Woodland Hills, Los Angeles

Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.

Geography
Woodland Hills is an affluent neighborhood in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley which is located east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana. On the north it is bordered by West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka, and on the south by the Santa Monica mountains.

Some neighborhoods are in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Running east–west through the community are U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway) and Ventura Boulevard, whose western terminus is at Valley Circle Boulevard in Woodland Hills.

History
The area was inhabited for approximately 8,000 years by Native Americans of the Fernandeño-Tataviam and Chumash-Venturaño tribes that lived in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills and close to the Arroyo Calabasas (Calabasas Creek) tributary of the Los Angeles River in present-day Woodland Hills. The first Europeans to enter the San Fernando Valley were the Portola Expedition in 1769, exploring 'Alta California' for Spanish missions and settlements locations. Seeing it from present-day Sepulveda Pass, the oak savanna inspired them to call the area El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos (Valley of St. Catherine of Bononia of the Oaks). The Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando) was established in 1797 and controlled the Valley's land, including future Woodland Hills.

Ownership of the southern half of the valley, south of present-day Roscoe Boulevard from Toluca Lake to Woodland Hills, by Americans began in the 1860s. First Isaac Lankershim (as the "San Fernando Farm Homestead Association") in 1869, then Isaac Lankershim's son, James Boon Lankershim, and Isaac Newton Van Nuys (as the "Los Angeles Farm & Milling Company") in 1873, and finally in the "biggest land transaction ever recorded in Los Angeles County" a syndicate led by Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times with Hobart Johnstone Whitley, Gen. Moses Sherman and others (as the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company) in 1910.

Victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acre in the area from Chandler's group and founded the town of Girard in 1922. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees. His 300 pepper trees formed a canopy over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. became Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972. The community of Girard was eventually incorporated into Los Angeles, and in 1945 it became known as Woodland Hills.

Climate
Woodland Hills has a firmly subtropical mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).

Within the San Fernando Valley, Woodland Hills generally experiences some of the more extreme temperature changes season to season than other regions. During the summer, temperatures are often very hot, while during the winter, overnight temperatures are among the coldest of the region. On July 22, 2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, hitting 119 °F at Pierce College. The climate is classified as a Csa in the Köppen climate classification, which is characterized by mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This climate is often referred to as mediterranean. Precipitation in Woodland Hills averages much the same as most other regions of the west San Fernando Valley, although somewhat higher amounts of rainfall occur in the surrounding hills.

Population
In 2008 the population of Woodland Hills was approximately 63,000. The median age in 2000 was 40, considered old when compared to other city and county jurisdictions.

As of the 2000 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac, there were 67,006 people and 29,119 households residing in Woodland Hills. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 79.90% White, 6.97% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 3.34% African American, 0.33% Native American, 4.80% from other races, and 4.52% from two or more races. 11.94% of the population were Hispanic of any race.

In population, it is one of the least dense neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and the percentage of white people is high for the county. The percentage of residents 25 and older with four-year college degrees is 47.0%, which was high for both the city and the county. The percentage of veterans, 10.7% of the population, was high for the city of Los Angeles and high for the county overall. The percentage of veterans who served during World War II or Korea was among the county's highest.

The 2008 Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Woodland Hills neighborhood statistics: population: 59,661; median household income: $93,720. The Times said the latter figure was "high for the city of Los Angeles and high for the county."

Local government
Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council is the local elected advisory body to the city of Los Angeles representing stakeholders in the Woodland Hills and Warner Center areas.

Los Angeles Fire Department Station 84 (Woodland Hills) and Station 105 (Woodland Hills) serve the community. The Los Angeles Police Department operates the newly built Topanga Division station in Canoga Park which provides service to the Woodland Hills area.

County, state and federal representation
The United States Postal Service Woodland Hills Post Office is located at 22121 Clarendon Street. The community's postal codes are 91364, 91365, and 91367.

Public schools
Public schools serving Woodland Hills are under the jurisdiction the Los Angeles Unified School District. Much of the area is within Board District 4.

Elementary schools include:
 * Calabash Street Elementary School
 * Lockhurst Elementary School
 * Serrania Elementary School
 * Woodlake Avenue Elementary School
 * Woodland Hills Charter for Enriched Studies
 * Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter School
 * Calvert Street Elementary School

Middle schools include:
 * Woodland Hills Charter Academy (formerly known as Parkman Middle School)
 * The school opened in 1959 as "Parkman Junior High School." It received its current name in 2006.
 * George Ellery Hale Charter Academy

High schools include:
 * El Camino Real High School
 * William Howard Taft High School
 * Henry David Thoreau Continuation High School

Adult School:
 * West Valley Occuptional Center, 6200 Winnetka Avenue

Charter schools

 * El Camino Real High School
 * William Howard Taft High School
 * Ingenium Charter School – Kindergarten through Sixth Grade
 * George Ellery Hale Charter Academy 6–8 grade
 * Chime Charter School K-8
 * Serrania Charter for Enriched Studies - K-5
 * Calvert School for Enriched Studies - K-5

Private schools

 * The Alexandria Academy – secular school serving First through Twelfth Grade
 * Chaminade College Preparatory High School – Coed Marianist Catholic High School
 * Crespi Carmelite High School All Boys Catholic High School
 * Halsey Schools – 6 weeks – 6 years.
 * Louisville High School – All-female Catholic High School
 * St. Bernardine of Siena – preschool through Eighth Grade
 * St. Mel – preschool through Eighth Grade
 * Woodland Hills Private School – serving Preschool (starting at 2 years old) through Fifth Grade.

