Reseda, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Reseda is a San Fernando Valley
district in the city of Los Angeles
, California
.
of the Tongva tribe that lived close to the Los Angeles River
.
Reseda originated as a farm town named "Marian" (or "Rancho Marian") that appeared in 1912. Its namesake, Marian Otis Chandler
, was the daughter of Los Angeles Times
publisher Harrison Gray Otis, a director of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. H J Whitley was the manager of the Los Angeles Suburban Home Company. The Western Division of the Pacific Electric Railway
'Red Cars Line' expedited development after the Los Angeles Aqueduct
brought water to City of L.A. annexed Marion. About 1920, Reseda—named after a fragrant North African yellow-dye plant, Reseda odorata, whose English name is mignonette and which grows in hot, dry climates—replaced Marian as a designation for a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way. The name "Reseda" was given first to a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad
in the south San Fernando Valley
.
The population of early suburban Reseda was 1,805 in 1930 and 4,147 in 1940. By 1950, it had topped 16,000, but the construction of the Ventura Freeway
to downtown L.A. lay ten years in the future, and most Reseda residents still bought fresh eggs, milk, honey and vegetables at stands along Ventura Boulevard
.
. Its large ranches were sub-divided and the area was developed by realtors just as the veterans of World War II
were returning home. The earliest families came to live among orange groves which were successively plowed under in favor of housing. At the time, most of the jobs were in the Los Angeles Basin
, to the south, over the Santa Monica
mountains.
By 1950, the Valley's population reached 400,000. The average new Valley home, in 1949, cost $9,000. By 1955, that same house could be resold for nearly $15,000. But even at that price, a household income of $6,000 a year qualified, possible for many considering Valley incomes continued to be above the national average. There were restrictive covenants until the 1968 federal Fair Housing Act (part of the Civil Rights Act) however, excluding 'non-whites' from ownership.
By 1960, the average market value of a Valley home reached $18,850. During the 1970s, however, these costs and income patterns over the rest of the country began to reverse. Land and housing costs shot upward, while most incomes only crept. By the beginning of the 1980s, the average price of a home in the Valley reached $110,000. According to a 2004 study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census it has reached triple that of the beginning of the 1980s.
Although home values continued to increase, the Caucasian population stopped growing in the early 1980s. As the white population decreased due to aging and a lower birth rate, Latino
immigrants continued moving into the area. At the same time, a variety of factors led to a decreasing level of income, from discrimination
to gang
problems and the changing economy of the Los Angeles area that is losing blue collar unionized jobs. As a result, the neighborhood changed from a middle-class neighborhood back to its working-class roots.
, then a few hours later "somewhere near Northridge", and was pinpointed in Reseda (near the intersection of Wilbur Avenue and Saticoy Street) about a week later. By this point, however, the media had dubbed it the "Northridge" earthquake and the name stuck.
, the 91335 ZIP Code, which includes Reseda and other areas, had 68,002 people (estimated 77,250 in 2006) and 22,811 households. The ethnic makeup of Reseda was
34.6% White,
65.2% Hispanic
/Latino
,
9.8% African American,
0.8% American Indian
or Alaskan Native
,
11.0% Asian American
,
0.1% Pacific Islander
, and
6.15% two or more races. 91335's median age was 33 years with an average household size of 3.05 persons. Median household income in 1999 was $40,792.
In 2009, the Los Angeles Times
s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Reseda neighborhood statistics: population: 62,174; median household income: $54,771.
, Tuff Turf
, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
, with its car chase scenes down the channel of the Los Angeles River
.
Filmation Associates, an animation studio that created cartoons
and live-action programs for network television and first-run syndication from 1963-1989, was based in Reseda.
In the 1984 film The Karate Kid, character Daniel LaRusso, played by Ralph Macchio
, had just moved to Reseda from New Jersey. The apartment building that Daniel lived in is on Saticoy Street (just east of Tampa Avenue), and the scene where Daniel is being chased in the empty field is next to the apartment building.
