Reseda, Los Angeles

Reseda
Neighborhood of Los Angeles

Boundaries of Reseda as drawn by the Los Angeles Times
Reseda

Location within Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley

Coordinates: 34°12′4″N 118°32′8″W / 34.20111°N 118.53556°W / 34.20111; -118.53556

Reseda /rəˈsiːdə/ is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes struck the area in 1971 and 1994.

The neighborhood has fifteen public and five private schools. The community includes public parks, a senior center and a regional branch library. Parts of Reseda have been used in several motion picture and television productions.

History

Founding and growth

The area now known as Reseda, like much of Los Angeles County, originally was inhabited by Native Americans of the Tongva tribe who lived close to what is now known as the Los Angeles River.[1]

On land that was originally part of the San Fernando Mission, Reseda originated in 1912 as the town of Marian. It was named after Marian Otis Chandler, the daughter of the Los Angeles Times publisher, Harrison Gray Otis and wife of Harry Chandler.[2] The name Reseda itself refers to the fragrant plant Reseda odorata (English name is mignonette) which was commonly found in gardens of the time and is native to many areas with a Mediterranean climate.

The geographic name "Reseda" was first used for a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran between the cities of Burbank and Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley. In the 1920s, the name Reseda was transferred from the Southern Pacific Railroad to the Western Division of the Pacific Electric Railway "Red Cars Line", which had expedited development after the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Later, it was used as the name of a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way.[3][4]

Throughout this time the town's name of Marian remained; then in 1921, when a Fourth Class Post Office was found to be necessary, the town's name had to be changed. As the Zelzah Tribune reported:

The Marian territory has made application for a post office to serve that district. To avoid confusion in mail distribution it is necessary that the name of the town be changed and the people of that community have decided upon the name Reseda, and if the application is granted it will be the only post office in the United States by that name. Mrs. Turner, we are told, who has taken an active interest in the canvass and to create a sentiment for post office advantages, will possibly be the postmistress.[5]

Ninety-two residents convened and agreed to rename the town Reseda.[6]

The central business district began in 1915, at what is now the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, with the construction of a hardware store. Soon a blacksmith shop and an auto repair garage were built nearby. Within a short time, these were followed by a grocery store and a drug store. There were no sidewalks or pavement yet, most were beginning to be added during the 1918 to early 1920s time period. On the southwest corner of Sherman Way a wooden building housed the volunteer Fire Department until 1922, when the present brick building was erected as was the Reseda Bank. The wooden building, housing the Fire Department, was then moved to the southeast side of Sherman Way, where it remained until 1933.[6] In May 1929, the city's namesake roadway, Reseda Avenue, was renamed Reseda Boulevard by a Los Angeles City ordinance.[7] Parts of the original 1920s and 1930s residential neighborhood remain and are found to the southwest of Sherman Way and Reseda Boulevard.

Reseda grew slowly. The stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression further slowed expansion. During the late 1920s and 1930s, the area became widely known for its production of lettuce, lima beans, sugar beets, and walnuts; in the late 1930s, Reseda became known as was one of the largest producers of lettuce in the United States. The Southern Pacific Railroad trains came up the middle of Sherman Way to pick up freight cars of lettuce on a daily basis during the lettuce harvest season. Around that time, manufacturing roof tile, canning poultry products, and processing walnuts began to emerge as viable businesses as well.[6]

Postwar suburb

Facing west on Sherman Way

Reseda remained primarily an agricultural community with a population of 1,805 in 1930, in 1940 the population had increased to 4,147 residents.[8] The mid to later 1940's saw a large increase in the numbers of single-family dwellings in Reseda and the loss of numerous acres of agriculture, and the addition of First Class Postal Service.[6] Reseda was one of the first suburbs in the San Fernando Valley. The large ranches were subdivided, and the area was developed by realtors just as the veterans of World War II were returning home. The familiar orange groves were successively plowed under in favor of housing. At the time, most of the jobs were in the Los Angeles Basin and to the south, over the Santa Monica mountains.

By 1950, Reseda had over 16,000 residents and in the early 1950s, a population explosion took place, making Reseda one of the most popular and populated of all Valley communities. Because of this, Reseda's merchants provided bus service to transport shoppers throughout the busy downtown Reseda areas.[6]

In the early 1950s, the Valley's population reached 400,000. The average new Valley home, in 1949, cost $9,000. By 1955, that same house could be resold for nearly $15,000. Even at that price, though, a household income was about $6,000 a year, making Valley incomes higher than the national average. By 1960, the average market value of a Valley home reached $18,850.

