Studio City, Los Angeles

Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, now known as CBS Studio Center.

History
Originally known as Laurelwood, the area that Studio City occupies was formerly part of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando. This land changed hands several times during the late 19th Century and was eventually owned by James Boon Lankershim (1850–1931), and eight other developers who organized the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company. In 1899, however, the area lost most water rights to Los Angeles and therefore subdivision and sale of land for farming became untenable.

Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct began in 1908 and water reached the San Fernando Valley in November, 1913. Real estate boomed, and a syndicate led by Harry Chandler, business manager of the Los Angeles Times, with Hobart Johnstone Whitley, Isaac Van Nuys, and James Boon Lankershim acquired the remaining 47500 acre of the southern half of the former Mission lands—everything west of the Lankershim town limits and south of present-day Roscoe Boulevard excepting the Rancho Encino. Whitley platted the area of present-day Studio City from portions of the existing town of Lankershim as well as the eastern part of the new acquisition.

In 1927, Mack Sennett began building a new studio on 20 acres donated by the land developer. The area around the studio was named Studio City.

In 1955, Studio City's Station 78 became the first racially integrated station in the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

Population
The 2000 U.S. census counted 34,034 residents in the 6.31-square-mile Studio City neighborhood—5,395 people per square mile, among the lowest population densities for the city but about average for the county. In 2008, the city estimated that the resident population had increased to 37,201.

In 2000, the median age for residents, 38, was considered old for city and county neighborhoods; the percent of residents age 19 and older were among the county's highest.

The ethnic breakdown was whites, 78%; Latinos, 8.7%; Asians, 5.4% ; blacks, 3.7%; and others, 4.1%. Iran (7%) and the United Kingdom (6.7%) were the most common places of birth for the 21.1% of the residents who were born abroad—a low percentage for Los Angeles.

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $75,657, considered high for the city. The percent of households earning $125,000 and up was high for Los Angeles County. The average household size of 1.9 people was low when compared to the rest of the city and the county. Renters occupied 55.9% of the housing stock and house- or apartment-owners held 44.1%.

In 2000, there were 837 families headed by single parents, the rate of 11.2% being low for the city of Los Angeles. There were 2,591 veterans, 8.8% of the population, a high figure for the city.

Geography
According to the Mapping L.A. project of the Los Angeles Times, Studio City is bordered on the north by Valley Village, on the east by Toluca Lake and Universal City, on the south by Hollywood Hills West, on the southwest by Beverly Crest and on the west by Sherman Oaks.

The Los Angeles River and Tujunga Wash flow through Studio City. The two concrete-lined channels merge just west of Colfax Avenue and north of Ventura Boulevard adjacent to CBS Studio Center.

Nearby places
Relation of Studio City to nearby places, not necessarily contiguous:

Film and television
• Leon Ames, film and television actor

• Ernie Anderson, television and radio announcer/voiceover artist

• Paul Thomas Anderson, film director

• Dana Andrews, film actor and past president of the Screen Actors' Guild.

• R.G. Armstrong, actor and playwright.

• Ed Asner, film, television, stage, and voice actor, past president of the SAG.

• Gene Autry, actor, singer-songwriter, businessman and owner of the California Angels baseball team

• Joe Barbera, animator, director and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera studios

• Bonnie Bartlett, television and film actress.

• Ed Begley, Jr., actor and environmentalist

• Mayim Bialik, film and television actress.

• Robert Blake, actor

• Julie Bowen, actress

• Clancy Brown, actor

• Smiley Burnette, comedic actor, singer-songwriter and inventor.

• Mark Cendrowski, director

• George Clooney, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter

• Rosemary Clooney, singer and actress

• Gary Cole, actor

• Barry Crane, television producer and director.

• Jon Cryer, actor

• Miley Cyrus, actress and pop singer-songwriter

• William Daniels, actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild

• Brad Davis, actor.