Reseda is mentioned in the Tom Petty
song "Free Fallin'
", Soul Coughing
's "Screenwriter's Blues", and The Mountain Goats
' "High Doses #2". The 1974 Frank Zappa
and The Mothers of Invention
release Roxy & Elsewhere
contains, on the song "Dummy Up", a reference to the city as Napoleon Murphy Brock
's character is asked where he is from during a vamp in the song and he is scoffed at by Zappa when he replies he is from Reseda. Also, the Zappa-produced album Trout Mask Replica
by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band contains a reference to the city at the end of the track "Hair Pie: Bake 1". Don Van Vliet asks a girl and boy where they've moved from, to which the boy replies, "Reseda". Van Vliet responds by saying, "She's nice".
In the film Boogie Nights
, the night club scenes were filmed at The Country Club (was A Savons Drugstore in the 1960s, now a church) on Sherman Way, a block east of Reseda Boulevard. The long opening shot tracks from the marquee of The Reseda Theatre (actually long closed) down the block and across a side street to the club entrance, then inside. The donut shop holdup takes place several blocks east of the club, which is the donut shop on Sherman Way called Miss Donuts, which used to be a Winchell's Donuts
; the scene where Dirk Diggler prostitutes himself in a pickup truck was filmed in the Bank of America
parking lot across the street from the donut shop.
Several prominent scenes from the 1999 film Magnolia
, also directed by Anderson, were filmed near the intersection of Sherman Way and Reseda, about half a block away from The Country Club.
The 1995 film A Kid in King Arthur's Court
places the home of the main character in Reseda. Both the beginning and ending scenes of the movie ostensibly take place on a baseball field in Reseda.
In the film Erin Brockovich
, certain scenes were filmed near Sherman Way and Yolanda Avenue.
The 1996 film Escape From L.A.
starring Kurt Russell
was filmed in and around the portion of the Los Angeles River
that runs through Reseda.
The show My Name is Earl
is often filmed in Reseda, captured to look like rural small town America. One episode about a hot dog stand was filmed at the Home Plate Burgers on the corner of Saticoy Street and Reseda Boulevard. Home Plate Burgers was also in an episode of The Office.
The song "Errol Flynn", written by Amanda McBroom and performed by Barbara Cook on her 1994 album Live from London, contains a reference to Reseda as the hometown of the singer and her actor father.
The show 10 Items or Less is filmed in an actual store in Reseda (Jons Marketplace), often using real customers as extras.
In a season-three episode of Angel
called "Birthday", Cordelia's vision leads her to visit a girl that lives in Reseda.
The band Hoobastank
filmed their cover song of "Ghostbusters
" in Reseda.
The band Paramore
filmed their platinum selling song "Misery Business
" in Reseda High School.
In the 1973 film Sleeper
by Woody Allen
, the scenes of the futuristic cars driving were filmed in the Los Angeles River wash that runs through Balboa Park near White Oak. This area was part of Reseda at that time, but now is part of Encino.
In an episode of "Awkward" the main charachters Jenna and Maddy went on their first official date at a restaurant in Reseda
The Sav On, previously mentioned (it was actually there in the 1950's) was where we kids would go to stock up on candy, three candy bars for a quarter, before the start of the movie.
Also, next door, was a donut shop with a giant donut on top. In a tragic move, that giant donut was torn down when a corner gas station replaced the donut shop. Also, on the other side of Sherman Way, was a roller rink.
Some talk continues as to restoring the theater similarly to the city-owned theater in next-door Canoga Park, and the theater's image graces the local neighborhood council's banners on Reseda Bl and Sherman Way.
Station 73 (Reseda) and Station 100 (West Van Nuys/Lake Balboa) serve the community.
Los Angeles Police Department
operates the nearby West Valley Community Police Station.
's branch post office at 7320 Reseda Boulevard. On October 14, 2006, the branch office was renamed the Coach John Wooden
Post Office on Wooden's 96th birthday, in honor of the late UCLA basketball coach who lived in nearby Encino and whose daughter lives in Reseda.
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Like other areas of Los Angeles, Reseda is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District
.
Vanalden Early Education Center is in the community.
