114-931: The San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra based out of the San Fernando Valley in California . The orchestra has been in existence for over 30 years and conducted by Maestro James Domine. The orchestra performs in venues across the Los Angeles area including the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and the Performing Arts Center at Los Angeles Pierce College . Past soloists include Ruth Bruegger , Nancy Roth , Daniel Grab , Jennifer Bliman, and Ernest W. Carbajal . San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley , known locally as
228-605: A gross metropolitan product of over $ 1.0 trillion, making it the city with the third-largest GDP in the world, after New York and Tokyo . Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984 , and will also host in 2028 . Despite a business exodus from Downtown Los Angeles since the COVID-19 pandemic , the city's urban core is evolving as a cultural center with the world's largest showcase of architecture designed by Frank Gehry . On September 4, 1781,
342-673: A metropolitan area of 12.8 million people (2023). Greater Los Angeles , which includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.3 million residents. The majority of the city proper lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending partly through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into
456-727: A bill that would make it easier for the Valley to secede by removing the City Council veto. AB 62 was signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson . Meanwhile, a grassroots movement to split the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and create new San Fernando Valley-based school districts became the focal point of the desire to leave the city. Though the state rejected the idea of Valley-based districts, it remained an important rallying point for Hertzberg's mayoral campaign, which proved unsuccessful. By
570-553: A dedicated transitway route running the east–west length of the Valley connecting the North Hollywood B Line Station through the valley, then heads north through Canoga Park to the Chatsworth Metrolink station. An additional Metro Busway line is planned for the Valley operating from North Hollywood station: the North Hollywood to Pasadena Transit Corridor which will run to Pasadena with connections to
684-478: A diverse economy with a broad range of industries. Despite a steep exodus of film and television production since the COVID-19 pandemic , Los Angeles is still one of the largest hubs of American film production , the world's largest by revenue; the city is an important site in the history of film . It also has one of the busiest container ports in the Americas. In 2018, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had
798-656: A few enclaves, such as the "open-air museum" groves at the Orcutt Ranch Park and CSUN campus . In 1909, the Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led by H. J. Whitley , general manager of the board of control, along with Harry Chandler , Harrison Gray Otis , M. H. Sherman, and Otto F. Brant purchased 48,000 acres of the Farming and Milling Company for $ 2,500,000. Henry E. Huntington extended his Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through
912-768: A full-scale light rail conversion is planned to be completed by 2050. The valley will get its first light rail line in seven decades by 2027, the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project . Construction of the line is planned to begin in 2024 along Van Nuys Boulevard and San Fernando Road. The Valley is home to numerous companies, the most well known of which work in motion pictures, music recording, and television production. The former movie ranches were branches of original studios now consisting of CBS Studio Center, NBCUniversal , The Walt Disney Company (and its ABC television network), and Warner Bros. The valley
1026-614: A group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels';. The original name of the settlement is disputed; the Guinness Book of World Records rendered it as "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula "; other sources have shortened or alternate versions of
1140-546: A new light rail line, the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project that will run north–south on Van Nuys Boulevard from the G Line Van Nuys station to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station, however will be built in two phases. The first between Van Nuys and Pacoima , and the second from Pacoima to Sylmar/San Fernando station. Pre construction began in 2022, and is expected to be completed between 2028 and 2030. The G Line busway uses
1254-425: A profit; the other, according to an analysis of contemporary newspaper reports, was the 1932 Summer Olympics , also held in Los Angeles. Racial tensions erupted on April 29, 1992, with the acquittal by a Simi Valley jury of four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers captured on videotape beating Rodney King , culminating in large-scale riots . In 1994, the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake shook
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#17327869522371368-622: A series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847. The Mexican Cession was formalized in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ceded Los Angeles and the rest of Alta California to the United States. Railroads arrived with the completion of the transcontinental Southern Pacific line from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1876 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1885. Petroleum
1482-507: A single type, where industrial uses were prohibited. The proscriptions included barns, lumber yards, and any industrial land use employing machine-powered equipment. These laws were enforced against industrial properties after the fact. These prohibitions were in addition to existing activities that were already regulated as nuisances. These included explosives warehousing, gas works, oil drilling, slaughterhouses, and tanneries . Los Angeles City Council also designated seven industrial zones within
1596-607: A trend in California to give places Spanish, or Spanish-sounding, names and pronunciations. In 1908, librarian Charles Fletcher Lummis , who argued for the name's pronunciation with a hard g ( / ɡ / ), reported that there were at least 12 pronunciation variants. In the early 1900s, the Los Angeles Times advocated for pronouncing it Loce AHNG-hayl-ais ( / l oʊ s ˈ ɑː ŋ h eɪ l eɪ s / ), approximating Spanish [los ˈaŋxeles] , by printing
