| San Fernando Valley | |
|---|---|
 The San Fernando Valley looking northeast; from the top ofTopanga Overlook Park aboveWoodland Hills in the foreground | |
 San Fernando Valley | |
| Area | 260 square miles (670 km2) |
| Naming | |
| Native name | El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos (Spanish) |
| Geography | |
| Location | California |
| Population centers | Los Angeles,Burbank,Glendale,Calabasas,Hidden Hills,San Fernando |
| Borders on | Santa Susana Mountains (northwest),Simi Hills (west),Santa Monica Mountains andChalk Hills (south),Verdugo Mountains (east),San Gabriel Mountains (northeast) |
| Coordinates | 34°15′N118°27′W / 34.25°N 118.45°W /34.25; -118.45 |
TheSan Fernando Valley,[1] known locally as theValley,[2][3] is an urbanized valley inLos Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of theLos Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion ofLos Angeles, theincorporated cities ofBurbank,Calabasas,Glendale,Hidden Hills andSan Fernando, plus several unincorporated areas.[4] The valley is the home ofWarner Bros. Studios,Walt Disney Studios, and theUniversal Studios Hollywood theme park.
The valley of San Fernando is an area of 260 square miles (670 km2),[5] bounded by theSan Gabriel Mountains in the northeast, theVerdugo Mountains in the east, theSanta Monica Mountains andChalk Hills in the south, theSimi Hills in the west, and theSanta Susana Mountains in the northwest. The northernSierra Pelona Mountains, northwesternTopatopa Mountains, southernSanta Ana Mountains, andDowntown Los Angeles skyscrapers can be seen from higher neighborhoods, passes, roads and parks in the San Fernando Valley.
TheLos Angeles River begins at the confluence ofCalabasas Creek (Arroyo Calabasas) andBell Creek (Escorpión Creek), betweenCanoga Park High School and Owensmouth Avenue (just north of Vanowen Street) inCanoga Park. These creeks'headwaters are in the Santa MonicaCalabasas foothills, the Simi Hills'Hidden Hills,Santa Susana Field Laboratory, andSanta Susana Pass Park lands. The river flows eastward along the southern regions of the Valley. One of the river's two unpaved sections can be found at theSepulveda Basin. A seasonal river, theTujunga Wash, drains much of the western facing San Gabriel Mountains and passes into and then through theHansen Dam Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace. It flows south along the Verdugo Mountains through the eastern communities of the valley to join the Los Angeles River inStudio City. Other notable tributaries of the river include Dayton Creek, Caballero Creek,Bull Creek,Pacoima Wash, andVerdugo Wash. The elevation of the floor of the valley varies from about 600 ft (180 m) to 1,200 ft (370 m) abovesea level.
Most of the San Fernando Valley is within the jurisdiction of theCity of Los Angeles,[3] although a few other incorporated cities are located within the valley as well:Burbank is in the southeastern corner of the valley, andSan Fernando, which is completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, is near the northern end of the valley.Universal City, an enclave in the southern part of the valley, is an unincorporated area housing theUniversal Studios filming lot and theme park.Mulholland Drive, which runs along the ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains, marks the boundary between the valley and the communities ofHollywood and theLos Angeles Westside.The San Fernando Valley has connections to other regions: theSanta Clarita Valley viaNewhall Pass, theWestside viaSepulveda Pass,Hollywood viaCahuenga Pass, Simi Valley viaSanta Susana Pass, and theCrescenta Valley viaInterstate 210.