Comprehensive elementary schools in Reseda include Bertrand Avenue Elementary School, Blythe Street Elementary School, Cantara Street Elementary School, Garden Grove Elementary School, Melvin Avenue Elementary School, Newcastle Elementary School, Reseda Elementary School, Shirley Avenue Elementary School, Calvert Elementary School (in Woodland Hills), and Vanalden Avenue Elementary School (in Tarzana).
Comprehensive middle schools serving the area include Mulholland Middle School (in Lake Balboa
), Northridge Middle School (in Northridge
), and Sutter Middle School (Winnetka
).
Comprehensive high school
s serving the area include Reseda High School
and Grover Cleveland High School
. Northridge Academy High School
takes some students from the Cleveland zone.
The Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies
(SOCES), formerly Sequoia Junior High School lies adjacent to Reseda Park; it is not in or near the community of Sherman Oaks
, its former location. Sven Lokrantz Special Education Center, a Kindergarten-through-1st-grade special school, is in Reseda.
Magnolia Science Academy 1, a charter school
founded in 2002, is located near the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and Sherman Way.
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...
district in the city of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, 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...
.
History
The area now known as Reseda was originally inhabited by Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
of the Tongva tribe that lived close to the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
.
Reseda originated as a farm town named "Marian" (or "Rancho Marian") that appeared in 1912. Its namesake, Marian Otis Chandler
Marian Otis Chandler
Marian Otis Chandler was the secretary and a director of the Times-Mirror Company, which published the Los Angeles Times.-Biography:...
, was the daughter of 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....
publisher Harrison Gray Otis, a director of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. H J Whitley was the manager of the Los Angeles Suburban Home Company. The Western Division of the 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...
'Red Cars Line' expedited development after the Los Angeles Aqueduct
Los Angeles Aqueduct
The Los Angeles Aqueduct system comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power...
brought water to City of L.A. annexed Marion. About 1920, Reseda—named after a fragrant North African yellow-dye plant, Reseda odorata, whose English name is mignonette and which grows in hot, dry climates—replaced Marian as a designation for a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way. The name "Reseda" was given first to a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
in the south 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...
.
The population of early suburban Reseda was 1,805 in 1930 and 4,147 in 1940. By 1950, it had topped 16,000, but the construction of the Ventura Freeway
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From Ventura to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San...
to downtown L.A. lay ten years in the future, and most Reseda residents still bought fresh eggs, milk, honey and vegetables at stands along Ventura Boulevard
Ventura Boulevard
Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley, USA; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real , Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S...
.
Development into a Post-War suburb
Reseda was one of the first suburbs in the San Fernando ValleySan 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...
. Its large ranches were sub-divided and the area was developed by realtors just as the veterans of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
were returning home. The earliest families came to live among orange groves which were successively plowed under in favor of housing. At the time, most of the jobs were in the Los Angeles Basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
, to the south, over the Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
mountains.
By 1950, the Valley's population reached 400,000. The average new Valley home, in 1949, cost $9,000. By 1955, that same house could be resold for nearly $15,000. But even at that price, a household income of $6,000 a year qualified, possible for many considering Valley incomes continued to be above the national average. There were restrictive covenants until the 1968 federal Fair Housing Act (part of the Civil Rights Act) however, excluding 'non-whites' from ownership.
By 1960, the average market value of a Valley home reached $18,850. During the 1970s, however, these costs and income patterns over the rest of the country began to reverse. Land and housing costs shot upward, while most incomes only crept. By the beginning of the 1980s, the average price of a home in the Valley reached $110,000. According to a 2004 study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census it has reached triple that of the beginning of the 1980s.
Although home values continued to increase, the Caucasian population stopped growing in the early 1980s. As the white population decreased due to aging and a lower birth rate, Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
immigrants continued moving into the area. At the same time, a variety of factors led to a decreasing level of income, from discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
to gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
problems and the changing economy of the Los Angeles area that is losing blue collar unionized jobs. As a result, the neighborhood changed from a middle-class neighborhood back to its working-class roots.
