Northridge is a 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. The community is home to

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the community was renamed North Los Angeles in 1929 but the appellation sometimes caused confusion between North Hollywood and Los Angeles. In 1938, civic leader Carl S. Dentzel decided to rename the community to Northridge Village, which morphed into modern-day Northridge. The Northridge area can trace its history back to the

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

people and later to Spanish explorers. It was sold by the Mexican governor

Pío Pico Don (honorific), Don Pío de Jesús Pico IV (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a California politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the List of governors of California before 1850, last governor of Alta California und ...

to Eulogio de Celis, whose heirs divided it for resale.

Population

The 2000 U.S. census counted 57,561 residents in the Northridge neighborhood—or , among the lowest population densities for the city. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 61,993. In 2000 the median age for residents was 32, about average for city and county neighborhoods; the percentage of residents aged 19 to 34 was among the county's highest."Northridge"
Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times'' The neighborhood was considered "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of Asian people for the county. The breakdown was

whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

, 49.5%; Latinos, 26.1%; Asians, 14.5%; blacks, 5.4%; and others, 4.6%. Mexico (24.7%) and the Philippines (9.8%) were the most common places of birth for the 31.8% of the residents who were born abroad—an average figure for Los Angeles. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $67,906, considered high for the city. Renters occupied 46.4% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 53.6%. The average household size of 2.7 people was considered average for Los Angeles. In 2000 there were 3,803 military veterans, or 8.5% of the population, a high percentage compared to the rest of the city.

Geography

Northridge touches Porter Ranch and Granada Hills on the north, North Hills on the east,

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

on the southeast,

Lake Balboa Lake Balboa is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The area was previously part of Van Nuys.Reseda on the south, and Winnetka and Chatsworth on the west.Colored map, Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times (PDF)
/ref>

History

Tongva

The Northridge area was first inhabited over 2,000 years ago by the

. The village of Totonga was located in the Northridge area. The Tongva lived in dome-shaped houses and are sometimes referred to as the "people of the earth". They spoke a

Takic The Takic languages are a putative group of Uto-Aztecan languages historically spoken by a number of Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous peoples of Southern California. Takic is grouped with the Tübatulabal language, Tubatulabal, Hopi la ...

Uto-Aztecan The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...

(Shoshonean) language. Many of their

pictographs A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

were destroyed by the development of

Greater Los Angeles 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 eas ...

Mexican land sale

In the late 1840s, Mexican Governor Pio Pico broke with the tradition of "granting" land and, instead, sold it, without the usual area limitations, to Eulogio de Celis, a native of Spain. By 1850, de Celis was in the Los Angeles census as an agriculturist, 42 years old, and the owner of real estate worth $20,000.

Land division

A few years later, the land was split up. The heirs of Eulogio de Celis sold the northerly half – – to Senator George K. Porter, who had called it the "Valley of the Cumberland" and Senator Charles Maclay, who exclaimed: "This is the Garden of Eden." Porter was interested in ranching; Maclay in subdivision and colonization. Francis Marion ("Bud") Wright, an Iowa farm boy who migrated to California as a young man, became a ranch hand for Senator Porter and later co-developer of the Hawk Ranch, which is now Northridge land.

Early community

In 1908, the

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 ...

lays tracks through the Hawk Ranch property; following this and continuing the pattern of railroad boom towns, the Hawk Ranch was sold for subdivision and was renamed ''Zelzah'' in 1910. The name is derived from a

biblical name Names play a variety of roles in the Bible. They sometimes relate to the nominee's role in a Books of the Bible, biblical narrative, as in the case of Nabal, a foolish man whose name means "fool". Names in the Bible can represent human hopes, d ...

