Sun Valley is a neighborhood in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

region. The neighborhood is known for its overall youthful population and moderate racial diversity. There are three recreation centers in Sun Valley, one of which is a historic site. The neighborhood has thirteen public schools—including John H. Francis Polytechnic High School and

Sun Valley High School Sun Valley High School can refer to: * Sun Valley High School (Arizona), Mesa, Arizona * Sun Valley High School (California), Los Angeles, California * Sun Valley High School (North Carolina), Monroe, North Carolina * Sun Valley High School (Pennsy ...

—and four private schools.

Population

The 2000 U.S. census counted 75,848 residents in the 9.42-square-mile Sun Valley neighborhood—or 8,048 people per square mile, about an average

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

for the city. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 81,788. In 2000 the median age for residents was 28, considered young for city and county neighborhoods; the percentage of residents aged 10 or younger was among the county's highest."Sun Valley," Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times''
/ref> The neighborhood was considered "moderately diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

. The breakdown was

, 69.4%;

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

, 17.9%; Asians, 8.1%;

blacks Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

, 1.9%; and others, 2.7%. Mexico (54.5%) and El Salvador (11.9%) were the most common places of birth for the 51.9% of the residents who were born abroad—a high percentage for Los Angeles. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $51,290, considered average for the city but low for the county. The percentages of households that earned $20,000 to $60,000 were high for the county. Renters occupied 46.1% of the housing stock, and house or apartment-owners held 53.9%.

Geography

Sun Valley is bordered on the northeast by

Shadow Hills Shadow Hills (originally Hansen Heights) is a neighborhood in the Verdugo Mountains and northeastern San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Geography Shadow Hills is in the northwestern Verdugo Mountains, near the western ...

, on the southeast by Burbank, on the south by

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

and

Valley Glen Valley Glen is a neighborhood in southeastern section of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. Once part of Van Nuys and North Hollywood, it became a separate neighborhood in 1998. Valley Glen is home to Los Angeles Valley College an ...

, on the west by

Panorama City Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. Ethnically, more than half of its population was born a ...

and on the northwest by

Pacoima Pacoima (Tongva: ''Pacoinga'') is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Pacoima is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angeles districts of Mission Hill ...

Hansen Dam Hansen Dam is a flood control dam in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, in the Lake View Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California.Pitarre, Alyson. "Where country living sidles up to the city." ''Los Angeles Ti ...

and

Lake View Terrace Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.Map
Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times''; accessed November 12, 2016. Situated at the base of the

Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains, also known as the Verdugo Hills or simply The Verdugos, are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system in Los Angeles County, California. Located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Ver ...

, Sun Valley is prone to

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

s, and one such flood on Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 22:37 (10:37 p.m. PST) destroyed a portion of the 8000 block of Tujunga Avenue and killed a Los Angeles City civil engineer when a

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

deep opened.

History

LA-HCM 644 Stone House 8642 Sunland Blvd (2014)

The former

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

Fernandeño The Tongva language (also known as Gabrielino or Gabrieleño) is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken by the Tongva, a Native American people who live in and around Los Angeles, California. It has not been a language of everyday conve ...

(Native American) village in this area was called ''Wixánga,'' which comes from the word ''wixár'' (or "thorn" or "prickle" in English) in the Fernandeño dialect of the

Tongva language The Tongva language (also known as Gabrielino or Gabrieleño) is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken by the Tongva, a Native American people who live in and around Los Angeles, California. It has not been a language of everyday conve ...

. Hence, ''Wixánga'' meant something like "place/canyon of the thorns" in English, in reference to the abundant

prickly pear cacti ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

naturally found in the area. This was later reflected in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

name for the area, or ''Cañada de las Tunas'' ("canyon of the thorns" in English). Finally, this became La Tuna Canyon, and now Sun Valley. In 1874, California State Senator Charles Maclay (for whom Maclay Street in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

is named) acquired 56,000 acres (230 km²) of land across the San Fernando Valley. The area extended from Sunland Blvd. all the way west to the Chatsworth Hills. East of Sunland was

Rancho San Rafael Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant in the San Rafael Hills, bordering the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco in present-day Los Angeles County, southern California, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. Geography The rancho includes t ...