1710-438: Is Mount San Antonio , locally known as Mount Baldy, which reaches 10,064 feet (3,068 m). Further afield, the highest point in southern California is San Gorgonio Mountain , 81 miles (130 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, with a height of 11,503 feet (3,506 m). The Los Angeles River , which is largely seasonal, is the primary drainage channel . It was straightened and lined in 51 miles (82 km) of concrete by
1824-651: Is a common problem in this population. Although Serieys et al. 2014 find selection of immune genetics at several loci they do not demonstrate that this produces a real difference which helps the bobcats to survive future mange outbreaks . Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire . The geologic instability has produced numerous faults , which cause approximately 10,000 earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most of them are too small to be felt. The strike-slip San Andreas Fault system, which sits at
1938-766: Is an area of 260 square miles (670 km ), bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains in the northeast, the Verdugo Mountains in the east, the Santa Monica Mountains and Chalk Hills in the south, the Simi Hills in the west, and the Santa Susana Mountains in the northwest. The northern Sierra Pelona Mountains , northwestern Topatopa Mountains , southern Santa Ana Mountains , and Downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers can be seen from higher neighborhoods, passes, roads and parks in
2052-452: Is complicated by rugged terrain, which has necessitated having different grids for each of the valleys that Los Angeles covers. Major streets are designed to move large volumes of traffic through many parts of the city, many of which are extremely long; Sepulveda Boulevard is 43 miles (69 km) long, while Foothill Boulevard is over 60 miles (97 km) long, reaching as far east as San Bernardino. Drivers in Los Angeles suffer from one of
2166-437: Is divided into many different districts and neighborhoods, some of which had been separately incorporated cities that eventually merged with Los Angeles. These neighborhoods were developed piecemeal, and are well-defined enough that the city has signage which marks nearly all of them. The city's street patterns generally follow a grid plan , with uniform block lengths and occasional roads that cut across blocks. However, this
2280-502: Is expected to continue to drop in the coming years because of aggressive steps to reduce it, which include electric and hybrid cars, improvements in mass transit , and other measures. The number of Stage 1 smog alerts in Los Angeles has declined from over 100 per year in the 1970s to almost zero in the new millennium. Despite improvement, the 2006 and 2007 annual reports of the American Lung Association ranked
2394-544: Is in the southeastern corner of the valley, and San Fernando , which is completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, is near the northern end of the valley. Universal City , an enclave in the southern part of the valley, is an unincorporated area housing the Universal Studios filming lot and theme park. Mulholland Drive , which runs along the ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains, marks
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#17327869522372508-580: Is represented by three members of the State Senate : Henry Stern (D), and Anthony Portantino (D). The valley falls into five congressional districts: the 25th , 28th , 29th , 30th , and 33rd , represented respectively by Mike Garcia (R), Adam Schiff (D), Tony Cárdenas (D), Brad Sherman (D), and Ted Lieu (D). The valley is represented in the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors , by two supervisorial districts, with
2622-430: Is rich in native plant species partly because of its diversity of habitats, including beaches, wetlands , and mountains. The most prevalent plant communities are coastal sage scrub , chaparral shrubland, and riparian woodland . Native plants include: the California poppy , matilija poppy , toyon , Ceanothus , Chamise , Coast Live Oak , sycamore , willow and Giant Wildrye . Many of these native species, such as
2736-411: Is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California . With an estimated 3,820,914 residents within the city limits as of 2023 , it is the second-most populous city in the United States, behind only New York City ; it is also the commercial, financial and cultural center of Southern California . Los Angeles has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of
2850-463: Is the first heavy rail subway in the valley, extended from its prior terminus in 2000. With transfers, it connects the Valley to the entire Metro regional light rail and subway network . The B Line's two Valley subway stations provide access to national travel through Bob Hope Airport and Amtrak and regional travel through Metrolink , Metro Rapid , Metro Local , and the Metro G Line . Metro approved
2964-413: The 1916 New York City Zoning Ordinance did. Second, the residential zones did not distinguish types of housing; they treated apartments, hotels, and detached-single-family housing equally. In 1910, Hollywood merged into Los Angeles, with 10 movie companies already operating in the city at the time. By 1921, more than 80 percent of the world's film industry was concentrated in L.A. The money generated by
3078-721: The A Line . Metro is also studying a route through the Sepulveda Pass , the Sepulveda Transit Corridor , including heavy rail and monorail alternatives. Metrolink commuter rail has two Valley lines, the Antelope Valley Line and Ventura County Line , which connect the Valley and beyond to downtown Los Angeles and south, becoming one line at the Downtown Burbank station . Metrolink always had one Burbank Airport station on
3192-730: The Army Corps of Engineers to act as a flood control channel. The river begins in the Canoga Park district of the city, flows east from the San Fernando Valley along the north edge of the Santa Monica Mountains, and turns south through the city center, flowing to its mouth in the Port of Long Beach at the Pacific Ocean. The smaller Ballona Creek flows into the Santa Monica Bay at Playa del Rey . Los Angeles
3306-507: The Camino Viejo before Newhall Pass ), in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley. Juan Francisco Reyes built an adobe dwelling beside a Tongva village or rancheria at natural springs known as Achooykomenga , but the land was soon taken from him so that a mission could be built there. Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797 as the 17th of the 21 missions. The land trade granted Juan Francisco Reyes
