West Hills is a neighborhood in the western San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California."Mapping L.A.", Median household income is "high for the city of Los Angeles and high for the county." Los Angeles Times."San Fernando Valley," Mapping L.A. It is bordered by mountain ranges to the west and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Chatsworth to the north, Canoga Park to the east, and Woodland Hills to the south.
The neighborhood was formerly the home of many Native American tribes, and during the early Spanish and Mexican era was part of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España. In the American era, West Hills was part of Owensmouth, which was renamed Canoga Park in 1930. Current-day Canoga Park and current-day West Hills were both known as Canoga Park. In 1987, the city of Los Angeles gave approval for the western portion of Canoga Park to split from the rest of Canoga Park, officially creating the neighborhood of West Hills.
Several city parks are to be found within West Hills. The area is highly residential; there are some religious establishments and a few commercial areas in the community. Two private high schools are among the 16 total schools within West Hills. High school students in West Hills who do not attend a private high school may typically attend the public high school in Canoga Park.
Geography
Location West Hills (formerly joined with Canoga Park) is located in the western San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and about 45 minutes (depending on traffic) from downtown Los Angeles. It is off of U.S. 101 (the Ventura Freeway) via the Valley Circle Boulevard/Mullholland Highway off-ramp.
Mapping L.A. According to the 2008 Mapping L.A. project of the Los Angeles Times, West Hills is flanked on the north by the Chatsworth Reservoir, on the east by Canoga Park, on the south by Woodland Hills, on the southwest by Hidden Hills and on the west by Bell Canyon in Ventura County. Colored map, Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
Neighborhood Council boundaries In 1987, Los Angeles recognized the following description of the boundaries of West Hills Neighborhood Council:Bing maps
Starting at the centerline intersections of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Nordhoff Street, westward down the centerline of Nordhoff extended in a straight line to the city limits of the City of Los Angeles; thence southward, following the border of the City of Los Angeles to the centerline of Victory Boulevard; thence eastward down the centerline of Victory Boulevard to Shoup Avenue centerline; thence northward down the centerline of Shoup Avenue to the intersection of the centerline of Roscoe Boulevard; thence eastward down the centerline of Roscoe Boulevard to the centerline of Topanga Canyon Boulevard; then northward down the centerline of Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the centerline of Nordhoff Street.
Water resources Bell and Dayton creeks in West Hills are several of the headwaters of the Los Angeles River that originate in the Northwest San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles River itself begins at the confluence of Arroyo Calabasas (Calabasas Creek) and Bell Creek in Canoga Park. These and other small creeks supply stormwater and suburban runoff water to the Los Angeles River, and several are considered year-round creeks. Although the creeks are now channeled and run within concrete walls, they do form a significant urban wildlife landscape and contribute to the population of indigenous wildlife left within the San Fernando Valley.
Both Bell Creek and Dayton Creek in particular have received attention due to their headwaters origins inside the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the Simi Hills. The SSFL is mandated for an environmental cleanup due to its uses as a testing center for rocket and missile engines, nuclear reactor research and fuel reprocessing, and high technology defense systems. It was also the site of a partial nuclear core meltdown in 1959.DTSC-SSFL Prominent contaminants include radionuclides, VOCs-volatile organic compounds, Chromium, Lead, Benzene, and other components of rocket engine fuel and cleaning compounds.
Climate This region experiences warm and dry summers, with average temperatures peaking at highs throughout August. West Hills has a climate similar to other locations in the west San Fernando Valley, such as nearby Woodland Hills with a long-established weather station at Pierce College. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, West Hills has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csa on climate maps.
Demographics 2022 As of 2022, according to the Los Angeles Almanac there were estimated to be 32,267 residents of West Hills. The ethnic breakdown was 60.52% White (non-Hispanic), 15.73% Asian, 4.56% Black, 0.75% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 3.52% from other races, and 11.25% from two or more races. 12.15% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
2010 As of the 2010 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac, there were 38,814 people and 10,626 households residing in West Hills. The ethnic-racial medley of the neighborhood was 78.89% White, 11.97% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.11% African American, 0.36% Native American, 2.80% from other races, and 3.82% from two or more races; 9.26% of the population were Hispanic of any race.
2000 The Los Angeles Times reported that the 2000 U.S. census counted 30,814 residents in the West Hills neighborhood—or , among the lowest population densities in Los Angeles, which itself has an overall lower population density.
In 2000, the median age for residents was 39, considered old for city and county neighborhoods; the percentages of residents aged 35 and older were among the county's highest.
