Glendale, California
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Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
, of
Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...
, United States. It is located about north of downtown
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. As of 2024, Glendale had a Census-estimated population of 187,823, down 8,720 (–4.4%) from the 2020 United States census count of 196,543, which in turn was up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the 4th-most populous city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-most populous city in California. Glendale—along with neighboring
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
and nearby
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
—has served as a major production center for the
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, and especially
animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
, and is home to
Disneytoon Studios Disneytoon Studios (DTS), originally named Disney MovieToons and also formerly Walt Disney Video Premieres, was an American animation studio which created direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. The studio was a division ...
, Marvel Animation, and
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
. It is also home to educational and cultural institutions, including Glendale Community College and the Museum of Neon Art.


History


Indigenous history

Native Americans lived along the Glendale Narrows of the
Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
, known to the
Tongva people The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the people lived in as many as 100 villages and primarily identified by ...
as ''Paayme Paxaayt'' ("West River"), for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. Villages in the Glendale– La Crescenta-Montrose area included Ashwaangna, Hahamongna, Maungna, Tujunga and Wiqanga.


Spanish era

In 1769, the Portolá expedition established a permanent Spanish presence in the area. Many of the native inhabitants were displaced in 1771 for use as
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
labor for the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. This migration, together with European diseases such as
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
,
measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
, and
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
, depopulated their communities. In 1784, José María Verdugo, a
corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
in the Spanish army from
Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
, received the
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 include ...
from Pedro Fages, the Province of Las Californias' Lieutenant Governor, which was confirmed in 1798 by Governor Diego de Borica. Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish concession, of which 25 were made in California. Unlike the later Mexican land grants, the concessions were similar to grazing permits, with the title remaining with the Spanish crown. In 1798, Verdugo retired from the military and began expanding his ranch operations. Soon he had nearly 2,000 head of
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
, 670
horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...
and 70 mules. With the help of his son, Julio, he built several
adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...
structures for various uses. Workers grew
crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same species a ...
such as
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and le ...
, peppers, oranges,
figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...
,
grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
and pomegranates, and also made
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
.


Mexican era

The 1821 Treaty of Córdoba established Mexican independence from Spain at the end of the
Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...
. When Jose Maria Verdugo died in 1831, his estate was divided between his son, Julio, and his daughter, Catalina. In 1843, the Mexican government, claiming that the Verdugo family was not using the 5,832-acre portion of Rancho San Rafael situated in the Crescenta Valley to graze his herds, granted that portion to
Ygnacio Coronel Ygnacio Coronel (1795–1862) was a settler in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles of Mexican Alta California. He was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council. Life Jose Ygnacio Franco Coronel was born in Mexico City, during the colonial New Spain p ...
, who named it La Cañada Atras de Rancho Los Verdugos ("The Canyon Behind the Verdugo Ranch").


American era

The 1847 Treaty of Cahuenga established American control of
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
at the end of the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
. With the cession of California to the United States following the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
, the 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the
Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...
in 1852, confirmed by the Commission in 1855, and the grant was
patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
to Julio and Catalina Verdugo in 1882. In 1861, Julio Verdugo took out a
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
to build a larger house. Unable to make the loan payments, the family was forced into
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
proceedings. In 1871, the court divided the ranch into several parcels to satisfy the many claims against the Verdugos. The court gave Benjamin Dreyfus, of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, the largest allotment: more than 8,000 acres, which later became Eagle Rock and Tropico. Andrew Glassell and Alfred Chapman were awarded the great Rancho La Cañada and more than 2,000 acres of what is now Highland Park and York Valley.
David Burbank David Burbank (December 17, 1821 – January 21, 1895) was an American dentist and real estate investor. He became a founder and the namesake of Burbank, California. Early life Burbank was born on December 17, 1821, in Effingham, New Hampshire. ...
was awarded 4,607 acres, and his property eventually became the neighboring city of
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
. The arrival of the
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in Southern California set off a real estate boom. In 1883, soon after Atwater Village was settled, the Atwater Tract Office brought train service to the area. On March 11, 1887,
Erskine Mayo Ross Erskine Mayo Ross (June 30, 1845 – December 10, 1928) was an American attorney and jurist from California. He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and of the United States Circuit ...
, Cameron E. Thom, and several others, filed the first
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
for Glendale, described as " Pasadena's first and only rival." It was bounded by First Street (now Lexington Drive) on the north, Fifth Street (now Harvard Street) on the south, Central Avenue on the west, and the Childs Tract on the east. Concurrently, to the southwest formed Tropico.