3420-547: The Hillside Stranglers murder cases in 1977–1978. In early 1984, the city surpassed Chicago in population, thus becoming the second largest city in the United States. In 1984, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time . Despite being boycotted by 14 Communist countries , the 1984 Olympics became more financially successful than any previous, and the second Olympics to turn
3534-564: The Los Angeles Community College District . The only state university in the San Fernando Valley is California State University Northridge in Northridge. In 1994 there were 180,000 PK-12 students attending Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) campuses in the Valley. During the same year, about 45,000 PK-12 students, or one in five of all such students, attended the over 200 private schools in
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3648-669: The Los Angeles basin . More recently, statewide droughts in California have further strained the San Fernando Valley’s and Los Angeles County’s water security . The valley was a center of "the crossroads of cultures and languages, including the Tongva , Fernandeño , and Chumash ." The Tongva, later known as the Gabrieleño Mission Indians after colonization, the Tataviam to the north, and Chumash to
3762-487: The Los Angeles sunflower , have become so rare as to be considered endangered. Mexican Fan Palms , Canary Island Palms , Queen Palms , Date Palms , and California Fan Palms are common in the Los Angeles area, although only the last is native to California, though still not native to the City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles has a number of official flora: The city has an urban population of bobcats ( Lynx rufus ). Mange
3876-619: The Moment magnitude scale . It produced the largest ground motions ever recorded in an urban environment and was the first earthquake that had its hypocenter located directly under a U.S. city since the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 . It caused the greatest damage in the United States since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . Although given the name Northridge, the epicenter was located in the community of Reseda , between Arminta and Ingomar streets, just west of Reseda Boulevard. The death toll
3990-497: The San Fernando Valley , with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to its east. It covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km ), and is the county seat of Los Angeles County , which is the most populous county in the United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022 . It is the third-most visited city in the U.S. with over 2.7 million visitors as of 2023. The area that became Los Angeles
4104-725: The Valley , is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California . Situated northwards of the Los Angeles Basin , it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles , the incorporated cities of Burbank , Calabasas , Glendale , Hidden Hills and San Fernando , plus several unincorporated areas. The valley is the home of Warner Bros. Studios , Walt Disney Studios , and the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. The valley of San Fernando
4218-521: The Van Nuys Airport . The Van Nuys–Airport FlyAway Terminal provides nonstop scheduled shuttle service to LAX and back to the valley, with parking. Most of the utilities in the valley are served by public municipal governments, primarily the cities of Los Angeles , and Burbank , while there are only two private-owned utilities for gas and electricity in the valley as well. Southern California Edison has their overhead power lines going through
4332-505: The respelling under its masthead for several years. This did not find favor. Since the 1930s, / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / has been most common. In 1934, the United States Board on Geographic Names decreed that this pronunciation be used by the federal government. This was also endorsed in 1952 by a "jury" appointed by Mayor Fletcher Bowron to devise an official pronunciation. Common pronunciations in
4446-507: The 20th century, Los Angeles substantially reduced the amount of housing that could be built by drastically downzoning the city. In 1960, the city had a total zoned capacity for approximately 10 million people. By 1990, that capacity had fallen to 4.5 million as a result of policy decisions to ban housing through zoning. Racial tensions led to the Watts riots in 1965, resulting in 34 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. In 1969, California became
4560-458: The Angels'. The present-day city has the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States. Two-thirds of the Mexican or ( New Spain ) settlers were mestizo or mulatto , a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820, the population had increased to about 650 residents. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in
4674-648: The HBO series Pornucopia , at one time, nearly 90 percent of all legally distributed pornographic films made in the United States were either filmed in or produced by studios based in the San Fernando Valley. The pornography industry began to decline by the mid-2000s, owing, for the most part, to the growing amount of free content on the Internet, which undercut consumers' willingness to pay. In 2007 industry insiders estimated that revenue for most adult production and distribution companies had declined 30 percent to 50 percent and
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4788-629: The Los Angeles area include the 1933 Long Beach , 1971 San Fernando , 1987 Whittier Narrows , and the 1994 Northridge events. All but a few are of low intensity and are not felt. The USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast , which models earthquake occurrence in California. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to tsunamis ; harbor areas were damaged by waves from Aleutian Islands earthquake in 1946, Valdivia earthquake in 1960, Alaska earthquake in 1964, Chile earthquake in 2010 and Japan earthquake in 2011. The city
4902-502: The Los Angeles area was the headquarters of six of the country's major aircraft manufacturers ( Douglas Aircraft Company , Hughes Aircraft , Lockheed , North American Aviation , Northrop Corporation , and Vultee ). During the war, more aircraft were produced in one year than in all the pre-war years since the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903, combined. Manufacturing in Los Angeles skyrocketed, and as William S. Knudsen , of
