Tarzana, Los Angeles

Tarzana
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Boundaries of Tarzana as drawn by the Los Angeles Times
Tarzana Location within Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	91356, 91357
Area code(s)	818
Website	Tarzana Neighborhood Council

Tarzana /tɑːrˈzænə/ is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is a mostly residential community on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' storybook jungle character hero, Tarzan.

Newspaper advertisement for sale of hogs, 1921

History

The area now known as Tarzana was occupied in 1797 by Spanish settlers and missionaries who established the San Fernando Mission. Later absorbed by Mexico, the land was ceded to the United States in 1848 by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. Under US rule it evolved into a series of large cattle ranches owned by local elites. Investors took over in the 1870s, turning grazing into large-scale wheat farm operation.

The area was purchased in 1909 by the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. LA Times founder and publisher General Harrison Gray Otis invested in the company and also personally acquired 550 acres (2.2 km²) in the center of modern-day Tarzana.

In February 1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the popular Tarzan novels, arrived in California with his family, relocating from Oak Park, Illinois. He and his family had wintered in Southern California twice before, and he found the climate ideal. On March 1, Burroughs purchased Otis’s tract and established Tarzana Ranch. Burroughs subdivided and sold the land for residential development with neighboring small farms following suit.

Geography

Providence Tarzana Medical Center

Boundaries

Tarzana, which measures 8.79 square miles, is bounded on the south by Topanga State Park, on the east by Encino, on the north by Reseda and on the west by Woodland Hills.

Victory Boulevard marks the northern edge of the neighborhood, Lindley Avenue the eastern, Corbin Avenue, with a jog to Oakdale Avenue, the western, and Topanga State Park the southern.

Population

The U.S. census counted 35,502 people living in Tarzana in 2000, and Los Angeles estimated the neighborhood's population at 37,778 in 2008. There were 4,038 people per square mile, among the lowest population densities in the city.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the racial composition was predominantly white (70.7%), followed by Asian (5%), and black or African American (3.6%). The Los Angeles Times considered the area as "moderately diverse". Thirty-five percent of the population was foreign-born. Iran (24.2%) and Mexico (12.1%) were the most common foreign places of birth.

The percentage of divorced men and women was among the county's highest. Some 9% of the residents were military veterans, considered high for the city of Los Angeles. The percentages of residents aged 50 and older were among the county's highest. The median age, 38, was old when compared to the rest of the city and the county. The median household income in 2008 dollars was considered high, at $73,195.

Notable people

• Iggy Azalea: rapper
• Demi Lovato: actress and singer
• Paul Thomas Anderson: filmmaker
• Rob Cesternino: podcaster and former Survivor
• Selena Gomez: actress and singer
• Blake Lively: actress
• Jon Lovitz: comedian and actor
• Robert Peernock: convicted murderer
• Paul Rodriguez: skateboarder
• Jim Rome: sports radio host and host of Jim Rome is Burning, born in Tarzana
• Hailee Steinfeld: actress
• Nick Young: basketball player
• Taj Gibson: basketball player.
• Bobby Womack: soul singer-songwriter

Education

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies

A total of 40.3% of Tarzana residents aged 25 and older have earned a four-year degree. Percentages of those residents with a bachelor's degree or with a master's degree are also high for the county.

Elementary and secondary schools

Schools within Tarzana are:

• Gaspar de Portola Middle School, LAUSD, 18720 Linnet Street
• Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (4-12), LAUSD alternative, 18605 Erwin Street
• Vanalden Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 19019 Delano Street
• Tarzana Elementary School, LAUSD, 5726 Topeka Drive
• CHIME Institute's Schwarzenegger Community School, LAUSD charter, 19722 Collier Street
• Wilbur Charter for Enriched Academics, LAUSD K–5, 5213 Crebs Avenue
• Nestle Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 5060 Nestle Avenue

Zoned high schools serving Tarzana include:

• Birmingham High School in (Lake Balboa area)
• Reseda High School (in Reseda area)
• Taft High School (in Woodland Hills area)

Private schools include:

• Lycée International de Los Angeles West Valley Campus

Postsecondary schools

• Columbia College Hollywood, a private nonprofit film school on Oxnard Street.

Public libraries

Encino-Tarzana Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library

The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Encino-Tarzana Branch on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana.

Parks and recreation

The Tarzana Recreation Center has a gymnasium that also is used as an auditorium; the building's capacity is 600. The park also has barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, and lighted volleyball courts.

Filming location

• Portola Middle School in Tarzana was used as a location for the films Thirteen, The Karate Kid and Akeelah and the Bee.
• Rocko's Modern Life was animated in Tarzana.
• Tarzana Armenian Deli in Tarzana was used as a location for the HBO TV show Six Feet Under.
• Tarzana was the home of John Denver's character (Jerry Landers) in the 1977 film Oh, God!
• Season 2 of The Bad Girls Club was filmed in Tarzana.
• Some episodes of A&Es Intervention TV series featured Tarzana Treatment Centers.
• Khloé Kardashian Odom lived in a Tarzana mansion with husband Lamar Odom.

External links

• Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzana, California
• Los Angeles Times, Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: "[Tarzana:] A hilly haven in the jungles of the Valley" (29 Feb 2004)
• [8] Tarzana crime map and statistics