• Yvonne De Carlo, actress of film, television, and theater

• Zooey Deschanel, actress

• Leonardo DiCaprio, film actor and producer

• Charles S. Dutton, stage, film, and television actor and director

• Zac Efron, actor

• Erik Estrada, actor

• Clark Gable, actor

• Betty Garrett, actress, singer and dancer

• Jennie Garth, actress

• Selena Gomez, actress, singer

• Meagan Good, actress, film producer

• Cuba Gooding, Jr., actor

• Ryan Gosling, actor

• Gary Graver, film director and cinematographer

• Tom Green, actor, comedian

• Lucy Hale, actress and singer

• Neil Patrick Harris, actor, singer, writer and magician

• Earl Holliman, actor

• Laurel Holloman, actress

• Vanessa Hudgens, actress and singer

• Allison Janney, actress

• Mila Kunis, actress

• Tom Kenny, Actor, voice actor

• Lucy Lawless, actress

• Lucy Liu, actress

• Jennette McCurdy, actress

• Roddy McDowall, actor and photographer

• Kevin McKidd, film and television actor

• Seth MacFarlane, actor, singer, comedian and producer

• Alyssa Milano, actress

• Dennis Miller, TV host and comedian

• Chloë Grace Moretz, actress

• Bill Nye, science educator, comedian, television host, actor, and mechanical engineer

• Jack Osbourne, reality show star

• Patton Oswalt, actor and comedian

• Jason Priestley, television actor

• Michael Richards, actor, comedian, writer and television producer

• Mickey Rooney, actor

• Jane Rose, stage, film, and television actress

• John Russell, actor

• Aaron Seltzer, director and screenwriter

• William Shatner, actor, musician, recording artist, and author.

• Melville Shavelson, film director, producer, screenwriter, and author.

• Mason Shefa, director of experimental films

• Anna Nicole Smith, model, actress and television personality

• Sage Stallone, actor and producer

• Linda Stirling, actress, showgirl, model and college professor

• John Sturges, director

• Lyle Talbot, film, TV and stage actor; a founder of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG); honorary mayor of Studio City in the 1960s

• Stephen Talbot, child actor; PBS Frontline documentary producer

• Alex Trebek, game show host

• Renee Valente, producer, former president of the Producers Guild of America

• Sofía Vergara, actress

• Nancy Walker, actress, comedian and director

• Anton Yelchin, actor

Music
• Kenny Aronoff, session drummer

• Pete Candoli, swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter

• Cirkut (record producer), songwriter and producer

• Morty Corb, jazz double-bassist

• Ronnie James Dio, singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and bandleader

• Alex Ebert, songwriter and lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Ima Robot

• Clare Fischer, composer, arranger, keyboardist

• Peggy Gilbert, jazz saxophonist and bandleader

• HAIM, band consisting of three sisters: Este, Danielle and Alana Haim

• Steve Lukather, electric guitarist

• Randy Meisner, bassist, founding member of the Eagles

• Mac Miller, rapper and producer

• Stu Phillips (composer), film and TV composer, conductor and record producer

• Uan Rasey, trumpet player

• Gavin Rossdale, musician and singer

• Hans J. Salter, film composer

• Judee Sill, composer, singer-songwriter

• Craig Vincent Smith, singer, songwriter

• Eddie Van Halen, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer

• Al Viola, jazz guitarist

• Joe Walsh, guitarist, singer-songwriter and amateur radio enthusiast

• Pete Wentz, lyricist and bassist

• Yoshiki (musician), Japanese rock musician and producer

• Dweezil Zappa, rock guitarist

• Frank Zappa, composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director

Literature

 * Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, journalist and playwright
 * Lorin Morgan-Richards, author and illustrator, primarily of children's books.
 * Jerry Pournelle, science-fiction author and blogger
 * Israel Regardie, occultist