5016-563: The Los Angeles portion of San Fernando Valley from the original 169 square miles (438 km ) to 224 square miles (580 km ). In the late 1970s, there was a proposed east-west freeway labeled SR 64 that would have cut through the center of the valley from Calabasas in the western end of the valley to the SR-170 and I-5 freeway interchange in Sun Valley, Los Angeles in the eastern end of the valley, but local opposition gained traction and
5130-548: The Los Angeles region. In 1846, during the wider Mexican-American war , marines from the United States occupied the pueblo. This resulted in the siege of Los Angeles where 150 Mexican militias fought the occupiers which eventually surrendered. Mexican rule ended during following the American Conquest of California , part of the larger Mexican-American War . Americans took control from the Californios after
5244-685: The Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, Los Angeles suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley are susceptible to atmospheric inversion , which holds in the exhausts from road vehicles, airplanes, locomotives, shipping, manufacturing, and other sources. The smog season lasts from approximately May to October. While other large cities rely on rain to clear smog, Los Angeles gets only 15 inches (380 mm) of rain each year: pollution accumulates over many consecutive days. Issues of air quality in Los Angeles and other major cities led to
5358-523: The National Defense Advisory Commission put it, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." After the end of World War II Los Angeles grew more rapidly than ever, sprawling into the San Fernando Valley . The expansion of the state owned Interstate Highway System during the 1950s and 1960s helped propel suburban growth and signaled
5472-807: The San Fernando Valley are served by three unified school districts; The Northwest and East Regions of the Los Angeles Unified School District , the Glendale Unified School District and the Burbank Unified School District . There are four community colleges in the valley; Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, and Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills. All except Glendale College are served by
5586-600: The San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles River begins at the confluence of Calabasas Creek ( Arroyo Calabasas ) and Bell Creek ( Escorpión Creek ), between Canoga Park High School and Owensmouth Avenue (just north of Vanowen Street) in Canoga Park . These creeks' headwaters are in the Santa Monica Calabasas foothills, the Simi Hills' Hidden Hills , Santa Susana Field Laboratory , and Santa Susana Pass Park lands. The river flows eastward along
5700-624: The San Fernando Valley. Other hilly parts of Los Angeles include the Mt. Washington area north of Downtown, eastern parts such as Boyle Heights , the Crenshaw district around the Baldwin Hills , and the San Pedro district. Surrounding the city are much higher mountains. Immediately to the north lie the San Gabriel Mountains , which is a popular recreation area for Angelenos. Its high point
5814-552: The San Fernando Valley. Some of the former rights-of-way of the Pacific Electric Railway , which first accelerated population growth in the Valley, have been repurposed for busways and light rail lines. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates two Metro B Line subway stations in the Valley, which are located at Universal City and North Hollywood, which connect it directly to Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles . The Metro B Line
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#17327869522375928-527: The Southern Californian coast, is subject to a late spring/early summer weather phenomenon called " June Gloom ". This involves overcast or foggy skies in the morning that yield to sun by early afternoon. More recently, statewide droughts in California have further strained the city's water security . Downtown Los Angeles averages 14.67 in (373 mm) of precipitation annually, mainly occurring between November and March, generally in
6042-765: The Spanish founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles . Iyáangẚ has also been translated as "the valley of smoke". Maritime explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area of southern California for the Spanish Empire in 1542, while on an official military exploring expedition, as he was moving northward along the Pacific coast from earlier colonizing bases of New Spain in Central and South America. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí reached
6156-483: The United Kingdom include / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z , - l ɪ z , - l ɪ s / loss AN -jil-eez, -iz, -iss . Phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis described the most common one, / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z / , as a spelling pronunciation based on analogy to Greek words ending in -es , "reflecting a time when the classics were familiar if Spanish
6270-458: The Valley to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park). The Suburban Home Company laid out plans for roads and the towns of Van Nuys, Reseda (Marian), and Canoga Park (Owensmouth). The rural areas were annexed into the city of Los Angeles in 1915. Laurel Canyon and Lankershim in 1923, Sunland in 1926, La Tuna Canyon in 1926, and the incorporated city of Tujunga in an eight-year process lasting from 1927 to 1935. These annexations more than doubled
6384-416: The Valley. The Los Angeles city section of the valley is divided into seven city council districts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 12. Of the 95 neighborhood councils in the city, 34 are in the valley. The valley is represented in the California State Legislature by five members of the State Assembly : Jesse Gabriel (D), Luz Rivas (D), James Ramos (D), Pilar Schiavo (D), and Laura Friedman (D). The valley
6498-475: The Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, was located at the Budweiser brewery. It was torn down in the late 1970s. The San Fernando Valley is home to numerous neighborhood city parks, recreation areas and large Regional Open Space preserves . Many preserves are maintained as public parkland by the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area , the California State Parks , and local county and municipal parks districts. Public schools in