Lycée International de Los Angeles previously had a Woodland Hills campus, which had over 140 students as of 2001. This was in a public school building, rented from the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 2001 LAUSD announced that it would not renew the lease.

Lycée Français de Los Angeles previously operated a San Fernando Valley campus in Woodland Hills, on the site of Platt Elementary School.

Colleges and universities
Colleges and universities in Woodland Hills include:
 * Los Angeles Pierce College (part of the Los Angeles Community College District)

Public libraries
The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Woodland Hills Branch Library (Ventura Boulevard) and the Platt Branch Library (Victory Boulevard) in Woodland Hills.

Parks and recreation
Woodland Hills is home to the Woodland Hills Country Club, a private equity golf club. The country club is complete with golf course, fine dining, and entertainment options.

The Woodland Hills Recreation Center (Shoup Park) is a 19 acre park in Woodland Hills. The park has a small indoor gymnasium without weights and with a capacity of 300; it may be used as an auditorium. The park also has a lighted baseball diamond, outdoor lighted basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts. Woodland Hills Pool is an outdoor seasonal unheated swimming pool.

The Warner Center Park, also known as Warner Ranch Park, is located in Woodland Hills. The park, unstaffed and unlocked, has a children's play area and picnic tables. Serrania Park in Woodland Hills is an unstaffed, unlocked pocket park. It has a children's play area, hiking trails, and picnic tables. Alizondo Drive Park in Woodland Hills is an unstaffed, unlocked, and undeveloped park used for brush clearance once per year.

Along the western boundary of Woodland Hills is the large Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, a regional park with a trail network for miles of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian rides. The trailhead and parking are at the very western end of Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Scheduled walks and programs are offered. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has various parks nearby to the south of the community. The Top of Topanga Overlook gives panoramic views of the verdant Woodland Hills neighborhoods and the Valley.

Notable people
Many Hollywood celebrities have spent their final days and died in Woodland Hills because it is the location of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, a private retirement, nursing care and acute-care hospital facility founded in the 1940s and reserved exclusively for industry professionals. The linked article includes a substantial but very incomplete list of its former residents. The list below is of notables in various fields who made their homes in Woodland Hills in the usual way rather than at that institution, but there may be instances of overlap or cases of mistaken classification.


 * Jacques Aubuchon, actor who had a home in Woodland Hills at the time of his death.
 * Rick Auerbach, Major League Baseball player
 * Orr Barouch, Israeli professional soccer player
 * Justine Bateman, actress
 * Roy Campanella, Major League Baseball player
 * Helena Carroll, actress
 * Mary Carver, actress
 * Ted Cassidy, actor; his cremated remains are buried in an unmarked location at his former Woodland Hills residence.
 * Lee J. Cobb, character actor
 * Mary Dodson, art director
 * Larry Drew II, pro basketball player, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Jordan Farmar, pro basketball player, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * John Feldmann, musician, songwriter, and producer
 * America Ferrara, actress, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Jeff Fisher, NFL head coach, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Brad Garrett, actor and comedian
 * Andy Gibb, singer
 * Raymond Greenleaf, actor
 * Olof Gustafsson, entrepreneur
 * Ryan Hurst, actor, producer, and director
 * Conor Jackson, Major League Baseball player, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Tito Jackson, singer
 * Jermaine Jackson, singer
 * Buster Keaton, actor and director
 * Chief Keef, rapper
 * Kevin Kennedy, Major League Baseball player, manager and broadcaster, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Jack Klugman, actor
 * Lisa Kudrow, actress, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * John Larch, actor
 * Ryan Lavarnway, Major League Baseball player (Baltimore Orioles)
 * Christy Lemire, film critic
 * Geoffrey Lewis, actor.
 * Maureen McCormick, actress, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Serayah McNeill, actress, best known for her recurring role as Tiana Brown on the television show Empire
 * Charles McPhee, author, nationally syndicated talk show host, "The Dream Doctor Show", Dream Researcher, 1962-2011
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse, actor, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Janel Moloney, actress
 * Dolores Moran, actress
 * Sara Paxton, actress
 * Joy Picus, City Council member, 1977–91; Ms. magazine Woman of the Year
 * Thomas D. Shepard, City Council member, 1961–67
 * Bob Smale, pianist on The Lawrence Welk Show, resided and died in 2010 in Woodland Hills
 * Malcolm Smith, linebacker for the Oakland Raiders, MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII
 * Steve Smith, NFL wide receiver, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Jan Smithers, actress, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Tori Spelling, actress, television personality, socialite and author
 * Russell Thacher (1919-1990), author and film producer who co-produced the films Soylent Green and The Last Hard Men together with Walter Seltzer.
 * Laurence Trimble, actor, writer, film director
 * Wilmer Valderrama, actor, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart), musician, singer and composer. Captain Beefheart's definitive album Trout Mask Replica was composed and rehearsed in a communal house in Woodland Hills 1968–1969.
 * Quincy Watts, Olympic sprinter, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Zachary "Kid Yamaka" Wohlman, professional boxer
 * Randy Wolf, Major League Baseball player, attended high school in Woodland Hills
 * Robin Yount, Hall of Fame baseball player, attended high school in Woodland Hills