Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Toluca Lake is a district, 12 miles (19.3 km) north of downtown Los Angeles
, in the San Fernando Valley
region of the city of Los Angeles
, California
, and a "community within two communities, North Hollywood and Burbank
".
Toluca Lake started out as Forman Toluca Ranch, a ranch
known for its crops of peaches, apples and walnuts, but after development is currently home to affluent residents, many of whom work as part of nearby Hollywood's film industry
.
straddling the city of Burbank
, the Los Angeles district of North Hollywood, and near the unincorporated county area of Universal City
, at the northern base of the Hollywood Hills
section of the Santa Monica Mountains
.
The area’s historic boundaries were Cahuenga Boulevard, Camarillo Street, Clybourn Avenue, and the Los Angeles River
, but have been widened to Vineland between the 170 freeway and the Los Angeles River and it is located between two major film and television production studios, Universal Studios
to the south and Warner Bros.
to the east. The Santa Monica Mountains
surround the area.
The geologic Toluca Lake is a 6 acres (2.4 ha) body of water located near the district’s southeastern boundaries. The historic natural lake was fed by springs
of upwelling groundwater
from the substantial Los Angeles River and San Fernando Valley subterranean
aquifer
s. Late 19th and 20th century L. A. DWP
well extraction and 1930s concrete river channelization
lowered the water table, and currently community wells at the lake’s edges maintain the water level. The bottom of the lake is surfaced with four inches (102 mm) of asphalt concrete
to prevent seepage. Owned by the surrounding homeowners, the lake has been maintained by the Toluca Lake Property Owners Association, a non-profit corporation
established in 1934. The lake, surrounded by private residences and the Lakeside Golf Club, is inaccessible to the public.
’s “Mapping L.A.” project supplied these Toluca Lake neighborhood statistics: population: 7,782; median household income: $73,111.
and Los Angeles basin
, for 8,000 years. The Tongvan settlement Cahuenga
used the springs and marsh for water, fishing, hunting, harvesting, and building supplies (tule plants).
After the Spanish conquest in the 1790s of Las Californias
the San Fernando Valley
, including the "Toluca Lake locale" became the extended property of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España
. After the 1823 Independence of Mexico
, the secularization
of missions in Alta California
included the issuing of a Mexican land grant
for Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando
. The extreme eastern end of the lake was within the 1843 Rancho Providencia
grant to Vincente de la Osa. In 1862. Pío Pico
sold his share of the Ex-San Fernando Mission land, the entire southern half of the Valley below Roscoe Boulevard, to Isaac Lankershim (operating as the "San Fernando Farm Homestead Association") in 1869. In 1873, Isaac Lankershim's son James Boon (J. B.) Lankershim, and future son-in-law, Isaac Newton Van Nuys
, took over management of the property, including the lake at Toluca. During the 1880s, the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association was succeeded by the "Los Angeles Farm & Milling Company".
In 1893, a petition was filed with the U.S. Postal Service
for the area's first post office
, to be named "Toluca Post Office". General Charles Forman, a wealthy local landowner and one of the proponents of the petition, later stated that he had chosen the name "Toluca" from a Paiute Indian
word meaning "fertile" or "beautiful" valley. Though part of a larger area traditionally called "Lankershim" after a Colonel of the same name — and with a Southern Pacific Railroad
train station named "Lankershim" also opened in 1893 across from the post office — Forman called his own ranch and the surrounding land "Toluca".
One of the wealthiest men in Nevada
, Forman had made his fortune from nothing, starting in mining, then cattle ranching, and then lumber. Falling in love with and marrying Los Angeles native Mary Agnes Gray, he soon moved to the area in the late 1880s and started the Kern River Company, a power company which delivered electricity from generators at the Kern River
to Los Angeles. He also bought a large parcel of rich farm land, which included much of modern day Toluca Lake and at least the western portion of the "ancient and historical" marshy pond now called Toluca Lake. By 1923, the Forman Toluca Lake Ranch was a flourishing producer of peaches, apples and walnuts. That year, investors bought and developed the land as "Toluca Lake Park". This initial venture failed, but a new group soon took over, renaming the development company "The Toluca Lake Company". With a "vision of creating a first 'bedroom community' for Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley", the company formally changed the name of the community to simply Toluca Lake, and adopted as their logo the "swan on rippled water" image still associated with the community today.