Incorporation and growth

The city officially incorporated in 1906. Also that year, Forest Lawn Cemetery opened. An important civic booster of the era was Leslie Coombs Brand (1859–1925), who partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the
Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned Public transport, mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electr ...
Railway, or the "Red Cars", to the area. The Glendale–Burbank Line, which was operational from 1904 to 1955, ran from
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
to
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
via Glendale. At the railroad dedication celebration, Brand spoke of "his early dreams coming true, in which he pictured a country home in close proximity to the
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
." Brand also owned Glendale Light & Power Company, the Miradero Water Company, and the Consolidated Water Company. The
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
firm of Anderson and Murdock won a contract to construct a new
city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
in 1910, and it was completed in 1912. Pioneering
endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...
and entrepreneur Henry R. Harrower opened his clinic in Glendale in 1920, which for many years was the largest business in the city. Following the 1922 demolition of the Atwater Tract Office,
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
constructed the Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. Glendale was served by the Southern Pacific Railroad's '' Coast Daylight'' daytime and ''
Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...
'' overnight passenger trains. The Hotel Glendale, a six-story beaux-arts building which boasted 160 rooms and two elevators, became Glendale's tallest building when it opened in 1925. Its location, at the intersection of Broadway and Glendale Avenue, was chosen because of its proximity to several transportation lines. The Alexander Theatre opened in 1925, and featured
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
performances and
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s on a single screen. The Grand Central Airport opened in 1929. Within a year, the enterprise was sold to the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, managed by C. C. Moseley, a co-founder of the future Western Airlines. It became the city's largest employer. It was also at Grand Central that Moseley established the first of his private flying schools, Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute (later renamed Cal-Aero Academy). The Renaissance Revival-style Glendale Main Post Office opened in 1934. Several
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
projects were constructed in Glendale during the 1930s, including Glendale Community College's John A. Davitt Administration Building (1937) and the Glendale Civic Auditorium (1938).


Second World War and post-war development

The
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
proved to be a boon to Glendale as Southern California became a major
staging area A staging area (otherwise staging base, staging facility, staging ground, staging point, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to: * In aviation, a desi ...
for the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
. Grand Central Airport served as a training facility for pilots and
mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...
s, while a
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
on San Fernando Road produced airplane parts. In 1941, the city launched a municipal bus system named Glendale City Lines. In 1942, a new Glendale City Hall, a
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
project in the PWA Moderne style, was completed on the site of Glendale's first permanent City Hall from 1912. In 1943, the
Los Angeles County Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Courts of California, Superior Court located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Sup ...
opened a
courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...
in Glendale. In October 1953, the Glendale–Burbank Line came under the purview of Metropolitan Coach Lines, which initiated a series of service reductions.
Interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
service ended in 1955, bringing an end to Glendale's
streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...
era. With the proliferation of
jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...
, Grand Central Airport's relatively short 3,400-foot runway was unable to accommodate modern aircraft. In 1959, the airport shut down. In 1961,
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
purchased a large portion of the closed airport to establish a creative workshop for employees working on the construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. Initially named WED Enterprises, the team came to be known as
Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
. Until as late as the 1960s, Glendale was a
sundown town Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States. They were towns that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combinati ...
, which meant that non-
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
people were required to leave city limits by a certain time each day or risk arrest and possible violence. This was achieved through, among other methods,
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
housing covenants and police intimidation. In 1964, Glendale was selected by
George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American neo-Nazi activist who founded the American Nazi Party (ANP) and became one of the most notorious white supremacists in the United States until his murder in 1967. His b ...
to be the West Coast headquarters of the
American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American neo-Nazi Political parties in the United States, political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in 1959. In Rockwell's time, it was headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It was renamed the Natio ...
. In 1965, an anti-Nazi
political demonstration A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
co-sponsored by several groups, Christians Against Bigotry, Anti-Nazi Congress of America, and Jewish Survivors of Concentration Camps, featured
actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
as a speaker. The
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member Board of Supervisors, governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Se ...
became involved, amending a law regarding the activities of subversive groups, which was originally drafted in 1941 to control the German American Bund. After a legal battle with the city of Glendale, the party moved their headquarters to El Monte in 1966.


Demographic changes and urbanization

The emergence of increasingly visible ethnic groups—including
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
,
Cubans Cubans () are the citizens and nationals of Cuba. The Cuban people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish. The larger Cuban diaspora includes individuals that trace ancestry to Cuba and self-identify as Cuban but are n ...
,
Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...
and
Koreans Koreans are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 m ...
—changed the official discourse in Glendale. In 1972, C.E. Perkins, then
city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
, encouraged the Rotary Club of Glendale to prepare itself as the city could no longer remain isolated in an increasingly diverse America. Through the 1970s, concurrent with increasing immigration into Glendale, was the city's rapid
urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...
. During this era, the Glendale Freeway and the
Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, that runs from the Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east–west route (designate ...
were constructed. The Glendale Galleria shopping mall opened in 1976, and was further expanded in 1982. In the 1980s, many single-family homes in south Glendale were demolished for
apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...
and
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
construction. This construction boom resulted in Glendale's population growing at a rate 60% higher than that of the county at large, turning the city into a denser, younger and more cosmopolitan urban center. In 1983, Larry Zarian was elected as the city's first Armenian
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
member, and in 1986, he became the city's first Armenian
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
. In 1984, the city revived municipal bus service with the Glendale Beeline. By 1990, Glendale was, proportionately, more immigrant than either the
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
or county of Los Angeles, with 45% of its residents being foreign-born. By the mid-1990s, Glendale's Anglo-American population had been surpassed by Armenians and Latinos. Some Anglo-American residents, largely fueled by anti-Armenian sentiment, decried the increased density in South Glendale.