The neighborhood was considered "moderately diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of white residents. The breakdown was whites, 70.9%; Latinos, 11%; Asians, 11.3%; blacks, 2.5%; and others, 4.3%. Iran (13.8%) and the Philippines (8.4%) were the most common places of birth for the 22.7% of the residents who were born abroad—a low percentage for Los Angeles.
The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $103,008, considered high for the city and county. The percentage of households that earned $125,000 or more was high for Los Angeles County. Renters occupied 12.6% of the housing stock, and house and condominium-owners occupied 87.4%.
The percentages of married people were among the county's highest. In 2000, there were 785 families headed by single parents, a low percentage for both the city and the county.
Eleven percent of the population were military veterans, a high rate for the city and the county, and the percentages of veterans who served during World War II or the Korean War were among the county's highest.
1980 The 1980 census showed 32,370 people living in the area that later became West Hills, of whom 92% were white, 7% Hispanic, 1% black, 4% Asian and 3% other. Families constituted 90% of the population, and 72% of the residents owned or were buying their own homes. Fifty-three percent had attended college.
History
Pre-Spanish contact history The present day West Hills area was the homeland of Native Americans in the Tongva-Fernandeño and Chumash-Ventureño tribes, that lived in the Simi Hills and close to Bell Creek and other local tributaries to the Los Angeles River. Native American civilizations had inhabited the San Fernando Valley for an estimated 8,000 years. The village, Hu'wam, of the Chumash-Venturaños, was located at the base of Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) near present-day Bell Canyon Park.SSPSHP Ethnohistory It was a meeting and trading point for them with the Tongva-Fernandeño and Tataviam-Fernandeño people."Ahmanson Ranch Becomes Private Preserve" , Wishtoyo Foundation website Wishtoyo.org. accessed October 23, 2007 A cave near Hu'wam, known as the Cave of Munits, is the believed home of a mythical Chumash shaman named Munits, who was killed by an eagle after murdering the son of a Chumash chief.Harrington, John P. 1986. Southern California/Basin. Ethnographic Field Notes, Pt. 3. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Microfilm edition, Kraus International Publications, Millwood, N.Y. Rl. 106, Fr. 152 Escorpión Peak is one of nine alignment points in the ancestral Chumash homelands, believed essential to maintaining the balance of the natural world.
Spanish and Mexican history From 1797 to 1846, the area (future West Hills) was part of Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). After Mexico won independence from Spain, it later became part of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando in Alta California. In 1845, a separate land grant for Rancho El Escorpión was issued by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash people: Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Urbano's son Mañuel.Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco It encompassed the land west of present-day Woodlake Avenue in West Hills, with its adobe ranch buildings (present 1840s—1960s) sited beside Bell Creek near present-day Bell Canyon Park.Library of Congress—Historical American Buildings Survey (HABS): Rancho Escorpion adobe and setting—Directory of 1937 photographs and historical description . accessed 11.01.2013
American history Land grants California was admitted to the United States in 1850, with Spanish and Mexican land grants requiring a federal land patent to retain ownership.46th United States Congress, 1880, House Executive Document 46, pp. 1116–1117 The United States Public Land Commission patented the Rancho to original grantees Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel in 1876. Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886United States. District Court ( California : Southern District) Land Case 129 SD In 1912 the Chumash heirs sold Rancho El Escorpión to George Platt. He established a dairy operation on renamed Platt Ranch variously called Ferndale, "escorpion," or Cloverdale Dairy.April 2007 Bulletin-Canoga/Owensmouth Historical Society The Rancho El Escorpión-Platt Ranch was not incorporated into Los Angeles and its water system until 1958 and was left undeveloped until 1961.
Separation from Canoga Park West Hills was originally part of Owensmouth (founded 1912) and renamed Canoga Park (1931).
Under the leadership of Joel Schiffman, residents of a three-square-mile area in western Canoga Park began a petition campaign in 1987 to separate from the larger community and establish a neighborhood of their own to be called West Hills, the same name that a 303-home subdivision in a nearby unincorporated area had carried for years. The Los Angeles city district of 4,700 single-family homes and 35 businesses would be bounded by Roscoe Boulevard on the north, Woodlake Avenue, Sherman Way and Platt Avenue on the east, Victory Boulevard on the south and the county line on the west. Proponents said the change would give the area "political clout" and increase property values. The drive, which was opposed by the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce, was partially financed by a real estate firm, whose owner, Lynn Garvanian, said the name change would "add 5% to the value of homes." The campaign was quickly criticized as "snobby and greedy" by members of the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce but defended by supporters who said it would allow the neighborhood to preserve its residential character. Petition leaders said they hoped a new name would separate the more affluent West Hills area from Canoga Park's "fading factories, aging subdivisions and X-rated bars and theaters."