Northridge earthquake
It is not widely known that the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake was actually in Reseda. The epicenter at first was reported as being in San FernandoSan Fernando, California
San Fernando is a city located in the San Fernando Valley, in northwestern region of Los Angeles, California, United States. The population was 23,645 at the 2010 census, up from 23,564 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, then a few hours later "somewhere near Northridge", and was pinpointed in Reseda (near the intersection of Wilbur Avenue and Saticoy Street) about a week later. By this point, however, the media had dubbed it the "Northridge" earthquake and the name stuck.
Demographics
As of the 2000 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, the 91335 ZIP Code, which includes Reseda and other areas, had 68,002 people (estimated 77,250 in 2006) and 22,811 households. The ethnic makeup of Reseda was
34.6% White,
65.2% Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
/Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
,
9.8% African American,
0.8% American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
or Alaskan Native
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
,
11.0% 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,...
,
0.1% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...
, and
6.15% two or more races. 91335's median age was 33 years with an average household size of 3.05 persons. Median household income in 1999 was $40,792.
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 Reseda neighborhood statistics: population: 62,174; median household income: $54,771.
Television, movies, and music
A number of motion pictures have been produced and set in Reseda and other parts of the San Fernando Valley. Films set in Reseda include The Karate Kid, Boogie NightsBoogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
, Tuff Turf
Tuff Turf
Tuff Turf is a 1985 American drama film starring James Spader and Kim Richards. The film was released in the United States on January 11, 1985.-Plot:...
, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, with its car chase scenes down the channel of the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
.
Filmation Associates, an animation studio that created cartoons
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
and live-action programs for network television and first-run syndication from 1963-1989, was based in Reseda.
In the 1984 film The Karate Kid, character Daniel LaRusso, played by Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio
Ralph George Macchio is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his season five recurring role as Jeremy Andretti on the...
, had just moved to Reseda from New Jersey. The apartment building that Daniel lived in is on Saticoy Street (just east of Tampa Avenue), and the scene where Daniel is being chased in the empty field is next to the apartment building.
Reseda is mentioned in the Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
song "Free Fallin'
Free Fallin'
"Free Fallin" is the opening track from Tom Petty's 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever. The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne...
", Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...
's "Screenwriter's Blues", and The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
' "High Doses #2". The 1974 Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
release Roxy & Elsewhere
Roxy & Elsewhere
Roxy & Elsewhere is a live album by Frank Zappa & The Mothers which was released in 1974. Most of the songs were recorded at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973...
contains, on the song "Dummy Up", a reference to the city as Napoleon Murphy Brock
Napoleon Murphy Brock
Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums One Size Fits All, Roxy and Elsewhere, and Bongo Fury...
's character is asked where he is from during a vamp in the song and he is scoffed at by Zappa when he replies he is from Reseda. Also, the Zappa-produced album Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica is the third album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in June 1969. Produced by Beefheart's friend and former schoolmate Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album on Zappa's Straight Records label...
by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band contains a reference to the city at the end of the track "Hair Pie: Bake 1". Don Van Vliet asks a girl and boy where they've moved from, to which the boy replies, "Reseda". Van Vliet responds by saying, "She's nice".
In the film Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
, the night club scenes were filmed at The Country Club (was A Savons Drugstore in the 1960s, now a church) on Sherman Way, a block east of Reseda Boulevard. The long opening shot tracks from the marquee of The Reseda Theatre (actually long closed) down the block and across a side street to the club entrance, then inside. The donut shop holdup takes place several blocks east of the club, which is the donut shop on Sherman Way called Miss Donuts, which used to be a Winchell's Donuts
Winchell's Donuts
Winchell's Donuts is an international doughnut company founded by Verne Winchell on October 8, 1948, in Temple City, California. , there are over 170 stores in 12 western states, as well as Guam, Saipan, and Saudi Arabia. Several stores also operated in Nagoya, Japan in the past, with most stores...
; the scene where Dirk Diggler prostitutes himself in a pickup truck was filmed in the Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
parking lot across the street from the donut shop.
Several prominent scenes from the 1999 film Magnolia
Magnolia (film)
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
, also directed by Anderson, were filmed near the intersection of Sherman Way and Reseda, about half a block away from The Country Club.