The valley's natural habitat is a "temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublandsbiome" ofgrassland,oak savanna, andchaparral shrub types ofplant communityhabitats, along with lushriparian plants along the river, creeks, and springs. In thisMediterranean climate, post-1790s European agriculture for the mission's support consisted ofgrapes,figs,olives, and general garden crops.[6]
The San Fernando Valley has asubtropical/hot-summer Mediterranean climate, with long, hot, dry summers, and short, mild winters, with chilly nights and sporadic rainfall. Due to its relatively inland location and other factors, summer days are typically hotter and winter nights typically colder than in theLos Angeles basin. More recently, statewidedroughts in California have further strained the San Fernando Valley’s and Los Angeles County’swater security.[7]
| Climate data forBurbank, California (at Burbank Valley Pump) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 92 (33) | 92 (33) | 98 (37) | 105 (41) | 107 (42) | 111 (44) | 114 (46) | 111 (44) | 114 (46) | 108 (42) | 102 (39) | 95 (35) | 114 (46) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 67.5 (19.7) | 68.7 (20.4) | 70.4 (21.3) | 73.7 (23.2) | 76.6 (24.8) | 81.4 (27.4) | 88.3 (31.3) | 89.0 (31.7) | 87.2 (30.7) | 80.9 (27.2) | 73.7 (23.2) | 67.9 (19.9) | 77.1 (25.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 41.7 (5.4) | 43.5 (6.4) | 45.7 (7.6) | 48.9 (9.4) | 53.5 (11.9) | 57.3 (14.1) | 61.2 (16.2) | 61.4 (16.3) | 59.2 (15.1) | 53.3 (11.8) | 46.0 (7.8) | 41.6 (5.3) | 51.1 (10.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 22 (−6) | 27 (−3) | 23 (−5) | 32 (0) | 39 (4) | 43 (6) | 45 (7) | 46 (8) | 43 (6) | 33 (1) | 29 (−2) | 22 (−6) | 22 (−6) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.35 (85) | 3.84 (98) | 2.84 (72) | 1.17 (30) | 0.27 (6.9) | 0.07 (1.8) | 0.01 (0.25) | 0.10 (2.5) | 0.20 (5.1) | 0.60 (15) | 1.51 (38) | 2.34 (59) | 16.29 (414) |
| Source:[8] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data forWoodland Hills, Los Angeles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 93 (34) | 94 (34) | 101 (38) | 105 (41) | 113 (45) | 113 (45) | 119 (48) | 116 (47) | 121 (49) | 110 (43) | 101 (38) | 96 (36) | 121 (49) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 67 (19) | 69 (21) | 71 (22) | 77 (25) | 80 (27) | 87 (31) | 93 (34) | 95 (35) | 90 (32) | 83 (28) | 73 (23) | 67 (19) | 79 (26) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 41 (5) | 42 (6) | 43 (6) | 45 (7) | 49 (9) | 53 (12) | 56 (13) | 57 (14) | 55 (13) | 50 (10) | 43 (6) | 39 (4) | 48 (9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 19 (−7) | 18 (−8) | 26 (−3) | 30 (−1) | 33 (1) | 36 (2) | 42 (6) | 42 (6) | 38 (3) | 27 (−3) | 23 (−5) | 20 (−7) | 18 (−8) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 4.27 (108) | 4.26 (108) | 3.63 (92) | 0.85 (22) | 0.30 (7.6) | 0.06 (1.5) | 0.02 (0.51) | 0.16 (4.1) | 0.26 (6.6) | 0.60 (15) | 1.47 (37) | 2.32 (59) | 18.20 (462) |
| Source:[9] | |||||||||||||
The valley was a center of "the crossroads of cultures and languages, including theTongva,Fernandeño, andChumash."[10] The Tongva, later known as theGabrieleñoMission Indians after colonization, theTataviam to the north, and Chumash to the west, had lived and thrived in the valley and its arroyos for over 8,000 years.[11] They hadnumerous settlements, and trading and hunting camps, before theSpanish arrived in 1769 to settle in the Valley, including the village ofPasheeknga.[12][13]
The firstSpanish land grant in the San Fernando Valley (orEl Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos[14]) was called "Rancho Encino" (present-dayMission Hills on theCamino Viejo beforeNewhall Pass), in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.Juan Francisco Reyes built anadobe dwelling beside aTongva village orrancheria atnatural springs known asAchooykomenga, but the land was soon taken from him so that amission could be built there.[15][16]Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797 as the 17th of the 21 missions.[17] The land trade granted Juan Francisco Reyes the similarly namedRancho Los Encinos, also beside springs (Los Encinos State Historic Park in present-dayEncino). Later theMexican land grants ofRancho El Escorpión (West Hills),Rancho Providencia andRancho Cahuenga (Burbank), andRancho Ex-Mission San Fernando (rest of valley) covered the San Fernando Valley.[citation needed]
TheTreaty of Cahuenga, ending theMexican–American War fighting inAlta California, was signed in 1847 byCalifornios and Americans atCampo de Cahuenga, the Verdugo Family adobe at the entrance to theCahuenga Pass in the southeast San Fernando Valley (North Hollywood). The 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the entire war.