6612-410: The Ventura County Line, but a second Burbank Airport station was built in 2017 on the Antelope Valley Line. Amtrak 's Pacific Surfliner long-distance rail line has stops at Burbank Airport station , Van Nuys, and Chatsworth Station , before proceeding on to Ventura County , Santa Barbara , and Northern California or Union Station and San Diego . The California High-Speed Rail Authority
6726-541: The area of the city. Two valley cities incorporated independently from Los Angeles: Burbank and San Fernando in 1911. Universal City remains an unincorporated enclave that is home to Universal Studios and became home to Universal CityWalk later in the century. Other unincorporated areas in the valley include Bell Canyon and Kagel Canyon . The advent of three new industries in the early 20th century—motion pictures, automobiles, and aircraft—also spurred urbanization and population growth. World War II production and
6840-438: The birthplace of the Internet, as the first ARPANET transmission was sent from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park . In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected as the city's first African American mayor, serving for five terms until retiring in 1993. Other events in the city during the 1970s included the Symbionese Liberation Army 's South Central standoff in 1974 and
6954-499: The boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate , passes through the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The segment of the fault passing through Southern California experiences a major earthquake roughly every 110 to 140 years, and seismologists have warned about the next "big one", as the last major earthquake was the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake . The Los Angeles basin and metropolitan area are also at risk from blind thrust earthquakes . Major earthquakes that have hit
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#17327869522377068-586: The boundary between the valley and the communities of Hollywood and the Los Angeles Westside . The San Fernando Valley has connection to other regions: The Santa Clarita Valley via Newhall Pass , the Westside via Sepulveda Pass , Hollywood via Cahuenga Pass , Simi Valley via Santa Susana Pass , and the Crescenta Valley via Interstate 210 . The valley's natural habitat is a " temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome " of grassland , oak savanna , and chaparral shrub types of plant community habitats , along with lush riparian plants along
7182-428: The boundary of a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb on the coast, Csa otherwise). Daytime temperatures are generally temperate all year round. In winter, they average around 68 °F (20 °C). Autumn months tend to be hot, with major heat waves a common occurrence in September and October, while the spring months tend to be cooler and experience more precipitation. Los Angeles has plenty of sunshine throughout
7296-404: The city as the most polluted in the country with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution. In 2008, the city was ranked the second most polluted and again had the highest year-round particulate pollution. The city met its goal of providing 20 percent of the city's power from renewable sources in 2010. The American Lung Association's 2013 survey ranks the metro area as having
7410-403: The city is 342 miles (550 km). Los Angeles is both flat and hilly. The highest point in the city proper is Mount Lukens at 5,074 ft (1,547 m), located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at the north extent of the Crescenta Valley . The eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains stretches from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean and separates the Los Angeles Basin from
7524-490: The city of Burbank and through the Los Angeles city neighborhoods of Sylmar, Mission Hills, Arleta, North Hollywood, Studio City, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, Porter Ranch, and Chatsworth as well. Internet, cable television, and cellular phone service in the valley are by large private companies. The valley is served by the following utility companies: Electricity Natural gas Water City of Los Angeles Los Angeles , often referred to by its initials L.A. ,
7638-450: The city, causing $ 12.5 billion in damage and 72 deaths. The century ended with the Rampart scandal , one of the most extensive documented cases of police misconduct in American history. In 2002, Mayor James Hahn led the campaign against secession, resulting in voters defeating efforts by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to secede from the city. In 2022 , Karen Bass became the city's first female mayor , making Los Angeles
7752-420: The city. However, between 1908 and 1915, the Los Angeles City Council created various exceptions to the broad proscriptions that applied to these three residential zones, and as a consequence, some industrial uses emerged within them. There are two differences between the 1908 Residence District Ordinance and later zoning laws in the United States. First, the 1908 laws did not establish a comprehensive zoning map as
7866-522: The continued growth of the city. Because of clauses in the city's charter that prevented the City of Los Angeles from selling or providing water from the aqueduct to any area outside its borders, many adjacent cities and communities felt compelled to join Los Angeles. Los Angeles created the first municipal zoning ordinance in the United States. On September 14, 1908, the Los Angeles City Council promulgated residential and industrial land use zones. The new ordinance established three residential zones of
7980-414: The demise of the city's privately owned electrified rail system , once the world's largest. As a consequence of World War II, suburban growth, and population density, many amusement parks were built and operated in this area. An example is Beverly Park , which was located at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega before being closed and substituted by the Beverly Center . In the second half of
8094-402: The difference between the average daily low and the average daily high is over 30 °F (17 °C). The average annual temperature of the sea is 63 °F (17 °C), from 58 °F (14 °C) in January to 68 °F (20 °C) in August. Hours of sunshine total more than 3,000 per year, from an average of 7 hours of sunshine per day in December to an average of 12 in July. Due to