The 1995 film A Kid in King Arthur's Court
A Kid in King Arthur's Court
A Kid in King Arthur's Court is a 1995 film directed by Michael Gottlieb. It is based on the famous Mark Twain novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, transplanted into the twentieth century....
places the home of the main character in Reseda. Both the beginning and ending scenes of the movie ostensibly take place on a baseball field in Reseda.
In the film Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, or any legal education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company of California in 1993...
, certain scenes were filmed near Sherman Way and Yolanda Avenue.
The 1996 film Escape From L.A.
Escape from L.A.
Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...
starring Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
was filmed in and around the portion of the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
that runs through Reseda.
The show My Name is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
is often filmed in Reseda, captured to look like rural small town America. One episode about a hot dog stand was filmed at the Home Plate Burgers on the corner of Saticoy Street and Reseda Boulevard. Home Plate Burgers was also in an episode of The Office.
The song "Errol Flynn", written by Amanda McBroom and performed by Barbara Cook on her 1994 album Live from London, contains a reference to Reseda as the hometown of the singer and her actor father.
The show 10 Items or Less is filmed in an actual store in Reseda (Jons Marketplace), often using real customers as extras.
In a season-three episode of Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
called "Birthday", Cordelia's vision leads her to visit a girl that lives in Reseda.
The band Hoobastank
Hoobastank
Hoobastank is an American rock band, best known for their 2004 hit "The Reason" and other hits "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away". They formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, with singer Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and original bassist Markku Lappalainen. They...
filmed their cover song of "Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters (song)
"Ghostbusters" is a 1984 song recorded by Ray Parker, Jr. as the theme to the film of the same name starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11 in 1984, and stayed there for three weeks...
" in Reseda.
The band Paramore
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis, and guitarist Taylor York...
filmed their platinum selling song "Misery Business
Misery Business
"Misery Business" is a song by American rock band Paramore, and is the lead single from their second studio album, Riot!. "Misery Business" was the third Paramore video to be directed by Shane Drake, and was nominated for the "Best Video" award at the Kerrang! Awards 2007, but lost to Fall Out...
" in Reseda High School.
In the 1973 film Sleeper
Sleeper (film)
Sleeper is a 1973 futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman, and directed by Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner of a Greenwich Village, NY health food store played by Woody Allen who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200...
by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, the scenes of the futuristic cars driving were filmed in the Los Angeles River wash that runs through Balboa Park near White Oak. This area was part of Reseda at that time, but now is part of Encino.
In an episode of "Awkward" the main charachters Jenna and Maddy went on their first official date at a restaurant in Reseda
Features
- Reseda is home to a large duck pond that lies inside Reseda Park at the corner of Reseda and Victory Boulevards. During the 1950s and 1960s, the duck pond also had a boathouse where one could rent electric boats by the hour.
- The Reseda Country Club, of Boogie Nights fame, was a legendary concert venue during the Los Angeles Punk Rock and New Wave scenes of the 1980s. Located at the intersection of Canby Avenue and Sherman Way, the Country Club was host to bands, including Oingo BoingoOingo BoingoOingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
, U2U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Culture ClubCulture ClubCulture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Roxy MusicRoxy MusicRoxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
from 1980 to 1982. The site started out as a Savons Drug store in the 1950s and then became a club and remained a music venue throughout the 1990s, but later became a Spanish-language Christian church.
- The Reseda Theater, 18443 Sherman Way, was built in 1948 and closed in 1988. The exterior was briefly seen at the beginning of the film Boogie NightsBoogie NightsBoogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
(1997) with Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
and Burt ReynoldsBurt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
.
The Sav On, previously mentioned (it was actually there in the 1950's) was where we kids would go to stock up on candy, three candy bars for a quarter, before the start of the movie.
Also, next door, was a donut shop with a giant donut on top. In a tragic move, that giant donut was torn down when a corner gas station replaced the donut shop. Also, on the other side of Sherman Way, was a roller rink.
Some talk continues as to restoring the theater similarly to the city-owned theater in next-door Canoga Park, and the theater's image graces the local neighborhood council's banners on Reseda Bl and Sherman Way.
Local government
Los Angeles Fire DepartmentLos 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 73 (Reseda) and Station 100 (West Van Nuys/Lake Balboa) serve the community.