The Valley officially became part of the State of California on September 9, 1850, when theCalifornia Statehood Act was approved by the federal government.In 1874,dry wheat farming was introduced byJ. B. Lankershim andIsaac Van Nuys, which became very productive for their San Fernando Homestead Association that owned the southern half of the valley.[18] In 1876, they sent the first wheat shipment from bothSan Pedro Harbor and from the United States to Europe.[19]
Through the late-19th-century court decisionLos Angeles v.Pomeroy, Los Angeles had won the rights to all surface flow water atop anaquifer beneath the valley, without it being within the city limits.[20] San Fernando Valley farmers offered to buy the surplus aqueduct[clarification needed] water, but the federal legislation that enabled the construction of the aqueduct prohibited Los Angeles from selling the water outside of the city limits.[21] This induced several independent towns[which?] surrounding Los Angeles to vote on and approve annexation to the city so that they could connect to the municipal water system. These rural areas became part of Los Angeles in 1915.[22]The aqueduct water shifted farming in the area from dry crops, such as wheat, to irrigated crops, such as corn, beans, squash, and cotton; orchards ofapricots,persimmons, andwalnuts; and major citrus groves of oranges and lemons.[23][24] They continued until the next increment of development converted land use, with postwarsuburbanization leaving only a few enclaves, such as the "open-air museum" groves at theOrcutt Ranch Park andCSUN campus.
In 1909, the Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led byH. J. Whitley, general manager of the board of control, along withHarry Chandler,Harrison Gray Otis, M. H. Sherman, and Otto F. Brant purchased 48,000 acres of the Farming and Milling Company for $2,500,000.[25][26]Henry E. Huntington extended hisPacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through the Valley toOwensmouth (now Canoga Park). The Suburban Home Company laid out plans for roads and the towns of Van Nuys, Reseda (Marian), and Canoga Park (Owensmouth). The rural areas were annexed into the city of Los Angeles in 1915.[23][27]Laurel Canyon andLankershim in 1923,[28]: 45 Sunland in 1926,[28]: 29 La Tuna Canyon in 1926, and the incorporated city ofTujunga in an eight-year process lasting from 1927 to 1935.[29] These annexations more than doubled the area of the city.
Two valley cities incorporated independently from Los Angeles:Burbank andSan Fernando in 1911.Universal City remains an unincorporated enclave that is home toUniversal Studios and became home toUniversal CityWalk later in the century. Other unincorporated areas in the valley includeBell Canyon andKagel Canyon.
The advent of three new industries in the early 20th century—motion pictures, automobiles, and aircraft—also spurred urbanization and population growth.World War II production and the subsequent postwar boom accelerated this growth so that between 1945 and 1960, the valley's population had quintupled.[30] Los Angeles continued to consolidate its territories in the San Fernando Valley by annexing the formerRancho El Escorpión for Canoga Park-West Hills in 1959, and the huge historic Porter Ranch at the foot of theSanta Susana Mountains for the new planned developments inPorter Ranch in 1965.[citation needed] The additions expanded the Los Angeles portion of San Fernando Valley from the original 169 square miles (438 km2) to 224 square miles (580 km2).
In the late 1970s, there was a proposed east-west freeway labeled SR 64 that would have cut through the center of the valley from Calabasas in the western end of the valley to the SR-170 and I-5 freeway interchange in Sun Valley, Los Angeles in the eastern end of the valley, but local opposition gained traction and the proposed freeway was never approved or built.