Recent history

By the 2000s, Glendale had outgrown its "
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
" reputation as an urban area of its own, in large part due to the Americana at Brand outdoor shopping and residential community. The new development was opened to the public in 2008, featuring 75 shops, restaurants, apartments, condominiums, and an 18-plex cinema. In 2023, Americana at Brand owner Caruso claimed that the lifestyle center had "replac dblighted properties and ignit da wave of higher-end housing, retail, office space and hotel development in Glendale." Since opening, the center has expanded its offering of
luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a more significant proportion of ove ...
, adding
Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta S.r.l () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewellery and fragrances. Bottega Veneta is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with its main at ...
, Byredo,
Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...
, David Yurman,
Golden Goose "The Golden Goose" () is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 64). Story A man and his wife have three sons, the youngest of whom is named Dummling because he is neither handsome nor strong like his elder brothers. The eldest brot ...
,
Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
,
Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...
, Tiffany & Co. and Yves Saint Laurent stores. In response to the Americana at Brand's opening, the Glendale Galleria underwent an extensive renovation in 2012. By 2014, the construction of thousands of luxury apartments in downtown Glendale raised fears of
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. The post-Americana development boom has also included several
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s, such as a Hampton Inn & Suites (2016), a Hyatt Place (2017), The Glenmark (2020) and a Hotel Indigo (2025). There has also been an increase in "luxury wellness" in Glendale, including Alo Yoga and Lululemon athletic apparel stores; an
Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...
health club A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...
; and an upcoming Erewhon Market
grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
, "a stone's throw from a lower-cost competitor,
Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...
."


Geography

Glendale is located in the southeastern
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of ; of it is land and of it (0.43%) is covered by water. Glendale is the fourth largest city within Los Angeles County. It is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga; to the south by the Atwater Village and Glassell Park communities incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by Pasadena and Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by Griffith Park and the city of
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
. Glendale is located north of
downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
.


Geology

Several known earthquake faults criss-cross the Glendale area and adjacent mountains, as in much of Southern California. Among the more recognized faults are the Sierra Madre and Hollywood faults, situated in the city's northern and southwestern portions, respectively. Additionally, the Verdugo and Raymond faults intersect through the city's central and southeastern areas. The San Gabriel fault, meanwhile, is located northeast of the city. Roughly northeast of Glendale is a major portion of the
San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...
known as the "Big Bend", where quake-recurrence tracking shows major activity roughly every 140–160 years. The closest portion of the San Andreas is actually from Glendale. The last major quake along the southern San Andreas was recorded in 1857. In the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which took place along the western edge of the Sierra Madre Fault, surface ruptures were nearly long, including one portion a few miles northwest of Glendale. Most of the damage was in the northern San Fernando Valley, though 31 structures in Glendale suffered major damage and had to be demolished, plus numerous chimneys collapsed. The
1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...
had an epicenter about from Glendale. The city suffered severe damage to a public parking structure and sections of the Glendale Galleria parking structures and exterior columns incurred damages.


Climate

Glendale has a
Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
: ''Csa''), with hot summers and mild winters with occasional rainfall. The highest recorded temperature in Glendale was on September 6, 2020. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 15, 1990. The warmest month is August and the coolest month is January. The annual average precipitation is just over , mostly falling between November and April. Rainfall totals are highly variable from year to year, with the wettest years (sometimes over of rainfall) usually associated with warm
El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
conditions, and the drier years (sometimes under of rainfall) with cool
La Niña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...
episodes in the Pacific. The hills and mountains of northern Glendale very rarely have snow, owing to its warmer temperatures during the winter. It may only occur about every five to ten years. The last time it snowed was February 26, 2011, in which snow accumulation of approximately occurred and sleet was present. Frost sometimes occurs at night from late November to early March. Heavy rains and thunderstorms are also common during the winter. The spring brings temperate weather, with little rain. The summer is usually fairly warm, with highs from , to the low 100s (40 °C). Summer is usually very dry, but thunderstorms can come from Arizona, bringing high humidity into the area. These rare days cause heat indices over . Fall often brings clear and dry weather, but can be gusty due to the Santa Ana winds, blowing in once or twice a year from October to December. Santa Ana winds can reach up to , with gusts up to in mountain passes and canyons. Thunderstorms occur very rarely and they are accompanied by gusty winds and hail.


Surrounding areas

:
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
:
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
La Crescenta-Montrose / La Cañada Flintridge :
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
La Cañada Flintridge / Pasadena :
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Pasadena /
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
:
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...


Demographics

Glendale first appeared as a city in the 1910 U.S. Census part of the now defunct Burbank Township (pop 3,018 in 1900).


2024 estimates

As of 2024, Glendale hosts a Census-estimated population of 187,823, down 8,720 (–4.4%) from the 2020 United States census count of 196,543. At the 2020 census, the age distribution was 22.9% under 18, 58.7% from 18 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 or older. As of 2021, Glendale's population includes: * 54,000
child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
ren under the age of 18 years, * 10,100
women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
who live alone, * 7,000
men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
who live alone, and * 730 women and men who are in same-sex relationships, either as
married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
or unmarried couples.


Race and ethnicity


Armenians

Glendale has one of the largest communities of
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
descent in the United States.