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 nearby West Valley Community Police Station.
County, state, and federal representation
Mail services are provided by the United States Postal ServiceUnited 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...
's branch post office at 7320 Reseda Boulevard. On October 14, 2006, the branch office was renamed the Coach John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
Post Office on Wooden's 96th birthday, in honor of the late UCLA basketball coach who lived in nearby Encino and whose daughter lives in Reseda.
Public schools
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...
.
Vanalden Early Education Center is in the community.
Comprehensive elementary schools in Reseda include Bertrand Avenue Elementary School, Blythe Street Elementary School, Cantara Street Elementary School, Garden Grove Elementary School, Melvin Avenue Elementary School, Newcastle Elementary School, Reseda Elementary School, Shirley Avenue Elementary School, Calvert Elementary School (in Woodland Hills), and Vanalden Avenue Elementary School (in Tarzana).
Comprehensive middle schools serving the area include Mulholland Middle School (in Lake Balboa
Lake Balboa, Los Angeles, California
Lake Balboa is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.It is bordered by the following Los Angeles communities: Encino to the south, Van Nuys to the east, Reseda to the west, and Northridge and North Hills to the north.There was debate about the official...
), Northridge Middle School (in Northridge
Northridge, Los Angeles, California
Northridge is a community located in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.The 1994 Northridge earthquake is named for the place based on early estimates of the location of the quake's epicenter; however, further refinements showed it to be technically...
), and Sutter Middle School (Winnetka
Winnetka, Los Angeles, California
Winnetka is a district in the west-central San Fernando Valley in the City of Los Angeles.Winnetka is located next to Canoga Park on the west, Woodland Hills on the south, Chatsworth to the north, and Reseda to the east...
).
Comprehensive high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s serving the area include Reseda High School
Reseda High School
Reseda High School, established in 1955, is located in the Reseda section of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.The school currently is home to the Reseda High School Science Magnet HS and the Reseda Police Academy Magnet HS, in addition to Reseda High's four small learning...
and Grover Cleveland High School
Cleveland High School (Los Angeles, California)
Grover Cleveland High School is a public school serving grades 9-12. Cleveland Humanities Magnet is part of Cleveland High School. The school is located in Reseda, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California....
. Northridge Academy High School
Northridge Academy High School
Northridge Academy High School is a public high school located in Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA.-Overview:The school is administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District...
takes some students from the Cleveland zone.
The Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies is a public school in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, United States....
(SOCES), formerly Sequoia Junior High School lies adjacent to Reseda Park; it is not in or near the community of Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California
Sherman Oaks is an affluent district in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of Los Angeles, California. In contrast to much of the Valley, the area is relatively urbanized, with commercial skyscrapers along Ventura Boulevard as well as scattered throughout...
, its former location. Sven Lokrantz Special Education Center, a Kindergarten-through-1st-grade special school, is in Reseda.
Magnolia Science Academy 1, a charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
founded in 2002, is located near the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and Sherman Way.
Parks and recreation
Reseda Park is located in Reseda. It has barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room with a capacity of 200, a duck pond, picnic tables, an outdoor unheated seasonal pool, table tennis, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts. The West Valley Senior Citizen's Center is located in Reseda. The center is operated and staffed by volunteers. Some programs for the senior center are operated through the park. Reseda Park Lake has a duck pond and an ornamental lake for fishing.External links
- The Reseda Neighborhood Council
- Americassuburb.com: historical blog that catalogs early valley history
- Community news, trivia, photos and links
- Reseda High School History, Class of 1969, & links to other classes
- http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISORESTMP=results.php&CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer.php&CISOMODE=thumb&CISOGRID=thumbnail%2CA%2C1%3Btitle%2CA%2C1%3Bsubjec%2CA%2C0%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%3B20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOBIB=title%2CA%2C1%2CN%3Bsubjec%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3B20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTHUMB=20+%284x5%29%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTITLE=20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOHIERA=20%3Bsubjec%2Ctitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOBOX1=Reseda&CISOROOT=%2FSFVHCSUN Oviatt Library online historical Photo Archives - Reseda collection]