In the 1980s, a distinctive valley youth culture was recognized in the media, particularly in the 1982Frank Zappa /Moon Zappa song"Valley Girl" and the 1983 filmValley Girl.[3] These helped fix the socio-economic stereotype of the "Valley girl" into the public consciousness, including a distinct Valley accent.[31][32]
The 1994Northridge earthquake struck on January 17 and measured 6.7 on theMoment magnitude scale. It produced the largest ground motions ever recorded in an urban environment and was the first earthquake that had its hypocenter located directly under a U.S. city since theLong Beach earthquake of 1933.[33] It caused the greatest damage in the United States since the1906 San Francisco earthquake.[34] Although given the name Northridge, the epicenter was located in the community ofReseda, between Arminta and Ingomar streets, just west of Reseda Boulevard.[33] The death toll was 57, and more than 1,500 people were seriously injured. A few days after the earthquake, 9,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity; 20,000 were without gas; and more than 48,500 had little or no water. About 12,500 structures were moderately to severely damaged, which left thousands of people temporarily homeless. Of the 66,546 buildings inspected, 6 percent were severely damaged (red tagged) and 17 percent were moderately damaged (yellow tagged). In addition, damage to several major freeways serving Los Angeles choked the traffic system in the days following the earthquake. Major freeway damage occurred as far away as 25 miles (40 km) from the epicenter. Collapses and other severe damage forced closure of portions of 11 major roads to downtown Los Angeles.[35]
This was the second time in 23 years that the San Fernando Valley had been affected by a strong earthquake. On February 9, 1971, at 6:01 a.m., a magnitude 6.5 event struck about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the epicenter of the 1994 event in the area of Sylmar. The 1971 earthquake caused 58 fatalities and about 2,000 injuries. At the time, the1971 San Fernando earthquake was the most destructive event to affect greater Los Angeles since the magnitude-6.3 Long Beach earthquake of 1933.[36]
The Valley attempted to secede in the 1970s, but the state passed a law barring city formation without the approval of the City Council. In 1997, AssemblymenBob Hertzberg andTom McClintock helped pass a bill that would make it easier for the Valley to secede by removing the City Council veto. AB 62 was signed into law by GovernorPete Wilson. Meanwhile, a grassroots movement to split theLos Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and create new San Fernando Valley–based school districts became the focal point of the desire to leave the city. Though the state rejected the idea of Valley-based districts, it remained an important rallying point for Hertzberg's mayoral campaign, which proved unsuccessful.[37]
By the late 1990s, the San Fernando Valley had become more urban and more ethnically diverse with rising poverty and crime. In 2002, the valley again tried tosecede from the city of Los Angeles and become its own independent, incorporated city to escape Los Angeles' perceived poverty, crime, gang activity,urban decay, and poorly maintained infrastructure. The movement gained some momentum, but Measure F did not receive the necessary votes to pass.[38] Since that unsuccessful secession attempt, a new Van Nuys municipal building was built in 2003; the Metro Orange Line opened in October 2005; and 35 new public schools had opened up by 2012.
The NoHo Arts District was established and the name chosen as a reference for its location in North Hollywood and as a play off New York City's arts-centeredSoHo District. According to theSan Fernando Guide, the change helped develop a "primarily lower to middle-class suburb into … a collection of art and a home for the artists who ply their trade in the galleries, theaters and dance studios in this small annex."[39]
According to the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, from 2002 through November 2007 there was a debate about the official recognition ofLake Balboa as a community by the City of Los Angeles. New community names were not sanctioned by the city until January 2006, when the city adopted a formal community-naming process (City of Los Angeles Council File Number 02 -0196). On November 2, 2007, the City Council of Los Angeles approved a motion renaming a larger portion of Van Nuys to Lake Balboa.[40]
By 2017, numerous urban development projects began in the valley, mainly in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of North Hollywood, Panorama City, and Woodland Hills. These projects started with the first few in Woodland Hills and the NoHo West project in North Hollywood began groundbreaking and construction on April 6, 2017.[citation needed]
LA Metro is planning to upgrade the Metro G Line by 2024 with at-grade crossing gates and two bridges crossing both Sepulveda and Van Nuys boulevards, and a full-scale light rail conversion is planned to be completed by 2050.[41] The valley will get its first light rail line in seven decades by 2027, theEast San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project. Construction of the line is planned to begin in 2024 along Van Nuys Boulevard and San Fernando Road.[42]
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The Valley is home to numerous companies, the most well known of which work in motion pictures, music recording, and television production. The formermovie ranches were branches of original studios now consisting ofCBS Studio Center,NBCUniversal,The Walt Disney Company (and itsABC television network), andWarner Bros.
The valley was previously known for advances inaerospace technology andnuclear research by companies such asLockheed,Rocketdyne and itsSanta Susana Field Laboratory,Atomics International,Litton Industries,Marquardt, and TRW's predecessorThompson Ramo Wooldridge.
The valley became the pioneering region for producing adult films in the 1970s and grew to become home to a multibillion-dollarpornography industry, earning the monikers Porn Valley,[43][44][45][46]Silicone Valley (in contrast toSilicon Valley, nickname for the Santa Clara Valley),[47][48][49][50][51] and San Pornando Valley.[52][53] The leading trade paper for the industry,AVN magazine, is based in the Northwest Valley, as were a majority of U.S. adult video and magazine distributors. The Paul Thomas Anderson filmBoogie Nights explores these aspects of the valley. According to the HBO seriesPornucopia, at one time, nearly 90 percent of all legally distributed pornographic films made in the United States were either filmed in or produced by studios based in the San Fernando Valley. The pornography industry began to decline by the mid-2000s, owing, for the most part, to the growing amount of free content on the Internet, which undercut consumers' willingness to pay. In 2007 industry insiders estimated that revenue for most adult production and distribution companies had declined 30 percent to 50 percent and the number of new films made had fallen sharply.[54] A 2019 article stated that "the porn industry inBudapest is as big as what remains of the industry in California".[55]
The San Fernando Valley has a convention center located in the city of Burbank, east of the Burbank Airport, at the Marriott Hotel.
Universal Studios Hollywood is in unincorporated Universal City.Busch Gardens, an amusement park in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, was located at the Budweiser brewery. It was torn down in the late 1970s.
The San Fernando Valley is home to numerous neighborhood city parks, recreation areas and large RegionalOpen Space preserves. Many preserves are maintained as public parkland by the National Park Service'sSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, theCalifornia State Parks, and local county and municipal parks districts.
Public schools in the San Fernando Valley are served by three unified school districts; The Northwest and East Regions of theLos Angeles Unified School District, theGlendale Unified School District and theBurbank Unified School District. There are four community colleges in the valley;Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen,Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, andLos Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills. All except Glendale College are served by theLos Angeles Community College District. The only state university in the San Fernando Valley isCalifornia State University Northridge in Northridge.
In 1994, there were 180,000 PK-12 students attendingLos Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) campuses in the Valley. During the same year, about 45,000 PK-12 students, or one in five of all such students, attended the over 200 private schools in the Valley.[57]
The Los Angeles city section of the valley is divided into seven city council districts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 12. Of the 95 neighborhood councils in the city, 34 are in the valley. The valley is represented in theCalifornia State Legislature by five members of theState Assembly:Jesse Gabriel (D),Luz Rivas (D),James Ramos (D),Pilar Schiavo (D), andLaura Friedman (D). The valley is represented by three members of theState Senate:Henry Stern (D), andAnthony Portantino (D). The valley falls into five congressional districts: the25th,28th,29th,30th, and33rd,[58] represented respectively byMike Garcia (R),Adam Schiff (D),Tony Cárdenas (D),Brad Sherman (D), andTed Lieu (D). The valley is represented in theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors, by two supervisorial districts, with the western portion represented bySheila Kuehl (D) and the eastern portion byKathryn Barger (R). Residents are also represented by theneighborhood councils of Los Angeles
Source:[4]
Source:[59]
+ These communities are also included in theCrescenta Valley.