=History

= Armenian families have lived in the city since the 1920s, but the surge in immigration accelerated in the 1970s. Armenian Americans are well integrated into the city, with many businesses, several Armenian schools, and ethnic/cultural organizations serving this ethnic group. Beginning in the late 1970s, as a result of the
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
and the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
, a dramatic influx of Armenians began to arrive in Glendale. Beginning in the late 1980s, with assistance from family and friends already there, Armenians from the former Soviet Union began arriving. In the Glendale Unified School District, by 1988, along with students from the Middle East, they had become the largest ethnic group in the public schools, now having a larger number than Latinos. By 1999, about 25% of the population spoke Armenian and there were many Armenian businesses. According to the United States 2000 Census, Glendale is home to 65,343 Armenian Americans (making up 34.1% of the total population), increasing from 1990 when there were 31,402 Armenian Americans in the city. As of 2005, one-third of Los Angeles' estimated 153,000 Armenians (or 51,000, around a quarter of Glendale's 205,000 residents) lived in Glendale. At that time, Armenians held a majority on the Glendale city council, and it had done so since that year. By 2005, the Armenian population was 40% of the total population. In 2014, a Glendale Police Department spokesperson, stated, "In five to eight years, the rmeniancommunity went from a few thousand to about 40,000." Levon Marashlian, an instructor of Armenian history at Glendale College, stated that in the early 1990s Glendale's Armenian community became the largest in the
Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...
, surpassing the Armenian community of Hollywood. Alice Petrossian, the GUSD director of intercultural education, stated that Burbank lies within the middle of other Armenian communities, so it attracted Armenians. There are also a great number of Armenian immigrants from Iran who, due to the religious restrictions and lifestyle limitations of the Islamic government, immigrated to the US, many to Glendale since it was where their relatives resided.


=Organizations

= In 1994, a new headquarters of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region opened in Glendale. ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian stated "One could look at it cynically and say they're coming because this is an election year, but on the other hand the Armenian community has a lot of friends, because we're active in the public life of many cities In 2004, the Armenian Cultural Foundation started planning for an educational and recreational youth center in south Glendale. In 2009, upon the center's completion, the various
Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...
-aligned organizations—such as the Armenian National Committee of America, the Armenian Relief Society, the
Armenian Youth Federation The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) () is the youth organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Founded in 1933, the AYF became a global Armenian organization and stands on five pillars that guide its activities: Educational, Hai Tahd ...
and Hamazkayin—moved to this new facility. The Armenian Assembly of America's Western Region office is in Glendale. The Armenian General Benevolent Union serves Glendale through its Pasadena-based Pasadena-Glendale chapter. Homenetmen, a non-aligned
sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
and
scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
organization, started its Glendale Ararat chapter in 1983. Since 1996, the chapter has been located in neighboring Glassell Park.


Other ethnic groups

In the 1930s, Glendale prevented the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
from stationing African American workers in a local park, citing sundown town ordinances that both cities had adopted. The Mexican American community was established in Glendale by the 1960s. The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw increases in Mexican American population as Glendale offers higher-quality education in a safer suburban environment away from the city. Several Korean cities have sought to create business and cultural relationships with Glendale. Central Park has a monument to commemorate Korean
comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...
of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was the only such monument on the West Coast until the opening of the San Francisco Comfort Women Memorial in 2017. , Filipino Americans were the third largest minority group in Glendale, making up seven percent of the city's total population, overtaking
Korean Americans Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnicity, Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Kore ...
. In 2022, the Filipino American Friendship Monument was unveiled in Central Park. After the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
, many
Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
migrated to the cities seeking a suburban city with lower crime and quality education.


Religion

There is a large
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and
Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...
community in Glendale. St. Mark's Episcopal Church dates back to 1888, but the current building was built in 1948. Holy Family Catholic Church dates back to 1907, but the current building was
consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
in 1922. Since 1975, St. Mary's
Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...
has served Glendale. The Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator was consecrated in 2001. In 2012, the North American diocese of the
Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...
moved from
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to Glendale. Since 2012, the Islamic Center of Glendale, a
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
, has served Glendale. Since 1949, Temple Sinai, a
Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
, has served Glendale. Since 2008, a Self-Realization Fellowship temple has served Glendale.


LGBT+ community

Since at least the 1960s, the Adams Hill neighborhood has been home to an LGBT+ community. Since 2019, glendaleOUT has advocated on behalf of Glendale's LGBT+ residents. Since 2022, the origination has hosted the annual Glendale
Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...
in the Park event held at Adams Square Mini-Park. The event is a family-friendly
picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...
. GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society provides specialized services to the local Armenian LGBT+ community, and the organization has been recognized as a community leader by Glendale elected officials. At the Glendale City Council's 2024 proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+
Pride Month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...
, GALAS Boardmember Shant Jaltorossian commented, stating "Our work as a cultural hub and resource group emphasizes the importance of
intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...
in our fight for
justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
. GALAS will continue to build a loving community which celebrates our roots, both Armenian and LGBTQ+, as we advocate for a better, more inclusive future." PFLAG also has a chapter in Glendale. At the June 6, 2023 Glendale Unified
Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
meeting, where an annual
Pride Month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...
declaration was to occur, a crowd of more than 200—including
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
organizations such as the
Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...
—gathered outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters. As tensions between pro- and anti-LGBT+ sides rose, the Glendale Police Department declared an unlawful assembly.