8208-473: The epicenter of the 1994 event. The 1971 earthquake caused 58 fatalities and about 2,000 injuries. At the time, the 1971 San Fernando earthquake was the most destructive event to affect greater Los Angeles since the magnitude-6.3 Long Beach earthquake of 1933. The Valley attempted to secede in the 1970s, but the state passed a law barring city formation without the approval of the City Council. In 1997, Assemblymen Bob Hertzberg and Tom McClintock helped pass
8322-407: The form of moderate rain showers, but sometimes as heavy rainfall during winter storms. Rainfall is usually higher in the hills and coastal slopes of the mountains because of orographic uplift. Summer days are usually rainless. Rarely, an incursion of moist air from the south or east can bring brief thunderstorms in late summer, especially to the mountains. The coast gets slightly less rainfall, while
8436-482: The historic district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street , the oldest part of Los Angeles. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo now existed within the new Mexican Republic . During Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles the regional capital of Alta California . By this time, the new republic introduced more secularization acts within
8550-501: The industry kept the city insulated from much of the economic loss suffered by the rest of the country during the Great Depression . By 1930, the population surpassed one million. In 1932, the city hosted the Summer Olympics . During World War II Los Angeles was a major center of wartime manufacturing, such as shipbuilding and aircraft. Calship built hundreds of Liberty Ships and Victory Ships on Terminal Island, and
8664-521: The inland and mountain areas get considerably more. Years of average rainfall are rare. The usual pattern is a year-to-year variability, with a short string of dry years of 5–10 in (130–250 mm) rainfall, followed by one or two wet years with more than 20 in (510 mm). Wet years are usually associated with warm water El Niño conditions in the Pacific, dry years with cooler water La Niña episodes. A series of rainy days can bring floods to
8778-575: The largest U.S. city to have ever had a woman as mayor. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games , making Los Angeles the third city to host the Olympics three times. The city of Los Angeles covers a total area of 502.7 square miles (1,302 km ), comprising 468.7 square miles (1,214 km ) of land and 34.0 square miles (88 km ) of water. The city extends for 44 miles (71 km) from north to south and for 29 miles (47 km) from east to west. The perimeter of
8892-441: The late 1990s, the San Fernando Valley had become more urban and more ethnically diverse with rising poverty and crime. In 2002, the valley tried to secede from the city of Los Angeles and become its own incorporated city to escape Los Angeles' perceived poverty, crime, gang activity, urban decay , and poorly maintained infrastructure. In 2002, the San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles again seriously campaigned to secede from
9006-514: The longer name. The local English pronunciation of the name of the city has varied over time. A 1953 article in the journal of the American Name Society asserts that the pronunciation / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / lawss AN -jəl-əs was established following the 1850 incorporation of the city and that since the 1880s the pronunciation / l oʊ s ˈ æ ŋ ɡ əl ə s / lohss ANG -gəl-əs emerged from
9120-490: The lowest is 28 °F (−2 °C), on January 4, 1949. Within the City of Los Angeles, the highest temperature ever officially recorded is 121 °F (49 °C), on September 6, 2020, at the weather station at Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills . During autumn and winter, Santa Ana winds sometimes bring much warmer and drier conditions to Los Angeles, and raise wildfire risk. Owing to geography, heavy reliance on automobiles, and
9234-505: The lowlands and mudslides to the hills, especially after wildfires have denuded the slopes. Both freezing temperatures and snowfall are extremely rare in the city basin and along the coast, with the last occurrence of a 32 °F (0 °C) reading at the downtown station being January 29, 1979; freezing temperatures occur nearly every year in valley locations while the mountains within city limits typically receive snowfall every winter. The greatest snowfall recorded in downtown Los Angeles
9348-547: The monikers Porn Valley, Silicone Valley (in contrast to Silicon Valley , nickname for the Santa Clara Valley), and San Pornando Valley. The leading trade paper for the industry, AVN magazine, is based in the Northwest Valley, as were a majority of U.S. adult video and magazine distributors. The Paul Thomas Anderson film, Boogie Nights explores these aspects of the valley. According to
9462-546: The mountainous terrain of the surrounding region, the Los Angeles area contains a large number of distinct microclimates , causing extreme variations in temperature in close physical proximity to each other. For example, the average July maximum temperature at the Santa Monica Pier is 70 °F (21 °C) whereas it is 95 °F (35 °C) in Canoga Park, 15 miles (24 km) away. The city, like much of
9576-442: The municipal water system. These rural areas became part of Los Angeles in 1915. The aqueduct water shifted farming in the area from dry crops, such as wheat, to irrigated crops, such as corn, beans, squash, and cotton; orchards of apricots , persimmons , and walnuts ; and major citrus groves of oranges and lemons. They continued until the next increment of development converted land use, with postwar suburbanization leaving only
9690-692: The name chosen as a reference for its location in North Hollywood and as a play off New York City's arts-centered SoHo District. According to the San Fernando Guide , the change helped develop a "primarily lower to middle-class suburb into … a collection of art and a home for the artists who ply their trade in the galleries, theaters and dance studios in this small annex." According to the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, from 2002 through November 2007 there
9804-593: The number of new films made had fallen sharply. A 2019 article stated that "the porn industry in Budapest is as big as what remains of the industry in California". The San Fernando Valley has a convention center located in the city of Burbank, east of the Burbank Airport, at the Marriott Hotel. Universal Studios Hollywood is in unincorporated Universal City. Busch Gardens , an amusement park in