Majorfreeways cross the Valley, includingInterstate 405 (San Diego Freeway),U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway/Hollywood Freeway),State Route 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway),State Route 170 (Hollywood Freeway),State Route 134 (Ventura Freeway),Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway), andInterstate 5 (Golden State Freeway). Notable streets includeSepulveda Boulevard,Ventura Boulevard,Laurel Canyon Boulevard,San Fernando Road,Victory Boulevard,Reseda Boulevard,Riverside Drive,Mulholland Drive, andState Route 27 (Topanga Canyon Boulevard).
Subway,dedicated transitway, and express and local buses, provided by many agencies, serve the San Fernando Valley. Some of the formerrights-of-way of thePacific Electric Railway, which first accelerated population growth in the Valley,[60] have been repurposed for busways and light rail lines.
TheLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates twoMetro B Line subway stations in the Valley, which are located atUniversal City and North Hollywood, which connect it directly toHollywood andDowntown Los Angeles. The Metro B Line is the first heavy rail subway in the valley, extended from its prior terminus in 2000. With transfers, it connects the Valley to the entireMetro regional light rail and subway network. The B Line's two Valley subway stations provide access to national travel throughBob Hope Airport andAmtrak and regional travel throughMetrolink,Metro Rapid,Metro Local, and theMetro G Line. Metro approved a new light rail line, theEast San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project that will run north–south on Van Nuys Boulevard from the G Line Van Nuys station to theSylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station, however will be built in two phases. The first betweenVan Nuys andPacoima, and the second from Pacoima to Sylmar/San Fernando station. Pre construction began in 2022, and is expected to be completed between 2028 and 2030.[61]
The G Line busway uses a dedicated transitway route running the east–west length of the Valley connecting theNorth Hollywood B Line Station through the valley, then heads north throughCanoga Park to theChatsworthMetrolink station.[62]
An additional Metro Busway line is planned for the Valley operating from North Hollywood station: theNorth Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project which will run to Pasadena with connections to theA Line. Metro is also studying a route through theSepulveda Pass, theSepulveda Transit Corridor, including heavy rail andmonorail alternatives.
Metrolinkcommuter rail has two Valley lines, theAntelope Valley Line andVentura County Line, which connect the Valley and beyond to downtown Los Angeles and south, becoming one line at theDowntown Burbank station. Metrolink always had oneBurbank Airport station on the Ventura County Line, buta second Burbank Airport station was built in 2017 on the Antelope Valley Line.
Amtrak'sPacific Surfliner long-distance rail line has stops atBurbank Airport station, Van Nuys, andChatsworth Station, before proceeding on toVentura County,Santa Barbara, andNorthern California orUnion Station andSan Diego.
TheCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority was planning two stations in the Valley, one inBurbank and the other inSylmar, but the proposed Sylmar high-speed rail station was canceled owing to local opposition from the city of San Fernando. As of now, there's only one planned station in the valley, located in Burbank with an initial section of the railroad possibly opening in 2029.
The Valley's two major airports areHollywood Burbank Airport and theVan Nuys Airport. The Van Nuys–Airport FlyAway Terminal provides nonstop scheduled shuttle service to LAX and back to the valley, with parking.
Most of the utilities in the valley are served by public municipal governments, primarily the cities ofLos Angeles, andBurbank, while there are only two private-owned utilities for gas and electricity in the valley as well.Southern California Edison has their overhead power lines going through the city of Burbank and through the Los Angeles city neighborhoods of Sylmar, Mission Hills, Arleta, North Hollywood, Studio City, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, Porter Ranch, and Chatsworth as well. Internet, cable television, and cellular phone service in the valley are by large private companies.
The valley is served by the following utility companies:
Electricity
Natural gas
Water
Internet and cable television
Sanitation
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There are two Kaiser Permanente hospitals serving the San Fernando Valley, one inPanorama City and one inWoodland Hills. Also, there are three Providence hospitals, in Burbank,Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, and Mission Hills. Besides Kaiser Permanente and Providence hospitals, most of the valley is served by non-profit hospitals such as:Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys,Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Northridge,Olive View – UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar,Encino Hospital Medical Center in Encino, andSherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks.
There are numerous Catholic churches in the San Fernando valley. The valley is home to the second-largest Jewish population in LA County. For the Muslims in Islam living in the San Fernando valley, there are seven mosques in the valley.
The Los Angeles satellite administrative center for the valley, The Civic Center Van Nuys, is inVan Nuys. The area in and around the Van Nuys branch of Los Angeles City Hall is home to a police station, limited and unlimited jurisdiction superior courts and Los Angeles city and county administrative offices.
Branches of theLos Angeles Public Library and independent city's libraries service the residents.
Los Angeles Police Department;Los Angeles Fire Department;Burbank Police Department;Burbank Fire Department; and the San Fernando Police Department are independent city emergency departments in the valley.Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department only serves unincorporated Universal City; the cities of Calabasas, Agoura Hills, & Hidden Hills; and also serves the threeLos Angeles Community College District campuses in the San Fernando valley. The California State University system also has its own police force within theCalifornia State University, Northridge campus.Los Angeles County Fire Department only serves unincorporated areas, including Universal City; and the cities of Calabasas & Hidden Hills.
As of 2023 the population of the San Fernando Valley was 1,815,801, of which 42 percent wereHispanic or Latino, 39 percent werenon-Hispanic white, 11 percent wereAsian, 4 percent wereAfrican Americans, 4 percent weretwo or more races and 1 percent other.[64] The largest city located entirely in the valley isBurbank, with over 107,000 residents. The most populous districts of Los Angeles in the Valley areVan Nuys andPacoima, which like the city ofBurbank have more than 100,000 residents each. Despite the San Fernando Valley's reputation for sprawling, low-density development, the valley communities ofPanorama City, North Hollywood, Van Nuys,Reseda,Canoga Park, andNorthridge, all in Los Angeles, have numerous apartment complexes and contain some of the densest census tracts in Los Angeles.
The San Fernando Valley has a significant population below the poverty level. About 30 percent of Valley households in 2009 earned less than $35,000 a year, including 10 percent who made less than $15,000 a year.[65]The Pacoima district, once considered the hub of suburban blight and of having the highest poverty rate, is no longer such. Other San Fernando Valley neighborhoods such as North Hollywood, Panorama City, and Arleta now have poverty rates which are higher.[66]
In general, the areas with lower poverty rates have become fewer and more scattered, while many of the now affluent communities have become compartmented, having their own private, planned and gated communities. Many of these tend to be on or near the borders of the Valley in the foothill regions.
According toMapping L.A.,Mexican andSalvadoran were the most common ancestries in San Fernando Valley in 2000.Mexico andEl Salvador were the most common foreign places of birth.[67]
Places
Information
The majority of the San Fernando Valley lies within the city of Los Angeles, butlocals nonetheless tend to refer to it as 'the Valley' and to the rest of Los Angeles as 'the city'.
As if I had been lobotomized, we packed our things and moved into our new home, indeed in Sherman Oaks, in 1983. It's why I still talk like a valley girl. That cadence snuck into my life at that spongelike age of eight and never left.
[...] the San Fernando Valley, also known as The Valley [...] Although San Fernando Valley in this context is snidely referred to as Silicone Valley and the Valley of Sin [...]
The San Fernando valley has become the focal point of the porn industry since the 1970s. It has been dubbed the San Pornando valley and Silicone Valley, a play on the prevalence on artificially enhanced breasts.
[...] the acknowledged centre of porn has, since the 1970s, been San Fernando (or Silicone Valley, as it is sometimes dubbed), which currently accounts for around two thirds of listed adult entertainment production studios [...]
Most of the U.S. pornography industry is centered in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley north of Hollywood, so much so that one area is known locally as Silicone Valley.
San Fernando Valley travel guide from WikivoyagePlaces adjacent to San Fernando Valley | |
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