for an oasis as a reference to a water well located in the area. The Zelzah Train Station or Depot was built on the site that is now the northwest corner of Parthenia Avenue and Reseda Boulevard, across the street from the water well. Also in 1910, on January 13, the large balloon America landed on the so-called ''Zelzah ranch'' after a trip from Huntington Park. By April, The Scandia Land and Loan Company was advertising ''Zelzah Acres'' with land going for $250 per acre. The company advertised the acres as the "cream of the San Fernando valley, the richest soil in California," describing the ease of transportation provided by the station, the lack of

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

, adobe or

hardpan In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan or soil pan is a dense layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost topsoil layer. There are different types of hardpan, all sharing the general characteristic of being a distinct soil layer ...

soil, and stating that water for domestic purposes could be welled from 35 to 65 feet and at 140 to 300 feet for general irrigation; water would later become a major selling point for land in the valley after the arrival of the

Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...

. The initial growth in the region was so marked that discussions of the creation of new school districts were being forwarded to the county school superintendent Mark Keppel, one of these districts being named Zelzah which would benefit 15 children of school age living nine to ten miles from a schoolhouse. By the beginning of 1912, a post office had been established in Zelzah. By April 1913, sales agents E. O. Hanson & Sons were advertising that only 300 of the original 1100 acres were left for sale, by then at $325 an acre. The first church built in Northridge, the Faith Bible Church, was built in 1917. By the 1920s, the town became a shipping center for agricultural products and continued to be a rural community for many years. Residents of Zelzah voted to change the community's name to ''North Los Angeles'' in 1929. Reseda Boulevard, the main thoroughfare of the community, was paved in 1930. In 1938, the community's name was changed to the more popular ''Northridge Village'' at the suggestion of local resident and director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles Carl Denzel; it would later be shortened to just ''Northridge''.

Post-war years

The community began to develop rapidly after World War II and agricultural lots were subdivided into suburban housing tracts to meet the demand for single-family homes by veterans and their families. Commercial development began to take place in the 1950s; the San Fernando Valley State College was opened in 1956. Light industry moved into the area and spurred a building boom. The train depot was torn down in 1961 and underpasses were constructed below the railway over Reseda Boulevard and Parthenia Street.

Education

Thirty-four percent of Northridge residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average percentage for the city but high for the county. The percentages of the same-age residents with a

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

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

or higher were high for the county.

Primary and secondary schools

In 1962, Nobel Junior High School in Northridge became the first air-conditioned school in 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 ...

. In 1982 the board considered closing Prairie Street Elementary School in Northridge.Faris, Gerald. "." ''

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 ...

''. April 17, 1983. South Bay SB2. Retrieved on January 16, 2012
See clipping
at

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. It was located on the

campus, and that university used Prairie as a laboratory school.Savage, David G. "." ''

''. February 7, 1984. Part II C2. Retrieved on January 16, 2012. In April 1983 an advisory committee of the LAUSD recommended closing eight LAUSD schools, including Prairie Street School. In August 1983 the board publicly considered closing Prairie, which had 280 students at the time. In 1984 the board voted to close the Prairie Street School. In 1985 some parents were trying to have Prairie Street School reopened. Secondary and lower-grade schools within the Northridge boundaries are:

Public

* Andasol Avenue Elementary School, 10126 Encino Avenue * Alfred Bernhard Nobel Middle School, 9950 Tampa Avenue * Topeka Drive Elementary School, 9815 Topeka Drive * Balboa Gifted / High Ability Magnet Elementary School, alternative, 17020 Labrador Street * Northridge Academy High School, 9601 Zelzah Avenue * Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School, 9351 Paso Robles Avenue * Dearborn Street Elementary School, 9240 Wish Avenue * Calahan Street Elementary School, 18722 Knapp Street * Napa Street Elementary School, 19010 Napa Street * Northridge Middle School, 17960 Chase Street * Parthenia Street Elementary School, 16825 Napa Street * Granada Hills Charter TK-8, 17081 Devonshire St

Private

* Casa Montessori, 17633 Lassen Street *

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is one the Marian devotions, devotional names or titles under which the Catholic Church venerates the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. The name commemorates a series of Lourdes apparitions, 18 apparitions reported by ...