9918-514: The passage of early national environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act . When the act was passed, California was unable to create a State Implementation Plan that would enable it to meet the new air quality standards, largely because of the level of pollution in Los Angeles generated by older vehicles. More recently, the state of California has led the nation in working to limit pollution by mandating low-emission vehicles . Smog
10032-486: The present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769. In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , the first mission in the area. On September 4, 1781, a group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of
10146-456: The proposed freeway was never approved or built. In the 1980s, a distinctive valley youth culture was recognized in the media, particularly in the 1982 Frank Zappa / Moon Zappa song "Valley Girl" and the 1983 film Valley Girl . These helped fix the socio-economic stereotype of the " Valley girl " into the public consciousness, including a distinct Valley accent. The 1994 Northridge earthquake struck on January 17 and measured 6.7 on
10260-536: The rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and became part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood . The discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The city was further expanded with the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which delivers water from Eastern California . Los Angeles has
10374-531: The rest of the city and become its own new independent and incorporated city. The movement gained some momentum, but measure F did not receive the necessary votes to pass. Since that unsuccessful secession attempt, a new Van Nuys municipal building was built in 2003; the Metro Orange Line opened in October 2005; and 35 new public schools had opened up by 2012. The NoHo Arts District was established and
10488-563: The rest of the surrounding landscape. Most construction is done in separate units, rather than wall-to-wall . However, Downtown Los Angeles itself has many buildings over 30 stories, with fourteen over 50 stories, and two over 70 stories, the tallest of which is the Wilshire Grand Center . Los Angeles has a two-season semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) with dry summers and very mild winters, but it receives more annual precipitation than most semi-arid climates, narrowly missing
10602-462: The river include Dayton Creek, Caballero Creek, Bull Creek , Pacoima Wash , and Verdugo Wash . The elevation of the floor of the valley varies from about 600 ft (180 m) to 1,200 ft (370 m) above sea level . Most of the San Fernando Valley is within the jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles , although a few other incorporated cities are located within the valley as well: Burbank
10716-501: The river, creeks, and springs. In this Mediterranean climate , post-1790s European agriculture for the mission's support consisted of grapes , figs , olives , and general garden crops. The San Fernando Valley has a subtropical / hot-summer Mediterranean climate, with long, hot, dry summers, and short, warm winters, with chilly nights and sporadic rainfall. Due to its relatively inland location and other factors, summer days are typically hotter and winter nights typically colder than in
10830-612: The similarly named Rancho Los Encinos , also beside springs ( Los Encinos State Historic Park in present-day Encino ). Later the Mexican land grants of Rancho El Escorpión ( West Hills ), Rancho Providencia and Rancho Cahuenga ( Burbank ), and Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando (rest of valley) covered the San Fernando Valley. The Treaty of Cahuenga , ending the Mexican–American War fighting in Alta California ,
10944-934: The southern regions of the Valley. One of the river's two unpaved sections can be found at the Sepulveda Basin . A seasonal river, the Tujunga Wash , drains much of the western facing San Gabriel Mountains and passes into and then through the Hansen Dam Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace. It flows south along the Verdugo Mountains through the eastern communities of the valley to join the Los Angeles River in Studio City . Other notable tributaries of
11058-509: The subsequent postwar boom accelerated this growth so that between 1945 and 1960, the valley's population had quintupled. Los Angeles continued to consolidate its territories in the San Fernando Valley by annexing the former Rancho El Escorpión for Canoga Park- West Hills in 1959, and the huge historic Porter Ranch at the foot of the Santa Susana Mountains for the new planned developments in Porter Ranch in 1965. The additions expanded
11172-460: The traffic system in the days following the earthquake. Major freeway damage occurred as far away as 25 miles (40 km) from the epicenter. Collapses and other severe damage forced closure of portions of 11 major roads to downtown Los Angeles. This was the second time in 23 years that the San Fernando Valley had been affected by a strong earthquake. On February 9, 1971, at 6:01 am a magnitude-6.5 event struck about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of
11286-534: The valley, mainly in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of North Hollywood, Panorama City, and Woodland Hills. These projects started with the first few in Woodland Hills and the NoHo West project in North Hollywood began groundbreaking and construction on April 6, 2017. LA Metro is planning to upgrade the Metro G Line by 2024 with at-grade crossing gates and two bridges crossing both Sepulveda and Van Nuys Boulevards, and
11400-414: The valley, without it being within the city limits. San Fernando Valley farmers offered to buy the surplus aqueduct water, but the federal legislation that enabled the construction of the aqueduct prohibited Los Angeles from selling the water outside of the city limits. This induced several independent towns surrounding Los Angeles to vote on and approve annexation to the city so that they could connect to
11514-485: The west, had lived and thrived in the valley and its arroyos for over 8,000 years. They had numerous settlements , and trading and hunting camps, before the Spanish arrived in 1769 to settle in the Valley, including the village of Pasheeknga . The first Spanish land grant in the San Fernando Valley (or El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos ) was called "Rancho Encino" (present-day Mission Hills on