Economy

Several large companies have offices in Glendale, including the U.S. headquarters of International House of Pancakes. The Los Angeles regional office of California's State Compensation Insurance Fund is in Glendale. Americas United Bank was founded in Glendale in 2006 and is still headquartered there. In August 2013, Avery Dennison Corp., a label maker for major brands, announced plans to move its headquarters from Pasadena to Glendale. Avery employs about 26,000 people. , the top employers in the city are (with number of employees):


Aviation

Grand Central Airport was a municipal airport developed from 1923 which became the largest employer in Glendale for many years, and contributed to the development of aviation in the United States in many important ways. The main terminal building still stands and includes both Art Deco and Spanish-style architectural elements. The facility was the first official terminal for the Los Angeles area, as well as the departure point for the first commercial west-to-east transcontinental flight flown by
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Grand Central Air Terminal building was camouflaged to protect it from enemy targeting. It was closed down in 1959, and made way for the Grand Central Business Centre, an
industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
.


Film and television industry

Glendale, along with neighboring
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
, has served as a major production center for the
American film industry American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...
and especially
animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
. Located near
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
's Hyperion studio in
Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
, the Alex Theatre was Disney's favorite place during the 1930s to gauge audience reactions to his
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
s. Following his death in 1966, Disney was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. When
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
outgrew its Burbank studio lot in the early 1960s, it expanded to Glendale's Grand Central Business Centre. First came the headquarters for
Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
, and from 1985 to 1995, during the
Disney Renaissance File:Disney Renaissance Films.jpg, 400px, The ten films considered to make up the Disney Renaissance era rect 0 0 84 118 The Little Mermaid rect 85 0 168 118 The Rescuers Down Under rect 169 0 252 118 Beauty and the Beast rect 253 0 337 118 ...
,
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
(then known as Walt Disney Feature Animation) was headquartered in the Grand Central Business Centre.
Disneytoon Studios Disneytoon Studios (DTS), originally named Disney MovieToons and also formerly Walt Disney Video Premieres, was an American animation studio which created direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. The studio was a division ...
, a division of WDAS, is still located in the Grand Central Business Centre near GC3, along with the Animation Research Library, Disney Animation's archive. Today, Disney's Grand Central Creative Campus (known as GC3 for short) is also home to
Consumer Products A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. Whe ...
,
Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it w ...
, Marvel Animation and The Muppets Studio. Disney-owned
KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...
is located on Circle 7 Drive to the south of GC3. Between 1991 and 2006, Universal Cartoon Studios was located in Glendale. In 1992,
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
and
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
animator and director Darrell Van Citters and his business partner Ashley Postlewaite founded Renegade Animation in neighboring Burbank, and it soon moved to Glendale. In 1994,
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
,
Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...
, and David Geffen formed DreamWorks SKG, a diversified entertainment company.
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
remains located in the city's Grand Central Business Centre on land formerly occupied by a helicopter landing base next to the old airfield (and next to KABC-TV). Following the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation by
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
and its
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
subsidiary in 2016, Katzenberg said that "We will absolutely continue to make animated films here." In 2002, the city's redevelopment agency gave Animation Initiative Glendale six months to develop a viable plan for adapting the historic Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan building for use as an animation museum. These plans were ultimately unsuccessful. Since 2014, television network Fuse has been based in Glendale. Since 2016, LGBT+ streaming network Revry has been headquartered in Glendale. In 2024, East End Studios announced the completion of a
film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
complex, named "Glendale", featuring two
sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...
s and ancillary facilities. A second, much larger East End Studios facility in Glendale, named "Griffith", is currently being built. In October 2024, Mayor
Elen Asatryan Elen Asatryan (; born 1983) is an Armenian Americans, Armenian-American politician who is a Councilmember and the immediate past mayor of Glendale, California. Early life and education Asatryan, with her family, moved from Armenia to Glendale at ...
travelled to
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
, where she struck an
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
partnership deal with the Incheon Free Economic Zone. The agreement includes a new government-to-government platform jointly built by the governments of
Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...
and Glendale and sharing it with entertainment companies in both cities.


Technology industry

Glendale Tech Week was created in 2016 to celebrate technology through
panel discussion A panel discussion, or simply a panel, involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience, typically at scientific, business, or academic conferences, fan conventions, and on television shows. Panels usually include a ...
s, workshops, and networking events. In 2017, Glendale's City Council adopted the Glendale Tech Strategy, a roadmap for growing Glendale's technology-based sector. In 2023, Glendale and neighboring
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
partnered to launch Upstart Valley, a program to support
startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...
,
entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
, and the technology industry. Notable technology companies in Glendale include: * Evite * LegalZoom * ServiceTitan


Arts and culture


Cuisine

Influenced by the city's
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
history, Glendale's food culture includes a wide selection of international cuisines, including
Filipino cuisine Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippines, Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comp ...
and
Armenian cuisine Armenian cuisine () includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenians, Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and drinks. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived and where Armenian empires exi ...
and also
Iranian cuisine Iranian cuisine comprises the culinary traditions of Iran. Due to the historically common usage of the term "Name of Iran, Persia" to refer to Iran in the Western world,Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. ...
. Zhengyalov Hatz, which serves zhingyalov hats, is the
Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...
's only Armenian restaurant in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Landmarks

Important landmarks in Glendale include the Alex Theatre, the Glendale Main Post Office, and the Glendale Transportation Center.


