman Burn Centers, formerly based at Sherman Oaks Hospital, moved to West Hills Hospital in 2010.[83] Opened in 1984, the hospital does not have a trauma center so any trauma/emergency cases are routed to nearbyNorthridge Hospital Medical Center.
Thirty-eight percent of West Hills residents aged 25 and older had earned afour-year degree by 2000, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentages of those residents with amaster's degree or higher was also high for the county.[4]
Schools within the West Hills boundaries are:[84][85]
TheLos Angeles Unified School District operates public schools in this area.
Public middle schools and high schools serving West Hills within their district boundary lines include:
Among religious buildings, Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, Saint Bernardine Parish and the Shomrei TorahSynagogue is located near Stone Gate Drive and Valley Circle Boulevard.Chabad of West Hills is located near the intersection of Hartland Street and Valley Circle Boulevard.
The Corporate Pointe business park, on the largest research and light industry property in West Hills, is in planning for redevelopment.[88] It is located at Fallbrook Avenue andRoscoe Boulevard, near Hidden Lake and theChatsworth Reservoir. The property was originally developed in 1959 as theThompson-Ramo-Wooldridge aerospace corporation's new headquarters. It was later used byAtomics International,Hughes Aircraft, andRaytheon for aerospace development advancements andnuclear research.[89][90]
Public transport within West Hills and the San Fernando Valley is provided byMetro Local bus routes, operated by theLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). They connect to transfer points and hubs in adjacent Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, and Chatsworth for other public transport systems and destinations.
Metro Local routes serving West Hills include: 162/163 via Sherman Way, 164 viaVictory Boulevard, 165 via Vanowen Street, 169 via Saticoy Street, and 152/353 via Fallbrook Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard.
Metro Local buses connect with theG Line at nearby stations to the east in Canoga Park, includingCanoga station,Sherman Way station, andRoscoe station.[91][92] The southeastbound Orange Line connects to theNorth Hollywood Metro Station for theB Line subway toDowntown Los Angeles and beyond. The northbound Orange Line connects to theChatsworth Transportation Center, a hub for: theAmtrakPacific Surfliner trains; theMetrolinkVentura County Line trains; and the buses of theLos Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) DowntownCommuter Express,Simi Valley Transit, andSanta Clarita Transit.
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Places adjacent to West Hills, Los Angeles | |
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