11628-958: The western portion represented by Sheila Kuehl (D) and the eastern portion by Kathryn Barger (R). Residents are also represented by the neighborhood councils of Los Angeles These communities are also included in the Crescenta Valley . Major freeways cross the Valley, including Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway), U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway/Hollywood Freeway), State Route 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway), State Route 170 (Hollywood Freeway), Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway), and Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway). Notable streets include Sepulveda Boulevard , Ventura Boulevard , Laurel Canyon Boulevard , San Fernando Road , Victory Boulevard , Reseda Boulevard , Riverside Drive , Mulholland Drive , and State Route 27 (Topanga Canyon Boulevard). Subway , dedicated transitway , and express and local buses, provided by many agencies, serve
11742-635: The worst rush hour periods in the world, according to an annual traffic index by navigation system maker, TomTom . LA drivers spend an additional 92 hours in traffic each year. During the peak rush hour, there is 80% congestion, according to the index. Los Angeles is often characterized by the presence of low-rise buildings, in contrast to New York City. Outside of a few centers such as Downtown , Warner Center , Century City , Koreatown , Miracle Mile , Hollywood, and Westwood , skyscrapers and high-rise buildings are not common in Los Angeles. The few skyscrapers built outside of those areas often stand out above
11856-690: The year, with an average of only 35 days with measurable precipitation annually. Temperatures in the coastal basin exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on a dozen or so days in the year, from one day a month in April, May, June and November to three days a month in July, August, October and to five days in September. Temperatures in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys are considerably warmer. Temperatures are subject to substantial daily swings; in inland areas
11970-502: Was 2.0 inches (5 cm) on January 15, 1932. While the most recent snowfall occurred in February 2019, the first snowfall since 1962, with snow falling in areas adjacent to Los Angeles as recently as January 2021. Brief, localized instances of hail can occur on rare occasions, but are more common than snowfall. At the official downtown station, the highest recorded temperature is 113 °F (45 °C) on September 27, 2010, while
12084-543: Was 57, and more than 1,500 people were seriously injured. A few days after the earthquake, 9,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity; 20,000 were without gas; and more than 48,500 had little or no water. About 12,500 structures were moderately to severely damaged, which left thousands of people temporarily homeless. Of the 66,546 buildings inspected, 6 percent were severely damaged (red tagged) and 17 percent were moderately damaged (yellow tagged). In addition, damage to several major freeways serving Los Angeles choked
12198-465: Was a debate about the official recognition of Lake Balboa as a community by the City of Los Angeles. New community names were not sanctioned by the city until January 2006, when the city adopted a formal community-naming process (City of Los Angeles Council File Number 02 -0196). On November 2, 2007, the City Council of Los Angeles approved a motion renaming a larger portion of Van Nuys to Lake Balboa. By 2017, numerous urban development projects began in
12312-435: Was discovered in the city and surrounding area in 1892, and by 1923, the discoveries had helped California become the country's largest oil producer, accounting for about one-quarter of the world's petroleum output. By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000, putting pressure on the city's water supply . The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, under the supervision of William Mulholland , ensured
12426-447: Was introduced by J. B. Lankershim and Isaac Van Nuys , which became very productive for their San Fernando Homestead Association that owned the southern half of the valley. In 1876, they sent the first wheat shipment from both San Pedro Harbor and from the United States to Europe. Through the late-19th-century court decision Los Angeles v. Pomeroy , Los Angeles had won the rights to all surface flow water atop an aquifer beneath
12540-463: Was not". The settlement of Indigenous Californians in the modern Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley was dominated by the Tongva (now also known as the Gabrieleño since the era of Spanish colonization). The historic center of Tongva power in the region was the settlement of Yaanga ( Tongva : Iyáangẚ ), meaning "place of the poison oak ", which would one day be the site where
12654-538: Was originally inhabited by the indigenous Tongva people and later claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve , on the village of Yaanga . It became a part of the First Mexican Empire in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence . In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War , Los Angeles and
12768-577: Was planning two stations in the Valley, one in Burbank and the other in Sylmar , but the proposed Sylmar high-speed rail station was canceled owing to local opposition from the city of San Fernando. As of now, there's only one planned station in the valley, located in Burbank with an initial section of the railroad possibly opening in 2029. The Valley's two major airports are Hollywood Burbank Airport and
12882-440: Was previously known for advances in aerospace technology and nuclear research by companies such as Lockheed , Rocketdyne and its Santa Susana Field Laboratory , Atomics International , Litton Industries , Marquardt , and TRW's predecessor Thompson Ramo Wooldridge . The valley became the pioneering region for producing adult films in the 1970s and grew to become home to a multibillion-dollar pornography industry , earning
12996-699: Was signed in 1847 by Californios and Americans at Campo de Cahuenga , the Verdugo Family adobe at the entrance to the Cahuenga Pass in the southeast San Fernando Valley ( North Hollywood ). The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the entire war. The Valley officially became part of the State of California on September 9, 1850, when the California Statehood Act was approved by the federal government. In 1874, dry wheat farming
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