Other

 * Burt Baskin, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins ice cream
 * David Burtka, chef and actor
 * Zack Greinke, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Peter Hurkos, allegedly manifested extra-sensory perception
 * Clayton Kershaw, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Stu Nahan, Los Angeles sportscaster and actor
 * James B. Potter, Jr., Los Angeles City Council member
 * George Putnam (newsman), Los Angeles TV journalist, game show host and perennial Rose Parade equestrian
 * Jerome Vered, record-setting contestant on the game show Jeopardy!
 * Joel Wachs, Los Angeles City Council member
 * Sam Yorty, mayor of Los Angeles

Education
Almost half of Studio City residents aged 25 and older (49.4%) had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of those residents with a master's degree was also high for the county.

Schools
Schools within the Studio City boundaries are:


 * Bridges Academy, private, 4-12, 3921 Laurel Canyon Boulevard
 * Campbell Hall School, private, K-12, 4533 Laurel Canyon Boulevard
 * Carpenter Community Charter School, LAUSD, K-5, 3909 Carpenter Avenue
 * Harvard-Westlake School, private, 10-12, 3700 Coldwater Canyon Avenue
 * Walter Reed Middle School, LAUSD, 6-8, 4525 Irvine Avenue
 * Oakwood School, private, K-6, 11230 Moorpark Street
 * Rio Vista Elementary School, LAUSD, K-5, 4243 Satsuma Avenue
 * St. Charles Borromeo School, private, K-8, 10850 Moorpark Street

Public library

 * The Studio City branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is at the corner of Moorpark Street and Whitsett Avenue.

Parks and recreation
The Studio City Recreation Center (commonly known as Beeman Park) is in a residential neighborhood on Rye Street at Beeman Avenue. It has an auditorium, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, an outdoor running and walking track, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, picnic tables, unlighted tennis courts, and many programs and classes including the second-largest youth baseball program in the public parks.

Moorpark Park, an unstaffed pocket park at the corner of Moorpark Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, has a children's play area and picnic tables.

Woodbridge Park, on Elmer Avenue at Moorpark Street, on the eastern border of Studio City has a children and toddler's play area.

Wilacre Park, a 128-acre natural mountain park with the lower trailhead for the Betty B Dearing hiking trail, is on Fryman Road at Laurel Canyon Boulevard. It has a large parking lot, restrooms and a picnic area. It is part of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and is managed by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.

Fryman Canyon Park is a 122-acre nature park accessed via the Nancy Hoover Pohl Overlook on Mulholland Drive with the upper trailhead of the Betty B Dearing hiking trail. The park is part of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and is managed by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.

Coldwater Canyon Park is a nature park adjacent to Wilacre Park and Fryman Canyon Park. It contains an amphitheater and the headquarters for the conservation group TreePeople. It can be accessed via a parking lot near the corner of Mulholland Drive and Coldwater Canyon Avenue and via the Betty B Dearing Trail. The park is managed by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (LA Parks). This park is not to be confused with an unrelated park with the name Coldwater Canyon Park 3 miles to the south on North Beverly Drive in the city of Beverly Hills.

In addition, Studio City has the Studio City Mini-Park, an unstaffed pocket park.

Notable places

 * CBS Studio Center (also known as Radford Studios)
 * Dr. Betty Berzon Place (honorary street name for Ventura Place)
 * Los Angeles River walk
 * Exterior of Brady Bunch house
 * Campo de Cahuenga
 * Metro Red Line Universal City/Studio City station
 * Several buildings by Rudolph Michael Schindler

Local government
Studio City is part of the city of Los Angeles, California and sits entirely within City Council District 2, which is represented by Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian.

Studio City is represented to the city of Los Angeles by the Studio City Neighborhood Council, one of 90 such Neighborhood Councils in the city created and funded by the city of Los Angeles.

The area is also represented by Los Angeles County District 3 Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, State Senator Robert Hertzberg, Studio City is located in the new 18th District covering most of the Eastern San Fernando Valley, California state Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman.