Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...

, bounded by the San Diego Freeway
Interstate 405 (California)
Interstate 405 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine in the south to near San Fernando in the north...

 on the east, Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

 on the south, the Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

 city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State Park
Topanga State Park
Topanga State Park is a California state park located in Los Angeles County. It is located adjacent to the unincorporated community of Topanga, California, within the city of Los Angeles, California...

 on the west and Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...

 along the ridgeline of the mountains on the north.

Nearby neighborhoods and cities include Pacific Palisades
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...

 on the west, Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

 on the south, West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region known as the "Westside."-Geography and transportation:...

 and Sawtelle on the southeast, Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...

 on the east, Bel-Air
Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods....

 on the northeast and Encino
Encino, Los Angeles, California
Encino is a hilly district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Specifically, it is located in the central portion of the southern San Fernando Valley and on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains...

 on the north.

Mail to the Brentwood district is addressed, Los Angeles, CA 90049 to avoid confusion with the municipality of the same name
Brentwood, California
Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 51,481 as of 2010....

 in Northern California.

History

The area that is now Brentwood was part of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given by governor Juan Alvarado in 1839 to Francisco Sepulveda soldier and citizen of Los Angeles...

, a Mexican land-grant ranch sold off in pieces by the Sepulveda
Francisco Xavier Sepulveda
Francisco Xavier Sepúlveda was a Mexican colonial soldier and patriarch of the prominent Spanish Mexican Sepúlveda family in the early days of Las Californias and Alta California in present day Southern California, United States...

 family after the Mexican-American War. Development began following the establishment of the large 600 acres (2.4 km²) Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors
Sawtelle Veterans Home
The Sawtelle Veterans Home was a care home for disabled American veterans in what is today part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in California in the United States. The Home, formally the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, was established in 1887 on of Rancho...

 in the 1880s. A small community sprang up outside that facility's west gate, taking on the name Westgate. Annexed by the City of Los Angeles on June 14, 1916, Westgate's 127 km2 (49 mi2) included large parts of what is now the Pacific Palisades
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...

 and a small portion of today's Bel-Air
Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods....

. Westgate Avenue is one of the last reminders of the area's former namesake. The Sunset Fields Golf Club, known as the Brentwood Country Club since 1941, hosted the running part of the modern pentathlon
Modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics
The modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics-Individual competition:...

 event at the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...

.

Originally planted with soybeans and avocados, Brentwood is now one of the prominent districts of the Westside and among the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles. It has prosperous commercial districts along each of its major east-west thoroughfares, Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

, San Vicente Boulevard
San Vicente Boulevard
San Vicente Boulevard is a major northwest-southeast thoroughfare located in the western portion of the Metropolitan Area of the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California....

 and Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

.

Though there is no direct connection, the name Brentwood harks to Brentwood
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....

 of Essex, England, a town on the outskirts of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 dating back to Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...

 times. Many local streets reflect this ersatz British heritage, including Barrington, Gorham, and Bristol.

Local traditions include the annual decoration of San Vicente Boulevard's historic coral trees with holiday lights and a Maypole
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...

 erected each year on the lawn of the Archer School for Girls
Archer School for Girls
The Archer School for Girls is an independent, nonsectarian, single-sex middle to high school in Los Angeles, California. Approximately 500 students are enrolled in grades 6-12. Students come from neighborhoods encompassing 85 different ZIP codes in the city...

, carrying on the tradition set by the Eastern Star Home that was previously housed there. (Classic film lovers are familiar with this building as the exterior establishing shot for the "Mar Vista Rest Home" that provides a key scene in the 1974 film Chinatown.) Inspired by the community of veterans resident at the former Soldiers and Sailors Home, now a United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Brentwood once regularly hosted a Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

 parade, complete with a string of classic car
Classic car
A classic car is an older car; the exact meaning is variable. The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic, while cars over 45 years fall into the Antique Class.- Classic Car Club of America :...

s and an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

 named Tiny; the tradition is now only sporadically practiced due to funding.

Brentwood received notoriety in 1994 when Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson was a former wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson.- Relationship with O. J. Simpson :...