During the 1970s, the above-average residential real estate values and income patterns compared to the rest of the country began to reverse. Land and housing costs shot upward, while most incomes only crept. By the beginning of the 1980s, the average price of a home in the Valley reached $110,000. According to a 2004 study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, it has tripled that of the early 1980s.

Northridge earthquake

The 1994 Northridge earthquake struck at 4:31 a.m. on January 17 and measured 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale. It remains the only large earthquake to originate directly under a major U.S. city in modern times as well as the most damaging earthquake to strike the U.S. since the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Its epicenter was between Arminta Street and Ingomar Street, just west of Reseda Boulevard.[9][10][11]

This was the second time in 23 years the area had been affected by a strong earthquake. On February 9, 1971, the San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake) struck the area with a magnitude of 6.5.[12]

Geography

Reseda is flanked on the north by Northridge, on the east by Lake Balboa, on the south by Tarzana and Encino on the west by Winnetka.[13][14] Its street boundaries are Roscoe Boulevard on the north, White Oak Avenue on the east, Victory Boulevard on the south and Corbin Avenue on the west.[15]

Demographics

The 2010 U.S. census counted 74,363 residents in Reseda's 91335 ZIP code. The median age was 35.5, and the median yearly household income at that time was $53,842.[16]

Reseda was described by the Los Angeles Times, Mapping L.A. project in 2008 as being considered "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles. Their breakdown of the population using the 2000 census was Latinos, 43.5%; Non-Hispanic Whites, 37.2%; Asians, 11.2%; blacks, 4.2%; and others, 3.9%. Mexico (33.7%) and El Salvador (12.4%) were the most common places of birth for the 43.1% of the residents who were born abroad.[15]

In 2010, renters occupied 48.5% of the housing stock, and house or apartment-owners held 51.5%.[16]

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Los Angeles Fire Department Station 73 (Reseda) and Station 100 (West Van Nuys/Lake Balboa) serve the community.

Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby West Valley Community Police Station.[17]

County, state, and federal

Mail services are provided by the United States Postal Service's branch post office at 7320 Reseda Boulevard.[18] On October 14, 2006, the branch office was renamed the Coach John Wooden Post Office on Wooden's 96th birthday, in honor of the late UCLA basketball coach who lived in nearby Encino and whose daughter lives in Reseda.[19]

Education

Reseda High School.
Grover Cleveland High School.

Nineteen percent of Reseda residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average figure for both the city and the county. The percentages of those residents with a high school diploma was high for the county.[15]

Schools within the Reseda boundaries are:[20]

Public

Private

School closings

In 1982, the board considered closing Garden Grove Elementary School in Reseda. In April 1983, an advisory committee of the Los Angeles Unified School District recommended closing eight schools, including Garden Grove School and Newcastle Avenue School in Reseda.[22] In August 1983, the board publicly considered closing Garden Grove, which had 176 students at the time, and Newcastle Avenue, which had 314 students.[23] In 1984, the board voted to close the Garden Grove and Newcastle Avenue schools.[24]

A decade after the schools shut their doors, which occurred due to thousands of parents withdrawing their children from the Los Angeles Unified School District in the wake of mandatory busing, they were reopened. With the advent of class-size reduction becoming the priority, many parents began returning their children to the city's schools, while the number of newly arrived immigrants was also boosting enrollments, officials said.[25]

Reseda Theatre, March 2010

The Reseda Country Club, of Boogie Nights fame, was a well-known concert venue during the Los Angeles punk rock and new wave scenes of the 1980s. Located at the intersection of Canby Avenue and Sherman Way, the Country Club was host to bands, including Oingo Boingo, U2, Culture Club, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Roxy Music, from 1980 to 1982.[26] The site which began in the 1950s as one of the first Sav-On Drug stores in the San Fernando Valley, later became a night club and remained a dance hall and music venue throughout the 1990s; it was also used as a boxing venue.[27] The site later became and since remains a Spanish-language Christian church.[28]

The Reseda Theater, at 18443 Sherman Way, was built in 1948 and closed in 1988. The exterior was briefly seen at the beginning of the film Boogie Nights (1997) with Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds.[29]

