Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the
northern Los Angeles/
San Fernando Valley region of the City of
Los Angeles, California.
It is located in the southwestern area of the
San Fernando Valley, northeast of
Calabasas and west of
Tarzana. To the north Woodland Hills is bordered by
West Hills,
Canoga Park, and
Winnetka. Running east-west through the community is
U.S. Route 101 (
Ventura Freeway) and
Ventura Boulevard, which starts in Woodland Hills.
Victor Girard Kleinberger (later known as simply Victor Girard) bought 2,886
acres (12 km²) in the area and founded Girard in
1922. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing the land, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees. Although much of his development provided a dubious facade of economic activity in Girard (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 successful in attracting interest in the community.
The town suffered through the
Great Depression yet survived. In
1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills, an appropriate name owing to all the trees that Girard had planted years earlier.
Harry Warner came along in the
1940s and bought 1,100
acres (4.5 km²) in the area for a horse ranch. The modern
Warner Center commercial zone is named for Harry and features several high-rise buildings, hotels, and shopping centers in Woodland Hills. A major transit hub — the western end of the
Orange Line — opened here in October 2005.
The population living in Woodland Hills nears 70,000.
In
July 2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, hitting 119 degrees Fahrenheit at
Pierce College.
Public schools serving Woodland Hills are under the jurisdiction the
Los Angeles Unified School District.
Elementary schools include:
*Lockhurst Elementary School
*Woodlake Elementary School
*Woodland Hills Elementary School
*Calabash Street Elementary School
Middle schools include:
*Hale Middle School
*Parkman Middle School
High schools include:
*
El Camino Real High School*Thoreau High School
*
William Howard Taft High SchoolTaft and El Camino Real are multiple
United States Academic Decathlon winners.
Los Angeles Pierce College, which his part of the
Los Angeles Community College District, is also found in Woodland Hills.
Louisville High School (on the
Calabasas border) is a private school in the area.
As of the census of 2000, there were 61,092 people. 74.8% White, 3.4% African American, 7.2% Hispanic/Latino, 5.9% Asian, and 6.8% Two or more races.Median age: 40.8Average household size: 2.66Median household income (1999): $70,411
* Born and raised in Woodland Hills:
**
Jamal Anderson,
NFL football player
**
Brad Garrett, actor who played Robert on
Everybody Loves Raymond**
Janel Moloney, actress on
The West Wing**Mark Saul, actor on
All That**
Jan Smithers, actor on
WKRP in Cincinnati**
Hanshi Frank W Dux-Renowned Ninjutsu master.
**
Jordan Farmar-
Los Angeles Laker* Prior to being convicted of fraud, teenage entrepreneur
Barry Minkow bought a mansion in Woodland Hills.
* Many
Hollywood notables spent their later years at the
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.
*
Ted Cassidy, actor who played
Lurch on
The Addams Family lived here until he died in
1979 (his ashes were supposedly buried in his yard)
*
Lisa Kudrow, actress on
Friends graduated from William Howard Taft High School
*
Paige Hurd, actress who played Vanessa in
Beauty Shop*
Sara Paxton, actress
*
Eazy-E, hip hop artist
*
Will Smith, actor, rapper
*
Xzibit, hip-hop artist
*
Noel Webb, violinist and composer.
*
Val Lauren, Actor.
*
Christopher Knight, actor "Peter Brady" on the Brady Bunch. Attended El Camino Real High School.
*
21st Century Insurance headquarters
*
Fry's Electronics (store #8)
*
Health Net, Inc. headquarters
*
Information Technology Channel main office
*
Panavision headquarters
*
United Online headquarters
*
Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade*
Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga Plaza (borders
Canoga Park)
*
Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce
