Lake View Terrace is a
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
neighborhood 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 ...
region of the
City of Los Angeles, California.
"Lake View Terrace," Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times''
Surrounding areas include the
Angeles National Forest, Little Tujunga Canyon, Big Tujunga Canyon, Hansen Dam, Kagel Canyon, and a portion of the
Verdugo Mountains. The community lies adjacent to the communities of
Sylmar,
San Fernando,
Shadow Hills,
Sunland,
Sun Valley, and
Pacoima. The area shares the 91342
ZIP code with Sylmar. Lake View Terrace is accessed by the Foothill Freeway (
Interstate 210) and the major thoroughfares of which include,
Foothill Boulevard,
Glenoaks Boulevard,
Van Nuys Boulevard and Osborne Street.
The community is middle-class and ethnically mixed, including
Latinos,
African-Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
,
Whites and
Asians.
The area hosts a large
equestrian community, and is one of the few remaining residential areas in the City of Los Angeles that has private homes zoned for horsekeeping.
History
Lake View Terrace was a part of the
Rancho Tujunga Mexican land grant community. Settlers in Rancho Tujunga sold firewood to residents of El Pueblo, a settlement that was in what is now
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, ...
. In the 1800s Homer and Marie Hansen established a horse ranch in the area. In 1939 the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seized the horse ranch's land via
eminent domain to build a dam due to occurrences of flooding in the northeast and southeast portions of 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 ...
. The
Hansen Dam was built in 1940. Alyson Pitarre of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said "legend has it that" the name of Lake View Terrace originated from Holiday Lake, a lake that was once behind the dam and a popular vacation area in the 1950s; the lake since dried. The
Rodney King incident occurred in Lake View Terrace in 1991; Pitarre said that Lake View Terrace "gained notoriety" because of the incident.
[Pitarre, Alyson. "Where country living sidles up to the city." '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. June 12, 2005
1
Retrieved on March 19, 2010.
Demographics
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these neighborhood statistics (as of 2008): population of 12,719 with a median household income of $67,985.
With 2,790 people per square mile, it is among the lowest densities for the city of Los Angeles and among the lowest densities for the county.
Cityscape
Alyson Pitarre of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said that Lake View Terrace "is a quiet equestrian community with two distinct faces: town and country." She described the densely populated western side as an "urban" area "characterized by high-density housing and the occasional school." Pitarre said that the eastern side has "a rural feel, with homes zoned for horse-keeping and agriculture." Residents of western Lake View Terrace moved to preserve what Pitarre calls "their semirural lifestyle." The residents, led by the Tujunga Watershed Council, fought many battles to preserve the atmosphere of Lake View Terrace. In November 2003 the residents persuaded the Regional Water Quality Control Board to order the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove construction debris from lakes in the
Hansen Dam area. Houses in northeast Lake View Terrace are newer and more expensive. Fenton Grove, which was one of the few new neighborhoods in Lake View Terrace in 2005, is located on Fenton Avenue and has views of the
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
described by Pitarre as "scenic." More established neighborhoods are located to the east.
Omari Mark, a real estate agent, described Lake View Terrace as "a hidden area" that many people do not know about in a 2005 ''Los Angeles Times'' article. Mark said that houses in Lake View Terrace were less expensive than those in
Sylmar and
Tujunga because those two neighborhoods were more well known.
[Pitarre, Alyson. "Where country living sidles up to the city." '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. June 12, 2005
2
Retrieved on March 19, 2010.
Culture
Alyson Pitarre of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said that Lake View Terrace "maintains a laid-back, rural image." Carol Ford, who was the president of the Valley Horse Owners Association in 2005, said "If you don't like the smell of livestock, you shouldn't move here."
Film and television
Lake View Terrace has been used in many films over the years.
Film
Easy Rider (1969), The Dark Side of Tomorrow (1970), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), V (1983), Sunset Strip (1985), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Little Rascals (1994), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), Lakeview Terrace (2008), Hole (2010), Star Wars: The Mission (2017), L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later (2017)
TV
Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Sons of Anarchy, Euphoria
Government and infrastructure
Los Angeles Fire Department Station 24 Sunland/Shadow Hills, located in
Sunland, serves Lake View Terrace. The
Los Angeles Police Department
The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
Foothill Community Police Station in
Pacoima serves Lake View Terrace.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools
The
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...
serves the community. Two elementary schools, Brainard Avenue Elementary School and Fenton Elementary School,
are in the community. In 2005 residents were zoned to Olive Vista Middle School and
Sylmar High School.
PUC Schools, a charter school operator, operates PUC Community Charter Middle School, PUC Lakeview Charter Academy, and PUC Community Charter Early College High School.
Private schools
Delphi Academy of Los Angeles, a
Delphi Academy school, is in Lake View Terrace. The school was originally in
La Cañada Flintridge; the current campus in Lake View Terrace opened in 2003.
Public libraries
Los Angeles Public Library operates the Lake View Terrace Branch Library.
Discovery Cube
On November 13, 2014, Discovery Cube Los Angeles opened its doors in the Hansen Dam Recreation Center. The children's science center has 71,000 square feet and is the first major museum in the San Fernando Valley.
Parks and recreation
Alyson Pitarre of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said that Lake View Terrace "is a hub for outdoor recreation." The community has equestrian trails, two golf courses, hills, lakes, three parks, and two recreation centers.
The Lake View Terrace Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace includes barbecue pits, lighted outdoor basketball courts, children's play area, community room, indoor gymnasium, picnic tables, and lighted tennis courts. Several recreational facilities in the
Hansen Dam area, including the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, Hansen Dam Park/Recreation Area and the Hansen Dam Swim Lake Aquatic Center/Pool are in Lake View Terrace. The Hansen Dam Recreation Area, which also acts as a
Los Angeles Police Department
The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
stop-in center, includes barbecue pits, an unlighted baseball diamond, children's play area, picnic tables, and an unlighted soccer field. The Hansen Dam Aquatic Center, a recreational facility on the northwest side of the Hansen Dam Recreation Area, includes a recreation lake used for fishing, pedal boat rental, and public boating. The center also includes a swimming lake, 50 public restrooms, 25 showers, 20 dressing rooms, and several picnic areas. Users of the park may also jog, picnic, and take boating classes.
[Home page]
" Hansen Dam Aquatic Center. Retrieved on March 19, 2010. During each weekend over the summer, the aquatic center received up to 2,000 visitors.
Both the Lake View Terrace Recreation Center and Hansen Dam Recreation Center feature public equestrian facilities which residents and visitors can use.
See also
* ''
Lakeview Terrace'', 2008 film
References
External links
The Foothills Forum[Lake View Terrace:">''Los Angeles Times'', Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: "[Lake View Terrace:/nowiki> Where country living sidles up to the city" (12 June 2005)]
Lake View Terrace Improvement Association
{{Authority control
Neighborhoods in Los Angeles
Communities in the San Fernando Valley