Parks and recreation

Reseda Park and Recreation Center, located at the corner of Reseda and Victory Boulevards, has barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room with a capacity of 200, picnic tables, an outdoor unheated seasonal pool, table tennis, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts.[30] The Recreation Center offers a variety of sports programs and classes.[31] Reseda Park also hosts an ornamental lake for fishing and a large duck pond.[32] During the 1950s and 1960s, the duck pond also had a boathouse, where one could rent electric boats by the hour.[8]

The Reseda Senior Multipurpose Center is located next to the Recreation Center. The center is operated and staffed by volunteers. Some of the programs for the senior center are operated through the park.[33]

Public libraries

West Valley Regional Branch of Los Angeles Public Library, at 19036 Vanowen Street

The West Valley Regional Branch is operated by the Los Angeles Public Library.

Films

A number of motion pictures have been filmed or set in Reseda:[8]

Music

Reseda is mentioned in numerous songs, including:

Television

Television shows filmed in Reseda include:

Sporting Events

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Culver, Lawrence (2010). The Frontier of Leisure: Southern California and the Shaping of Modern America. ISBN 9780195382631.
  2. ↑ Mcdougal, Dennis. Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty.
  3. ↑ Gudde, Erwin Gustav. California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. p. 267.
  4. ↑ Coscia, David (2011). Pacific Electric and the Growth of the San Fernando Valley, 240 pages. Bellflower, CA: Shade Tree Books. ISBN 1-57864-735-5.
  5. ↑ Van Nuys News, December 1, 1921
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Reseda Chamber of Commerce-History of Reseda"
  7. ↑ "Copy of street name change record". Department of Public Works-City of Los Angeles.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "City of Los Angeles Council District 12". City of Los Angeles. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ National Geophysical Data Center “January 17, 1994 NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE”
  10. ↑ Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Significant Earthquakes and Faults, Northridge Earthquake. Retrieved December 6, 2013
  11. ↑ http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/1994-0117_NorthridgeEarthquake/quake/01_EQE_exsummary.htm
  12. ↑ "San Fernando Earthquake". Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ Colored map, Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  14. ↑ "San Fernando Valley," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times]
  15. 1 2 3 "Reseda," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  16. 1 2 "Community Facts" American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau
  17. ↑ "West Valley Community Police Station – official website of THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT". Lapdonline.org. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Post Office Location – Reseda." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Post Office Named For Coach John Wooden On 96th Birthday – UCLA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE". Uclabruins.cstv.com. October 14, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Reseda: Schools," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  21. ↑ School website
  22. ↑ Faris, Gerald. "Closing of 8 Schools Recommended, One Near Airport". Los Angeles Times. April 17, 1983. South Bay SB2. Retrieved on January 16, 2012.
  23. ↑ Pool. Bob. "Board to Consider Closing 4 More Valley Schools." August 7, 1983. Valley V2. Retrieved on January 16, 2012.
  24. ↑ Savage, David G. "L.A. Board to Close 5 More Schools". Los Angeles Times. February 7, 1984. Part II C2. Retrieved on January 16, 2012.
  25. ↑ Helfand, Duke (October 21, 1997). "2 Closed Valley Schools Ordered Reopened". Los Angeles Times.
  26. ↑ Locey, Bill (June 10, 1999). "Time Warp: '80s Rock On at Reseda Country Club". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ↑ Vince Kowalick (November 6, 1996). "Renovated Reseda Country Club Fights Back". Los Angeles Times.
  28. ↑ "Nuestro Inicio". Restauracion Reseda. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  29. ↑ "Reseda Theatre". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  30. ↑ "Reseda Park." City of Los Angeles. Retrieved on March 19, 2010.
  31. ↑ "Reseda Recreation Center". City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  32. ↑ "City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks". Laparks.org. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  33. ↑ "Reseda Senior Multipurpose Center". City of Los Angeles Department of Aging. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  34. ↑ http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/results/
  35. ↑ "Martin Donovan profile at". Filmreference.com. 1957-08-19.
  36. ↑ Los Angeles Public Library reference file
  37. ↑ "Robinson Hopes To Drive New Car To Western Title". Daily News of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA. November 14, 1985. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  38. ↑ Gabriel Alvarez (November 11, 2013). "Papa Said Knock You Out: Issue 53's Zachary Wohlman Fights This Thursday". Mass Appeal. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
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Coordinates: 34°12′4″N 118°32′8″W / 34.20111°N 118.53556°W / 34.20111; -118.53556

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