, a large land grant to José María Verdugo by the Spanish Crown. By 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad was constructed through the eastern San Fernando Valley, linking Southern and Northern California. A general store named Roberts Store was used as a post office and water-tank station; later the area's name was changed to Roscoe, reportedly after the name of a railroad crew member. The current name of Sun Valley was chosen in 1950 by residents.Ira Gribin, "Sun Valley Once Known as Roberts Store, Roscoe"
May 10, 1981, page VB1 (image 679)

Old Trapper's Lodge

Old Trapper's Lodge, California Historical Landmark No. 939, an

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...

environment that pays homage to the pioneer upbringing of its creator, John Ehn (1897–1981), was situated in Sun Valley. It represented the life work of the self-taught artist who wished to pass on a sense of the Old West, derived from personal experiences, myths, and tall tales. From 1951 to 1981, using his family as models, and incorporating memorabilia, he followed his dreams and visions to create the lodge and its "Boot Hill." The artwork was moved from the original site in Sun Valley, CA, and relocated to

Pierce College Pierce College may refer to: * Pierce College (Washington) * Los Angeles Pierce College ** Pierce College station See also * Peirce College * Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampsh ...

in Woodland Hills.

Foundation

* The

Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants — or TPF, is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1960 to promote the understanding and preservation of List of California native plants, California native plants. It cont ...

is located in Sun Valley; it is dedicated to helping people discover the beauty of

California native plants California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century. California includes parts of at least three phytochoria. The largest is the California Floristic ...

Government and infrastructure

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

Fire Station 77 is located in the Sun Valley area. The station is in the Battalion 12 district. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

Sun Valley Post Office is located at 10946 Ratner Street. Sun Valley is part of the City of Los Angeles.

Education

One of every ten of Sun Valley residents aged 25 and older had earned a

four-year degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

by 2000, a low percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of the same-age residents with less than a

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

was high for the county. Schools within the Sun Valley boundaries are:

Public

* John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, 12431 Roscoe Boulevard * Valley Oaks Center for Enriched Studies Magnet, 9171 Telfair Avenue * Fernangeles Elementary School, 12001 Art Street * Robert H. Lewis

Continuation school A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school. In some countries it is primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same, but the s ...

, 12508 Wicks Street *

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

Middle School, 8501 Arleta Avenue * Arminta Street Elementary School, 11530 Strathern Street * Strathern Street Elementary School, 7939 St. Clair Avenue * Saticoy Elementary School, 7850 Ethel Avenue * Glenwood Elementary School, 8001 Ledge Avenue * Roscoe Elementary School, 10765 Strathern Street * Vinedale Elementary School, 10150 La Tuna Canyon Rd * Charles Leroy Lowman Special Education Center, 12827 Saticoy Street * Camelia Avenue Elementary School, 7451 Camelia Avenue * Sun Valley Magnet School, 7330 Bakman Avenue * Alliance Marine Innovation 6-12 Complex, 11933 Allegheny St * East Valley Skill Center (Adult School), 8601 Arleta Avenue * Fenton Leadership Academy, 8926 Sunland Boulevard, Sun Valley, California 91352 (K-2) * Fenton STEM Academy, 8926 Sunland Boulevard, Sun Valley, California 91352 (3-5)

Private

* Village Christian School, 8930 Village Ave, Sun Valley, CA 91352 *

The Master's Seminary The Master's Seminary (TMS) is the graduate seminary division of The Master's University and Seminary and is located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University ...

, 13248 Roscoe Blvd. * St. Augustine Academy, 9000 Sunland Boulevard * Grace Community, 13248 Roscoe Boulevard * Messiah Lutheran School, elementary, 12020 Cantara Street * Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, elementary, 7802 Vineland Avenue

Public libraries

The

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

operates the Sun Valley Branch.

Parks and recreation

* The Sun Valley Recreation Center in Sun Valley includes a public swimming pool, lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts, and a lighted volleyball court. * The Fernangeles Recreation Center in Sun Valley includes a public swimming pool, an auditorium, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium with weights, picnic tables, and a lighted soccer field. * The Stonehurst Recreation Center in Sun Valley is a historic site. The center has an indoor gymnasium and auditorium with a capacity of 400 people, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium with weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and volleyball courts.Stonehurst Recreation Center
. City of Los Angeles. Retrieved on March 19, 2010.

Notable people

Skylar Deleon Thomas and Jackie Hawks were a couple from Prescott, Arizona, United States, who were murdered in 2004. In April 2009, Skylar Julius Deleon and Jennifer Henderson were convicted of charges relating to their murders. Deleon was sentenced to de ...

, former actor and convicted murderer *

John F. MacArthur John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program ''Grace to You''. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Chu ...

, American pastor and author *

Amber Rayne Meghan Wren (September 19, 1984 – April 2, 2016), known professionally as Amber Rayne, was an American pornographic actress. Biography Rayne was born in Detroit and raised in Northern California. She was of mixed Italian, Scottish, Irish an ...

, American pornographic actor

References

External links

Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council

The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants
��in Sun Valley
Sun Valley Hills
��a community website for CERT, emergency and other information
Sun Valley crime map and statistics
{{Authority control Communities in the San Fernando Valley Neighborhoods in Los Angeles