Libraries

The Glendale Public Library operates eight public libraries in the city.


Museums and galleries

In 2016, the Museum of Neon Art (MONA), which focuses on historical
neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...
signs, moved to downtown Glendale, with the City committed to funding the museum's new site and construction. The museum has featured exhibitions dedicated to the local community, including
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
and
LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
people. In 2024, the Martial Arts History Museum, which is devoted to the history of
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
, moved to Glendale. The museum has displays relating to Chinese
kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
, Filipino
kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
an Kapu Kuialua,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
and
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
,
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n
taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
, and Thai
Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...
. At this new, larger location, the museum will also feature
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
n kokh and Mexican
lucha libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
. Local galleries include ace/121 Gallery, Armenian Arts, Junior High, and Tufenkian Fine Arts.


Performing arts

The Alex Theatre is a performing arts center featuring live performances and film screenings. Local
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
companies include Antaeus Theatre Company and The Nocturne Theatre. The City sponsors several
concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
series: the Brand Summer Music Series, at the Brand Library; the Jewel City Concert Series, at the Artsakh Paseo; and the Summer Concert Series, at Verdugo Park.


Public art

The City of Glendale's
public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
includes "Beyond the Box", a utility box art program which includes more than 150
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
s, and "Creative Crosswalks", a crosswalk mural program. In 2016, a 1936
Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...
filling station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
in the Adams Hills neighborhood was added to the Glendale Register of Historic Resources and Historic Districts and converted into a public art gallery.


Parks and recreation

The city has nearly 50 public parks, from Deukmejian Wilderness Park in the north to Cerritos Park in the south.


Government


Local government

According to the city's most recent comprehensive annual financial report, the city's various funds had $576 million in revenues, $543 million in expenditures, $2,090 million in total assets, $481 million in total liabilities, and $460 million in cash and investments.. Retrieved August 12, 2009. Glendale elects its City Council members at large, to a four-year term. Elections are held on a Tuesday after the first Monday in April of odd-numbered years along with the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education and the Glendale Community College District Board of Trustees. The mayor is Ara Najarian.


County representation

The
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Health Services Los Angeles County, officially the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and is the United States' second largest municip ...
operates the Glendale Health Center in Glendale. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services operates the Glendale DPSS welfare office on San Fernando Road. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation operates Crescenta Valley park in North Glendale The Los Angeles County Department of Aging and Disabilities operates an undisclosed Adult Protective Services office in Glendale In the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member Board of Supervisors, governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Se ...
, Glendale is in the Fifth District, represented by
Kathryn Barger Kathryn Ann Barger-Leibrich (born in 1960) is an American politician who is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 5th District since 2016 and is the Chair of Los Angeles County. A member of the Republican Party (United ...
.


State and federal representation

In the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, Glendale is in . In the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
, Glendale is in , and in both , and .


Crime and public safety

In 1977 and 1978, 10 murdered women were found in and around Glendale in what became known as the case of the Hillside Strangler. The murders were the work of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, the latter of whom resided at 703 East Colorado Street, where most of the murders took place. In 2014, Glendale was named the ninth-safest city in America in a report published by 24/7 Wall Street based on violent crime rates in cities with more than 100,000 people. Also in 2014, real estate company Movoto used FBI data crime data from 2013 to conduct a study of 100 U.S. cities with populations between 126,047 and 210,309 residents and concluded that Glendale was the safest mid-sized city in America.


Education

The Glendale Unified School District operates the public schools in Glendale. It consists of 20
elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, 4
middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...
s, 4
high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
and 3 facilities for homeschoolers and special-needs students. A number of private schools also operate in Glendale. Glendale Community College has served Glendale since 1927.


Media


Print

Since 1928, Glendale's
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
newspaper of record has been the weekly ''Glendale News-Press'', which has been owned by Outlook Newspapers since 2020. Since 2009, another English language weekly newspaper, the ''Crescenta Valley Weekly'', has also covered Glendale, with a focus on the northern part of Glendale in the Crescenta Valley. ''Nor Hayastan'' is the city's Armenian language newspaper. Balita Media publishes two weekly English language newspapers for the Filipino Americans, Filipino community: ''Balita Midweek'' on Wednesdays and ''Balita Weekend'' on Saturdays. ''El Vaquero'', established in 1927, is the Student publication, student newspaper of Glendale Community College.


Radio

A number of Radio broadcasting, radio stations are broadcast from and/or are licensed to Glendale, including the following: AM broadcasting * 870 KRLA – (Conservative talk radio) FM broadcasting * 95.9 KFSH-FM, KFSH – (Contemporary Christian music) * 101.9 KSCA (FM), KSCA – (Regional Mexican music)


Television

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...
, an American Broadcasting Company, ABC owned-and-operated news broadcasting television station serving Greater Los Angeles, has maintained its César Pelli-designed facility in Glendale since 2000. Since 2013, USArmenia TV has been based in Glendale. The station features Armenian language sitcoms, reality television and news broadcasting.