, 18437 Superior Street * Highland Hall Waldorf School,

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...

, 17100 Superior Street * Art of Learning Academy, 9535 Alden Avenue * St. Nicholas School, elementary, 9501 Balboa Boulevard * First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hill, elementary, 10400 Zelzah Avenue * Cornerstone Christian Academy, 11031 Yolanda Avenue * East Valley Academy, K-12, 20212 Londelius Street * Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, Elementary and Middle, 17701 Devonshire Street

Colleges

, or CSUN, part of the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

system, offers bachelor's and master's degrees in a number of disciplines. The school is a major producer of K-12 teachers in the region and the nation as a whole. CSUN also has engineering, business, and film programs. CSUN had its beginnings as a college on Nordhoff Street and Etiwanda Avenue and officially opened in 1956 as San Fernando Valley Campus of Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences. Two years later it separated from its parent and became San Fernando Valley State College. By the early 1970s, however, this institution became known as California State University, Northridge. By fall of 2016, CSUN had reached enrollment of almost 40,000 students. A 2004 study revealed that CSUN is a major contributor to the local economy: between $663 million and $686 million annually. Additionally, CSUN employs 5,800 people directly through the university and adds another 5,700 to 6,000 jobs into the local economy.

Entertainment

Motion pictures and television

Silent star Janet Gaynor and her costume-designer husband Adrian were the first owners of a spacious estate in Northridge, which was later sold to Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor. Later, actor Jack Oakie owned the property and lived on it. The Oakie house was set for the wrecking ball, but in 2010 the city agreed to buy the Tudor-style stone landmark and its ranch estate. Marion Marx, wife of Zeppo Marx, and Barbara Stanwyck started Marwyck Ranch as a horse breeding farm. The original house and a small portion of the ranch still exist, and is managed by the city as Oakridge Estate Park. Northridge was known as the "Horse Capital of the West," with regular Sunday horse shows, annual stampedes, and country fairs.

Devonshire Downs

In the late 1960s, Devonshire Downs was the site of two major rock music festivals. The little-known two-day 1967 ''Fantasy Faire and Magic Music Festival'' (at "Devonshire Meadows") featured

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

, Country Joe and the Fish, The Grass Roots,

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...

, Iron Butterfly and several other bands. The better-known but confusingly named 1969 '' Newport Pop Festival'' was a massive three-day event that featured

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and many other top acts. It took place in June and was briefly the largest music festival ever held before losing that distinction to

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

the following August. Like its famous successor, it had problems with large numbers of gate-crashers, and some young attendees far from home camped out nearby in sleeping bags. Unlike Woodstock, "nearby" included parts of suburban Northridge, where most of the local residents were horrified to find their neighborhoods invaded by "hippies". A ban on rock music festivals soon followed.

Earthquakes

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 ...

was named for Northridge based on early estimates of the location of the quake's

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

; however, further refinements showed it to be technically in neighboring Reseda. The earthquake, which occurred on a blind thrust fault, was one of the strongest ground motions ever recorded in North America. Freeways collapsed, and many buildings suffered irreparable damages. Vertical and horizontal accelerations lifted structures off their foundations. During the 1994 quake, the Northridge Hospital Medical Center remained open and treated more than 1,000 patients who came to the facility during the first few days after the magnitude 6.7 quake. This was the second time in 23 years that the area had been affected by a strong earthquake. On February 9, 1971, the San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake) struck, having a magnitude of 6.5.

Points of interest

* Brent's Deli, famous deli in Northridge * CSUN Botanic Garden *

(CSUN) * Donald E. Bianchi Planetarium at CSUN * Northridge Fashion Center, Regional shopping mall. * Northridge Hospital Medical Center * Studio 606 West, the recording studio of rock band

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

* The US Metric Association is based in Northridge.

Hospital

Northridge Hospital Medical Center consists of a 411-bed hospital and serves 2 million residents of the Valley. The hospital is one of only two facilities in the Valley certified as a trauma center for treating life-threatening injuries.

