Lake View Terrace, Los Angeles

Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.

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, 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. 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 Hansen Dam was built in 1940. Alyson Pitarre of the Los Angeles Times 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.

Demographics

The Los Angeles Timess "Mapping L.A." project supplied these neighborhood statistics (as of 2008): population of 12,719 with a median household income of $67,985.

Culture

Alyson Pitarre of the Los Angeles Times 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." located in Sunland, serves Lake View Terrace. The Los Angeles Police Department Foothill Community Police Station in Pacoima serves Lake View Terrace.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The Los Angeles Unified School District 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 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 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. 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 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. During each weekend over the summer, the aquatic center received up to 2,000 visitors.