Infrastructure


Public safety

The Glendale Fire Department responds to about 17,000 calls for service annually. The department has nine stations, with mutual aid provided other local departments. The Verdugo Fire Communications Center in Glendale was established in 1979 to consolidate fire dispatching and telecommunications between 13 local fire departments.


Transportation


Bus services

LADOT, Metro Local and Glendale Beeline all have buses that run in the city. Glendale Transportation Center provides connections to Greyhound buses. The North Hollywood to Pasadena Transit Corridor is a proposed bus rapid transit line. It is planned to operate between Pasadena City College and the North Hollywood station, where it will connect with the B Line (Los Angeles Metro), Metro B Line and the G Line (Los Angeles Metro), Metro G Line. The line is planned to connect downtown Burbank to Glendale via Glenoaks Boulevard before heading south on Central Avenue and then continuing east on Broadway. The line is expected to open in 2027. The project is part of Metro's Twenty-eight by '28 initiative. A 2021 Metro staff report for the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee has recommended corridors where the transportation agency could pursue new bus rapid transit lines, including one between downtown Glendale and East Los Angeles College, a corridor passing through
Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake, and Echo Park.


Train services

Metrolink (California), Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line and Ventura County Line stop at the Glendale Transportation Center. Also, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner stops at Glendale Transportation Center. Since 2016, Metro and Eco-Rapid Transit have been studying the feasibility of adding more frequent service and infill stations along the corridor. Also studied has been the creation of a Los Angeles Metro Rail, light rail line along the Burbank-Glendale-Union Station corridor, potentially allowing trains to leave the existing right-of-way to travel through the commercial core of Glendale.


Streetcar

Using a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments, the City of Glendale is now in the midst of a feasibility study for a tram, streetcar project. The city is considering two alignments for the proposed system, both of which would feature 16 stops running approximately between Stocker Street in the north and the Glendale Transportation Center in the south, where it would connect with Metrolink and Amtrak trains.


Airports

The closest airport that serves Glendale is the Hollywood Burbank Airport. The airport is owned by the Burbank–Glendale–Pasadena Airport Authority, a joint powers agreement between the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena.


Freeways and highways

Glendale is served by four freeways: the Glendale Freeway (California State Route 2, State Route 2), the
Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, that runs from the Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east–west route (designate ...
(Ventura Freeway#State Route 134, State Route 134), the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210 and State Route 210 (California), Interstate 210) and the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5) Major surface streets in the city include: Brand Boulevard, Broadway, Canada Boulevard, Central Avenue, Chevy Chase Drive, Colorado Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard (Southern California), Foothill Boulevard, Glendale Avenue, Glenoaks Boulevard, Grandview Avenue, La Crescenta Avenue, Honolulu Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Riverside Drive (Los Angeles, California), Riverside Drive, Victory Boulevard (Los Angeles), Victory Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, Sonora Avenue, Western Avenue, San Fernando Road, Verdugo Road/Boulevard, Mountain Street, and Ocean View Boulevard.


Notable people

* Tatev Abrahamyan, chess player * Allisyn Ashley Arm, actress, filmmaker * Dan Avidan, vocalist in Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb, co-host of Web series, webseries ''Game Grumps'' * Chet Baker, jazz musician * Zoe Barnett, actress * Kimberly Beck, actress * Captain Beefheart, musician * Dawn Bender, actress * Christian Bergman, baseball pitcher * Elvin Bishop, musician * Aloe Blacc, musician * David Brin, author * Clara Bryant, actress * Angelo Buono, serial killer * Julia Butters, child actress * Lucille Carroll, actress, MGM studio executive * Armen Chakmakian, musician and composer * Caryl Chessman, criminal * Migdia Chinea, filmmaker * John Cho, actor * Claudia Christian, actress * Michael Cisco, novelist * Ray Combs (1956–1996), former ''Family Feud'' host * Doug Davidson, soap opera actor * Bette Davis, actress * John Debney, Academy Award-nominated composer * Emilio Delgado, actor, Luis on ''Sesame Street'' * Doug Dohring, CEO of Neopets * Nicole Eggert, actress * Erika Eleniak, model and actress * Douglas Emerson, actor * Robert Englund, actor, ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' * Yvonne Lime Fedderson, actress, third wife of producer Don Fedderson * Pat Flaherty (racing driver), Pat Flaherty, auto racing driver, winner of 1956 Indianapolis 500 * Laura Friedman, state politician and mayor * Doug Forrester, businessman and politician from New Jersey * Edward Furlong, actor * Beverly Garland, actress and hotel owner * Daryl Gates, former LAPD police chief * Go Betty Go, rock star * Scott Gorham, musician * Ellen Louise Graham, journalist at ''The Wall Street Journal'' and 1999 Pulitzer Prize finalist * Woody Guthrie, musician * Joe Hahn, musician * Peter D. Hannaford, political consultant and author associated with
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
* Egoraptor, Arin Hanson, animator, vocalist of Starbomb, co-host of the Web series, webseries ''Game Grumps'' * Thomas B. Hayward, United States admiral * Tim Heidecker, comedian and musician * Pamela Hensley, actress * Taraji P. Henson, Academy Award–nominated actress * Babe Herman, MLB right fielder * Hardcore Holly, professional wrestler * Chris Holmes (musician), Chris Holmes, lead guitarist, W.A.S.P. (band), W.A.S.P. * John Holmes (actor), John Holmes, pornographic actor * Ashlyne Huff, musician * Lux Interior and Poison Ivy (musician), Poison Ivy, musicians, The Cramps * Kathy Ireland, model and actress * Jay-R, actor, TV host * Nicole Jung, KPop artist * Maren Jensen, actress * Margaret Kerry, actress * James Kerwin, filmmaker * Ed King, guitarist, Strawberry Alarm Clock & Lynyrd Skynyrd * Robert Knapp (actor), Robert Knapp, actor * Don Knotts, Emmy-winning actor, lived in Glendale * Nathan Kress, actor * Greg Kriesel, bassist, The Offspring * Shia LaBeouf, actor * Jonna Lee (actress), Jonna Lee, actress * Robert B. Lewis, thoroughbred owner * Mike Lieberthal, MLB All-Star catcher * Yvonne Lime, actress * Eric Lloyd, actor * Mario Lopez, TV personality * Katherine "Scottie" MacGregor, actress * Benji Madden, lead guitarist, Good Charlotte * Joel Madden, lead vocalist, Good Charlotte * Daron Malakian, lead guitarist, System of a Down * Rafi Manoukian, politician * Vanes Martirosyan, boxer * Tim Matheson, actor * Rex Mays, champion race driver * Mike Mazurki, actor and professional wrestler * Brandon McCarthy, former pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers * Doug McClure, actor * Eva Mendes, actress * Don Milan, NFL player * Terry Moore (actress), Terry Moore, actress * Jim E. Mora, football coach * Dennis Muren, special effects artist * Clarence Nash, original voice of Donald Duck * Taylor Negron, actor, comedian * Ross O'Donovan, animator and YouTube personality * Florence Oberle, actress * Ken Osmond, actor from ''Leave It to Beaver'' * Kelly Packard, actress * Patti Paniccia (born 1952), law professor, lawyer, journalist and former professional surfer * Melissa Pastore (pastor), Melissa Pastore, pastor * Paul Petersen, actor from ''The Donna Reed Show'' * Sam Phillips (singer), Sam Phillips, musician * Jamie Pineda, front woman of pop music project Sweetbox * Al Pollard, NFL player and announcer * Donald Prothero, paleontologist and author * Scott Radinsky, MLB pitcher * Ronnie Radke, vocalist, Falling In Reverse * James Rallison, YouTuber known as TheOdd1sOut * Frederick Emil Resche, U.S. Army brigadier general * Archie Reynolds, MLB player * Michael Richards, actor from ''Seinfeld'' * Nicole Richie, fashion designer, TV personality * Debra Jo Rupp, actress * Devin Sarno, composer * Maureen Kennedy Salaman, proponent of alternative medicine and author * Steven L. Sears, writer and producer * T. Sean Shannon, ''SNL'' comedy writer * Bob Siebenberg, drummer of Supertramp * Stirling Silliphant, screenwriter, producer * Rick Springfield, musician * Mary Kay Stearns, actress * Casey Stengel, MLB player and Hall of Fame manager for New York Yankees * Carl Steven, former child actor * Joseph Stroud (poet), Joseph Stroud, poet and educator * Gary Sutherland, MLB player * System of a Down, alternative metal band * Gloria Talbott, actress * Diana Taurasi, WNBA player, Olympian * Vic Tayback, actor, star of 1970s CBS sitcom ''Alice'' * Jayceon Terrell Taylor, rapper, musician known professionally as The Game * Michael Tonkin, MLB pitcher * Ann Tyrrell, actress * Ron Underwood, director * Lupe Vélez, actress * Shawna Waldron, actress * Paul Walker, actor * Gordon Waller, singer with Peter and Gordon * John Wayne, iconic film actor, attended Glendale High School (Glendale, California), Glendale High School * Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts, Tanya Falan Welk, singer * Lorin Whitney, organist and recording artist * Dale Wood (composer), Dale Wood, organist and composer * Gregg Zaun, MLB catcher


Sister cities

Glendale's Sister city, sister cities are: * Martuni, Nagorno-Karabakh, Martuni, Artsakh * Gyumri, Armenia * Kapan, Armenia * Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic * Higashiōsaka, Japan * Rosarito Beach Municipality, Rosarito Beach, Mexico * Tlaquepaque, Mexico * Boeun County, Boeun, South Korea * Gimpo, South Korea * Goseong County, South Gyeongsang, Goseong, South Korea * Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines


See also

* List of cities in California * Largest cities in Southern California * M.V. Hartranft, early 20th-century land developer in Glendale * Casa Adobe De San Rafael California Historic Landmark in Glendale * List of sundown towns in the United States


References


External links

*
Glendale Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Glendale, California, Cities in Los Angeles County, California Communities in the San Fernando Valley Incorporated cities and towns in California Crescenta Valley San Rafael Hills Verdugo Mountains Ethnic enclaves in the United States Armenian-American culture in California Armenian diaspora communities in the United States Populated places established in 1906 1906 establishments in California Sundown towns in California