, ex-wife of football legend O.J. Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman
Ronald Goldman
Ronald Lyle "Ron" Goldman was an American waiter and an aspiring model. He was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson, former wife of O. J. Simpson, an actor and retired American football player. The subsequent criminal investigation and trial against O. J...

 were found stabbed to death outside her Bundy Drive condominium. Simpson was arrested for the murders and later acquitted by a jury in a heavily-publicized trial.

1961 Brentwood-Bel Air fire

On November 6, 1961, a construction crew working in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...

 north of Brentwood on the far side of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...

 noticed smoke and flames in a nearby pile of rubbish. Within minutes, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mi/h sent burning brush aloft and over the ridge into Brentwood.

More than 300 police officers helped evacuate 3,500 residents during the 12-hour fire, and more than 2,500 firefighters battled the blaze, pumping water from neighborhood swimming pools to douse flames. Pockets of the fire smoldered for several days. Even as firefighters battled what was to become the Bel-Air disaster, a separate fire had erupted simultaneously in Santa Ynez Canyon to the west, further straining local firefighting resources. That blaze was contained the next day after consuming nearly 10000 acres (40.5 km²) and nine structures and burning to within a mile of the inferno raging in Bel-Air and Brentwood.

At least 200 firefighters were injured but no one was killed and 78 percent of the homes were saved. Still, the fires were the fifth worst conflagration in the nation's history at the time, burning 16090 acres (65 km²), destroying more than 484 homes and 190 other structures and causing an estimated $30 million in damage.

Environment

Brentwood, like nearby Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

, has a temperate climate influenced by marine breezes off the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. Residents frequently wake to a "marine layer
Marine layer
A marine layer is an air mass which develops over the surface of a large body of water such as the ocean or large lake in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect of the water on the surface layer of an otherwise warm air mass...

," a cover of clouds brought in at night which burns off by mid-morning. The topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 is generally split into two characters, broadly divided by Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

: the area north of Sunset is defined by ridges and canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...

; south of Sunset the area is relatively flat. The southern district features underground springs which bubble up into a small creek along "the Gully" near the Brentwood Country Club, and in the "Indian Springs"
Serra Springs (California)
Serra Springs is California State Historical Landmark number 522, and is located on the campus of University High School in Los Angeles County, USA. The springs, called Kuruvungna by the native Gabrieleno Tongva people, were used as natural fresh water source by the Tongva people since the 5th...

 portion of the University High School campus, formerly the site of a Native American Tongva village.

San Vicente Boulevard is considered the "Main Street" of Brentwood and is divided by a wide median on which stand many large and attractively sculpted coral trees. This green belt replaced a derelict Pacific Electric trolley track, its trees evolving into a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Brentwood boosters have adopted a coral tree silhouette as a de facto community logo. Intersecting Bundy Drive is lined with extremely tall Washingtonia robusta
Washingtonia robusta
Washingtonia robusta is a palm tree native to western Sonora and Baja California Sur in northwestern Mexico. It grows to tall, rarely up to . The leaves have a petiole up to long, and a palmate fan of leaflets up to 1 m long. The inflorescence is up to long, with numerous small pale orange-pink...

 palms.

Neighborhoods

Brentwood features a number of residential subdistricts, some as small as a few blocks, others ranging over acres of hills:
  • Brentwood Circle: Gated community east of Barrington and north of Sunset.
  • Brentwood Country Estates: Gated community in Mandeville Canyon.
  • Brentwood Flats
  • Brentwood Glen: Part of Brentwood that is bounded by Sunset, the 405 Freeway and the Veterans Administration
  • Brentwood Heights
  • Brentwood Highlands
  • Brentwood Hills: Home to Mount St. Mary's College and the Getty Center.
  • Brentwood Park: Notable for its layout, having been designed around several large traffic circle
    Traffic circle
    A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...

    s, a handful of which remain; the area between Sunset and San Vicente west of Kenter/Bundy.
  • Brentwood Sunset: Gated community north of San Vicente Blvd.
  • Brentwood Terrace: Southwest edge of Brentwood, bounded by San Vicente Blvd, Montana Ave, the Brentwood Country Club, and Santa Monica's 26th Street. Walking distance to the Brentwood Country Mart.
  • Bundy Canyon
  • Crestwood Hills: Includes a cluster of architecturally significant mid-century modern
    Mid-century modern
    Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...

     residences; located in the northern part of Kenter Canyon.
  • Kenter Canyon
    Kenter Canyon, Los Angeles, California
    Kenter Canyon is located north of Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood and is primarily based on Kenter Avenue...

  • Mandeville Canyon: Westernmost part of Brentwood.
  • Mountaingate
  • Museum Heights: Contemporary condominiums, located off Sunset Blvd.
  • South Brentwood: Between San Vicente and Wilshire Boulevards and the eastern boundary of Santa Monica.
  • Sullivan Canyon: A small equestrian
    Equestrianism
    Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

     community north of Sunset, west of Mandeville Canyon Rd. and east of Pacific Palisades. Most properties are one-story ranch houses, and most houses have horse stables.
  • Westgate: Directly to the east of Brentwood Park
  • Westridge Hills
  • Westridge Heights: Western portions of Mandeville Canyon

Transportation

Major thoroughfares include Sunset
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

, San Vicente and Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

s; Barrington and Montana
Montana Avenue
Montana Avenue in California USA is a primarily residential street that stretches from Ocean Avenue to Barrington Avenue in Brentwood. The intersection of Montana and Barrington is one of the busiest in the area, due to its proximity to Sunset Boulevard...

 Avenues; and Bundy Drive. Brentwood is also situated close to the Wilshire, Montana and Sunset exits of the 405 freeway
Interstate 405 (California)
Interstate 405 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine in the south to near San Fernando in the north...

.

Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus
Big Blue Bus
Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines, more commonly known as the Big Blue Bus, is a municipal bus operator in the Westside region of Los Angeles, providing both local and bus rapid transit service in Santa Monica and adjacent neighborhoods of Los Angeles...

 serves Brentwood with its 2, 3, 4, 11, 13, and 14 bus lines. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the...

 (Metro) buses serve Brentwood include the 20 and 720 lines on Wilshire Blvd. (the latter of which is L.A.'s most successful bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 line), and several lines along Sunset Blvd.

Once linked to Los Angeles by a Pacific Electric Railway
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...

 track on San Vicente, Brentwood is now part of a dispute over the future of public transportation in Los Angeles. In a controversial move protested by business owners, but which substantially increased bus speed through the Westside, the Metro has reserved the outermost lane of Wilshire Boulevard through Brentwood in each direction as a bus-only lane during rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...

, in a possible precursor to the adoption of bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 service with a dedicated lane along the entire length of Wilshire.

The difficulty of getting into and out of Brentwood by any means but private automobile (aggravated by the Metro's cancellation of several "nanny bus" lines connecting the district to poorer areas of Los Angeles) has led to widespread calls for an extension of the Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

 leg of the Metro Purple Line subway
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

, which currently ends at Western Avenue in Koreatown
Koreatown, Los Angeles, California
Koreatown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California known for its concentration of Korean American people and institutions...

, through Brentwood to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica; a Brentwood stop would presumably be sited in the business district near Barrington Avenue. There has been little forward progress by local authorities on making this concept a reality.

Demographics

According to the Los Angeles Almanac, the 2000 census-year population was just under 42,000, with a population density of about 2,700 people per square mile. The population is about 80 percent white
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...

, 9 percent Asian-American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

, 6 percent Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

, and 1 percent black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Brentwood statistics: population: 31,346; median household income: $112,927.

After English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, the principal secondary household languages are Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

, with Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

, Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

 spoken at home in statistically significant numbers.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Brentwood's (ZCTA 90049) median household income was $84,342; its median family income was $137,945; and its median per capita income was $75,965 in 1999.

Almost 70 percent of area residents over 25 have college degrees, nearly half that total graduate and professional education. As of the 2000 census, approximately 16 percent of the population over 25 had either a doctorate or a professional degree, 15 percent a master's degree, 37 percent a bachelor's degree, 15 percent some college education but no degree, 8 percent a high school diploma alone, and only 5 percent lacked a high school degree.

Housing

As of 2000, there were just over 22,000 housing units in Brentwood. Most Brentwood residents reside in single-family homes, though some multi-family homes can also be found. Large, modern apartment complexes and condominiums are found along some of district's thoroughfares, many home to young professionals and students attending University of California Los Angeles, California State University Los Angeles, and University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

.

Recreation

The Barrington Recreation Center is located in Brentwood. The center has an indoor gymnasium without weights which may also be used as an auditorium; the building's capacity is 250. The facility also has a lighted baseball diamond, an unlighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a lighted American football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer (football) field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts. The 1.5 acre (0.607029 ha) Barrington Dog Park is on the grounds of the recreation center. Around 1978 Suzanne Eisler, a soccer enthusiast wrote a letter that helped persuade the Veterans Administration
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...

 (VA) to lease 12 acres (4.9 ha) of its Brentwood complex so tht Barrington Park could receive an expansion. When the VA proposed a sale of the land, residents campaigned to block the sale so that Barrington Park would not be dismantled. From 1952 to 1968, researchers from the VA and the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

 dumped biomedical waste from radiation experiments on a plot of land that now includes the Brentwood Dog Park and the athletic fields of the Brentwood School
Brentwood School (Los Angeles, California)
Brentwood School is a private, secular K-12 coed day school with two campuses located four blocks apart in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school has a high reputation for academics and athletics.-History:...

. In 2006 the federal government began testing the land that was the site of the burial.

Popular recreational spots include the Brentwood Country Mart, an early farmer's market complex built in 1947 (and recently remodeled and expanded); the Brentwood Village, a small shopping district near the intersection of Sunset and Barrington; and more recently, Brentwood Green, a "village commons
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...

" created from the playground at Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School
Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School
Brentwood Science Magnet School serves Grades K-5 and draws ~1,240 children. Their scientific atmosphere creates an excitement for learning through discovery and stimulates the students to apply the critical and creative thinking required in science to other areas of study...

. There is also a tented farmer's market held each Sunday on a strip of Gretna Green
Gretna Green
Gretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving...

 Way between Brentwood Science Magnet and the Brentwood Country Club. The 2.7 miles (4.3 km)-long (4.3 km) boundary of the private Brentwood Country Club is a popular local jogging route. The internationally renowned Getty Museum is located in the hills high above Brentwood, near the 405 freeway
Interstate 405 (California)
Interstate 405 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine in the south to near San Fernando in the north...

 and the Sepulveda Pass
Sepulveda Pass
Sepulveda Pass is a mountain pass through the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles.It connects the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley via the San Diego Freeway and Sepulveda Boulevard and experiences heavy traffic on a regular basis, commonly experiencing major traffic slowdowns and...

.

Economy and businesses

Brent-Air Pharmacy, run by the founding Lassoff family from its inception up until June 2007, has served Brentwood for more than 50 years. The drug store has been the scene of many famous scandals and, like its defunct West Hollywood cousin Schwab's, is known as the pharmacy to the stars, where many now-notable actors and actresses worked as delivery boys or "candy counter" girls.

Vicente Foods is an independently owned and operated grocery market that has served Brentwood for decades.

A popular area for dining and coffee for local residents is located in Brentwood Village at the intersection of Barrington and Sunset. More than a dozen restaurants and coffee shops are located within a two-block stretch offering a wide variety of cuisine.

Dutton's Brentwood Books, a local landmark called by Sunset magazine
Sunset (magazine)
Sunset is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. Sunset focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States...

 "the last of the truly independent bookstores," closed its doors in April, 2008.

Local government

The Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles....

 Station 19 is in Brentwood. The Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

 operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station in West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region known as the "Westside."-Geography and transportation:...

, serving Brentwood.

County representation

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Health services to over 10 million residents in the Los Angeles County are provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Mental health services are provided by the County Department of Mental Health...

 SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Brentwood.

State representation

Brentwood's representatives in the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 (Karen Bass
Karen Bass
Karen Ruth Bass is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to her election to Congress in 2010, she had served as a member of the California State Assembly representing the 47th district since 2004...

, Michael Feuer
Michael Feuer
Michael Nelson Feuer is an American politician and lawyer. He has been elected to three two-year terms in the California State Assembly, representing the 42nd Assembly District. The district includes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and parts of West Los Angeles...

 and Fran Pavley
Fran Pavley
Frances J. "Fran" Pavley is a Democratic politician who currently represents Senate District 23, including portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in the California Legislature. She previously served as a California Assemblywoman and as the first mayor of the Southern California community of...

) and U.S. House of Representatives (Henry Waxman
Henry Waxman
Henry Arnold Waxman is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1975. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is considered to be one of the most influential liberal members of Congress...

) are noted for their socially liberal views. (Waxman scores 80 of 100 on the Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action is an American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA works for social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research and supporting progressive candidates.-History:...

 scorecard and 95 of 100 by the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

.)

Federal representation

The United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

 operates the Barrington Post Office in Brentwood.

Public schools

In addition to Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School (which only zones some residents for kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

), the area is served by Kenter Canyon Elementary School, Brockton Avenue Elementary School, and Pacific Palisades Elementary School (some areas are zoned jointly to Kenter Canyon and Pacific Palisades), all of which are part of Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...

. The area is within Board District 4. As of 2009 Steve Zimmer represents the district.

Locals attending public school usually go to Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Center is located at 1450 Allenford Avenue in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, California, United States with a ZIP code of 90049....

, Brentwood's zoned middle school.

The local public high schools are University High School (named for nearby UCLA, formerly Warren G. Harding High School), just outside the neighborhood's boundaries in West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region known as the "Westside."-Geography and transportation:...

, and Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. The public high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Palisades Highlands, Kenter Canyon and portions of Brentwood...

, in the nearby neighborhood of Pacific Palisades
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...

.

Private schools

Brentwood is also home to several private schools, including Brentwood School
Brentwood School (Los Angeles, California)
Brentwood School is a private, secular K-12 coed day school with two campuses located four blocks apart in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school has a high reputation for academics and athletics.-History:...

, St. Martin of Tours Catholic School
St. Martin of Tours Catholic School
St. Martin of Tours Catholic School St. Martin of Tours Catholic School St. Martin of Tours Catholic School (Abbreviated to St. Martin, St. Martin of Tours School, St. Martin of Tours, or simply SMT is a private Catholic School in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. It is a school to about 200...

, and the Archer School for Girls
Archer School for Girls
The Archer School for Girls is an independent, nonsectarian, single-sex middle to high school in Los Angeles, California. Approximately 500 students are enrolled in grades 6-12. Students come from neighborhoods encompassing 85 different ZIP codes in the city...

, which is located in what was once the historic Eastern Star Home. The old Eastern Star Home can be seen as the setting of the "Mar Vista Rest Home" in the movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Chinatown (1974).

Colleges and universities

A campus of Mount St. Mary's College
Mount St. Mary's College
Mount St. Mary's College is a private, independent, Catholic liberal arts college, primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. The college was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St...

, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college for women, is located in the hills above Brentwood. University of California, Los Angeles lies less than 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast.

In popular culture

Brentwood is home to the characters in the 1989 television show Doogie Howser, M.D. The suburb is given fame in the title of the season two episode, "To Live and Die in Brentwood".

Also the mansion depicted in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air is actually located in Brentwood.

Public libraries

Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...

 operates the Donald Bruce Kaufman Brentwood Branch.

The previous library facility was a red brick and glass building. In the 1980s it was not scheduled for any major overhauls. A woman named Glorya Kaufman donated $350,000 for a major overhaul of the building. The Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...

 spent $350,000 to have the current library built. The 10400 square foot $2.4 million library branch's ribbon cutting ceremony was held in the afternoon of July 17, 1994.

Notable Brentwoodians

  • Stephen W. Cunningham
    Stephen W. Cunningham
    Stephen W. Cunningham was the first graduate manager at the Southern Branch of the University of California, later UCLA, and a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1933 to 1941.-Biography:Stephen W...

     — First UCLA graduate manager and Los Angeles City Council member, 1933–41
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger
    Arnold Schwarzenegger
    Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

     - Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman and politician. Governor of California
    Governor of California
    The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

     (2003-2011)
  • Maria Shriver
    Maria Shriver
    Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...

     - American journalist and author and formerly First Lady of California
  • Reese Witherspoon
    Reese Witherspoon
    Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...

     - American actress
  • Rosanne Barr - American actress

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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