Parks, recreation and sports

The Northridge Recreation Center, located at 18300 Lemarsh St., has an indoor gymnasium, without weights, which may also be used as an auditorium. Its capacity is 400. The park also has barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts.Northridge Recreation Center
. City of Los Angeles. Retrieved on March 23, 2010. The Northridge Pool, on the recreation center grounds, is an outdoor heated seasonal pool. Dearborn Park, located at 17141 Nordhoff Street, is an unstaffed, unlocked park has lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, picnic tables, and lighted tennis courts. Vanalden Park, located at 8956 Vanalden Ave., is an unstaffed pocket park, has a horseshoe pit, a jogging path, and picnic tables.

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

Station 70 (Northridge) and Station 103 (Northridge/CSUN) serve the community. City of Los Angeles neighborhood councils that cover Northridge: * Northridge East Neighborhood Council * Northridge West Neighborhood Council * Northridge South Neighborhood Council 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 ...

operates two police stations that serve Northridge: * Devonshire Community Police Station serves residents north of Roscoe Boulevard. * West Valley Community Police Station serves residents south of Roscoe Boulevard.

County, state, and federal 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 Pacoima Health Center in Pacoima, serving Northridge. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

Northridge Post Office is located at 9534 Reseda Boulevard. * Northridge is represented in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

by California's Senators

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

and

Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla (born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2021. A member of the Democrati ...

. * 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 ...

, Northridge is located within California's 32nd congressional district represented by Democrat Brad Sherman. * In the State Assembly, Northridge is located within

California's 45th State Assembly district California's 45th State Assembly district is one of 80 California California State Assembly, State Assembly districts. It is currently represented by California Democratic Party, Democrat James Ramos of Highland, California, Highland. Distri ...

represented by Democrat Jesse Gabriel. * In the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

, Northridge is split between California's 18th State Senate district represented by Democrat Robert Hertzberg, and California's 27th State Senate district represented by Democrat Henry Stern. * Northridge is located within the City of Los Angeles' 12th City Council District represented by Councilmember John Lee.

Notable people

* Brooke Abel, Olympic synchronized swimmer * Ariane Andrew, professional wrestler * Aleks Berkolds, soccer player * Hal Bernson, Los Angeles City Council member, 1979–2003Los Angeles Public Library reference file
/ref> * Bob Brunner, producer and screenwriter * Champ Butler, singer * Matt Cassel, professional football * Jarron Collins, professional basketball * Jason Collins, professional basketball * Jim Davis, actor * Bobbi Fiedler, Congress member * Linda Fratianne, figure skater at the 1980 Winter Olympics * Brian Grazer, film and television producer * Cole Guttman, ice hockey player * Jackie Earle Haley, actor * Mike Houghton, professional football *

Travis Kalanick Travis Cordell Kalanick (; born August 6, 1976) is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Uber. Previously he worked for Scour, a peer-to-peer file sharing application company, and was th ...

, Co-founder of

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

* Ryan Kalish, professional baseball * Antonia Lofaso, celebrity chef * Casey Matthews, professional football * Kyle, entertainer * Clay Matthews, professional football player * John H. Meier, business adviser to Howard Hughes * Lynn Carey Saylor, singer, guitarist and composer * Niecy Nash, actress, comedian * Bob Skube, professional baseball * Malcolm Smith, professional football * Chad Steelberg, Entrepreneur * Eric Steelberg, cinematographer * Brian Vranesh, professional golfer * Duffy Waldorf, professional golfer * Jeff Weaver, Major League Baseball * Jered Weaver, Major League Baseball * Danny Worth, professional baseball

References

External links

North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce

Northridge East Neighborhood Council

Northridge West Neighborhood Council

Northridge South Neighborhood Council
*
Comments about living in Northridge

Northridge crime map and statistics
{{Authority control Communities in the San Fernando Valley Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Populated places established in 1910