The name Lankershim also was considered for the town. Colonel J. B. Lankershim established the town site of Toluca at the eastern edge of the family's vast holdings in 1888. During the late 1890s, the town name Lankershim had replaced Toluca. By 1927, the lure of Hollywood inspired local merchants to launch a campaign to change the community's name to North Hollywood. The original town site of Toluca is now part of Toluca Lake.
Aviator Amelia Earhart
lived in Toluca Lake on Valley Spring Lane after marrying flamboyant publishing magnate George P. Putnam
in 1931. The Spanish colonial-style home, which still exists today, features a front-yard tree under which she signed her round-the-world flight plan. She made her home in Toluca Lake because the best aircraft in the world were being designed and built nearby at the Lockheed
plant in Burbank. Entertainer Bob Hope
moved to Toluca Lake in the late 1930s and lived there until his death in 2003 at the age of 100. In the 1938 Little Rascals film Three Men in a Tub
, the kids hold a regatta on the lake, which is shown to be still largely surrounded by open country at that time. In 1945, Frank Sinatra
and his family moved into a house in Toluca Lake and spent weekends at their Lone Palm Hotel in Palm Springs. The house was located down the street from where Earhart had lived. Former actor and 40th President
of the United States
Ronald Reagan
had his wedding reception with second wife Nancy Reagan
at the Toluca Lake home of actor (and best man) William Holden
on March 4, 1952.
in the Los Angeles City Council
and Mike Gatto
in the California State Assembly
. NBC-4
weatherman
Fritz Coleman
is the honorary mayor of Toluca Lake.
Toluca Lake homeowner groups have recently begun mobilizing against a proposed development in North Hollywood by NBC-Universal and Thomas Properties Group. The Metro Studio Project involves upwards of 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) of space and would house employees leaving NBC's Burbank facility. The project also proposes a Times Square
-style supergraphics and digital illuminated billboards. It would be built partly on land for which NBC Universal has a lease agreement from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
. Given the current recession, there have been signs the project may be delayed indefinitely. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
has yet to act on the proposal, and Environmental Impact Reports are not finalized.
, and Toluca Lake Elementary School is within its borders.
, is the oldest in America; it is just beyond the boundary of Toluca Lake and is often misidentified as being located there.
St. Charles Borromeo Church of North Hollywood
, is attended by various well-known Toluca Lake residents and has played host to several celebrity weddings and funerals, including the funerals of Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour
. Choir director Paul Salamunovich
was the former director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale
.
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, 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...
region of 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...
, and a "community within two communities, North Hollywood and Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
".
Toluca Lake started out as Forman Toluca Ranch, a ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
known for its crops of peaches, apples and walnuts, but after development is currently home to affluent residents, many of whom work as part of nearby Hollywood's film industry
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
.
Geography
Toluca Lake is situated in the southeastern 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...
straddling the city of Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, the Los Angeles district of North Hollywood, and near the unincorporated county area of Universal City
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
, at the northern base of the Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
section 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:...
.
The area’s historic boundaries were Cahuenga Boulevard, Camarillo Street, Clybourn Avenue, and 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...
, but have been widened to Vineland between the 170 freeway and the Los Angeles River and it is located between two major film and television production studios, Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
to the south and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
to the east. 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:...
surround the area.
The geologic Toluca Lake is a 6 acres (2.4 ha) body of water located near the district’s southeastern boundaries. The historic natural lake was fed by springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
of upwelling groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
from the substantial Los Angeles River and San Fernando Valley subterranean
Subterranea (geography)
Subterranea refers to underground structures, both natural and man-made . Some subterranea include:* Bunker* Casemate* Catacombs* Caves** Ice caves* Cave dwellings, Cave house* Cave temple* Cellar* Cenote* Dungeon...
aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
s. Late 19th and 20th century L. A. DWP
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving over four million residents. It was founded in 1902 to supply water and electricity to residents and businesses in Los Angeles and surrounding communities...
well extraction and 1930s concrete river channelization
Flood control channel
Flood control channels are a series of large and empty open-air channels that extend a ways below the street levels of some larger cities, so that if and when a flood occurs, the flood will run into the channels, and proceed to be drained to the proper body of water...
lowered the water table, and currently community wells at the lake’s edges maintain the water level. The bottom of the lake is surfaced with four inches (102 mm) of asphalt concrete
Asphalt concrete
Asphalt concrete is a composite material commonly used in construction projects such as road surfaces, airports and parking lots. It consists of asphalt and mineral aggregate mixed together, then laid down in layers and compacted...
to prevent seepage. Owned by the surrounding homeowners, the lake has been maintained by the Toluca Lake Property Owners Association, a non-profit corporation
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
established in 1934. The lake, surrounded by private residences and the Lakeside Golf Club, is inaccessible to the public.
Demographics
In 2009, the Los Angeles TimesLos 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 Toluca Lake neighborhood statistics: population: 7,782; median household income: $73,111.
History
The Tongva people lived in the locale, and 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...
and 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...
, for 8,000 years. The Tongvan settlement Cahuenga
Cahuenga, California
Cahuenga or "place of the hill" is a former Tongva and Tataviam Native American settlement in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California....
used the springs and marsh for water, fishing, hunting, harvesting, and building supplies (tule plants).
After the Spanish conquest in the 1790s of Las Californias
Las Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
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...
, including the "Toluca Lake locale" became the extended property of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España
Mission San Fernando Rey de España
Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary" , 1797. The settlement is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, near the site of the first gold discovery in Alta California.-History:Mission San Fernando Rey de...
. After the 1823 Independence of Mexico
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, the secularization
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
of missions in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
included the issuing of a Mexican land grant
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
for Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando
Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando
Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California granted in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Eulogio de Celis...
. The extreme eastern end of the lake was within the 1843 Rancho Providencia
Rancho Providencia
Rancho La Providencia was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given by governor Juan B. Alvarado in 1843 to Vincente de la Osa. The majority of Rancho Providencia land north of the modern channel of the Los Angeles River is now part of Burbank. The street grid...
grant to Vincente de la Osa. In 1862. Pío Pico
Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
sold his share of the Ex-San Fernando Mission land, the entire southern half of the Valley below Roscoe Boulevard, to Isaac Lankershim (operating as the "San Fernando Farm Homestead Association") in 1869. In 1873, Isaac Lankershim's son James Boon (J. B.) Lankershim, and future son-in-law, Isaac Newton Van Nuys
Isaac Newton Van Nuys
Isaac Newton Van Nuys was an American businessman, real estate developer, banker, and agricultural entrepreneur. He founded the community of Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California in 1911...
, took over management of the property, including the lake at Toluca. During the 1880s, the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association was succeeded by the "Los Angeles Farm & Milling Company".
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...
for the area's first post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, to be named "Toluca Post Office". General Charles Forman, a wealthy local landowner and one of the proponents of the petition, later stated that he had chosen the name "Toluca" from a Paiute Indian
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
word meaning "fertile" or "beautiful" valley. Though part of a larger area traditionally called "Lankershim" after a Colonel of the same name — and with a 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....
train station named "Lankershim" also opened in 1893 across from the post office — Forman called his own ranch and the surrounding land "Toluca".
One of the wealthiest men in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Forman had made his fortune from nothing, starting in mining, then cattle ranching, and then lumber. Falling in love with and marrying Los Angeles native Mary Agnes Gray, he soon moved to the area in the late 1880s and started the Kern River Company, a power company which delivered electricity from generators at the Kern River
Kern River
The Kern River is a river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for...
to Los Angeles. He also bought a large parcel of rich farm land, which included much of modern day Toluca Lake and at least the western portion of the "ancient and historical" marshy pond now called Toluca Lake. By 1923, the Forman Toluca Lake Ranch was a flourishing producer of peaches, apples and walnuts. That year, investors bought and developed the land as "Toluca Lake Park". This initial venture failed, but a new group soon took over, renaming the development company "The Toluca Lake Company". With a "vision of creating a first 'bedroom community' for Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley", the company formally changed the name of the community to simply Toluca Lake, and adopted as their logo the "swan on rippled water" image still associated with the community today.
The name Lankershim also was considered for the town. Colonel J. B. Lankershim established the town site of Toluca at the eastern edge of the family's vast holdings in 1888. During the late 1890s, the town name Lankershim had replaced Toluca. By 1927, the lure of Hollywood inspired local merchants to launch a campaign to change the community's name to North Hollywood. The original town site of Toluca is now part of Toluca Lake.
Aviator Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
lived in Toluca Lake on Valley Spring Lane after marrying flamboyant publishing magnate George P. Putnam
George P. Putnam
George Palmer Putnam was an American publisher, author and explorer. Known for his marriage to and being the widower of Amelia Earhart, he had also achieved fame as one of the most successful promoters in the United States during the 1930s.-Early life:Born in Rye, New York, he was the son of John...
in 1931. The Spanish colonial-style home, which still exists today, features a front-yard tree under which she signed her round-the-world flight plan. She made her home in Toluca Lake because the best aircraft in the world were being designed and built nearby at the Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
plant in Burbank. Entertainer Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
moved to Toluca Lake in the late 1930s and lived there until his death in 2003 at the age of 100. In the 1938 Little Rascals film Three Men in a Tub
Three Men in a Tub
Three Men in a Tub is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Nate Watt. It was the 164th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
, the kids hold a regatta on the lake, which is shown to be still largely surrounded by open country at that time. In 1945, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and his family moved into a house in Toluca Lake and spent weekends at their Lone Palm Hotel in Palm Springs. The house was located down the street from where Earhart had lived. Former actor and 40th President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
had his wedding reception with second wife Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
at the Toluca Lake home of actor (and best man) William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
on March 4, 1952.
Politics
Toluca Lake is represented by City Councilman Tom LaBongeTom LaBonge
Thomas J. "Tom" LaBonge is an American politician. He is a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 4th district. He has served since 2001, taking over the position upon the death of John Ferraro. The district represents a wide diversity of incomes and neighborhoods...
in 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...
and Mike Gatto
Mike Gatto
Michael Anthony "Mike" Gatto is an American public official. In June 2010, after a series of three elections in eight weeks , the voters of the 43rd Assembly District elected Gatto to the California State Assembly...
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...
. NBC-4
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
weatherman
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
Fritz Coleman
Fritz Coleman
Fritz Coleman is a weathercaster for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, California and KNSD-TV in San Diego, California....
is the honorary mayor of Toluca Lake.
Toluca Lake homeowner groups have recently begun mobilizing against a proposed development in North Hollywood by NBC-Universal and Thomas Properties Group. The Metro Studio Project involves upwards of 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) of space and would house employees leaving NBC's Burbank facility. The project also proposes a Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
-style supergraphics and digital illuminated billboards. It would be built partly on land for which NBC Universal has a lease agreement from the 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...
. Given the current recession, there have been signs the project may be delayed indefinitely. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five-member nonpartisan governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district. They were as of December 2, 2008:*District 1: Gloria Molina...
has yet to act on the proposal, and Environmental Impact Reports are not finalized.
Education
Toluca Lake is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School DistrictLos 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...
, and Toluca Lake Elementary School is within its borders.
Nearby points of interest
Toluca Lake is known for a point of interest located in Burbank: a Bob's Big Boy. The Burbank restaurant, a California Point of Historical InterestCalifornia Point of Historical Interest
California Points of Historical Interest are sites, buildings, features, or events that are of local significance and have anthropological, cultural, military, political, architectural, economic, scientific or technical, religious, experimental, or other value...
, is the oldest in America; it is just beyond the boundary of Toluca Lake and is often misidentified as being located there.
St. Charles Borromeo Church of North Hollywood
St. Charles Borromeo Church (North Hollywood)
St. Charles Borromeo Church is a Catholic church and elementary school located at Moorpark and Lankershim in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest parishes in the San Fernando Valley dating back to 1921...
, is attended by various well-known Toluca Lake residents and has played host to several celebrity weddings and funerals, including the funerals of Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
. Choir director Paul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich KCSG is an American choral conductor and educator.He is the Music Director Emeritus of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, after having served as Music Director from 1991 to 2001. He served as Director of Music at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, California, for 60...
was the former director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Los Angeles Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
.