Glendale

Not to be confused with the city of the same name in Arizona, Glendale is a city of 200,000 just to the north of Los Angeles. Not that well-known to outsiders, Los Angelinos view Glendale as a bastion of solid, suburban living. When we in So Cal think of Glendale, we think of sun coated banks on palm tree lined streets. We also think of lots and lots of Ranch Style homes and of classic homes from LA’s past.

Glendale remains, in fact, much of what it has been through my entire lifetime. It is still all of the things I mentioned above. Despite the spike in gang violence just to south of Glendale during the 1980s, Glendale managed to largely keep their gang problem under control. (There was a spike in Glendale as well but in was no where near the level of blood letting in the high gang neighborhoods to the south.) For example, in the last three year there have only been about a dozen murders recorded in the City of Glendale. If you take into consideration the population of the area—200,000, this is a remarkably low rate. (Oakland in Nor Cal, for example, routinely has murder counts rising into the triple digits in a single year and only has twice as many residents.) (The exception to this was 2005 when 19 murders happened in Glendale. Other than this there has not been more than half a dozen murders in the city in any year this decade.)

It did not do this by pricing out the poorer elements as some cities have done. Glendale’s population south of the Ventura Freeway is mostly working class and the neighborhoods are crowded. More than half of the population lives here in tightly packed apartment buildings that fill this area. Perhaps Glendale has just managed to apply the Broken Windows theory better than its southern neighborhoods. The streets in Glendale are just more generally well-kept than those to the south.

For a long time, Glendale was known as a fiercely white city, to the point of being more than a little scary for those of who were not WASPs. The neo-Nazi party in California, for example, largely based itself in Glendale where it found many disaffected recruits. As with most of California, however, Glendale has become a much more diverse city. As of the 2000 census, Latinos have become a major part of the city, accounting for a fifth of the overall Glendale population (two thirds were still white, but this number is sure to have declined by our current census).

One of the major demographic shifts to the city has been the influx of Armenians in the past years. The strong representation of Asians in the population stats may have a lot to do with Armenians choosing Glendale.

Glendale has also changed in terms of commerce. It is no longer just about the malls, though the Glendale Galleria is still going strong. There are now a number of ethnic restaurants and boutiques in the city.

Glendale also has a very strong business community. Glendale is definitely a satellite of Hollywood and the entertainment industry. It is the home of the Dreamworks and the Disney Studios (and the local ABC affiliate).

One of the strongest elements of Glendale however, is its residential communities. It has a little bit of everything as far as choices in neighborhoods. If you go far up to the northern end of Glendale, you can find lots of San Fernando Valley types neighborhoods in which to live—Ranch homes, Ranch homes and more Ranch homes. But just south of there is Montrose, a quaint upscale neighborhood. Montrose is at the top of the Highway 2 corridor that extends south in a hilly valley area that allows locals to feel at once secluded but close enough to the freeways to make it to work without much hassle.

Glendale’s western end is one of the most beautiful historic neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles. El Miradero, Glenwood, and Grandview are virtually a living museum of classic architectural styles. The palm tree lined streets here are sublimely beautiful. At the same time, Brand Park on the northern and Griffith Park on the south offer hiking trails, historical sites and the Griffith Observatory for young students and curious adults to enjoy.

The hilly eastern and far southern side of the city have great hillside homes and relatively low population densities for those that prefer more of a country feel. South of Ventura Freeway, the opposite is the case. Downtown Glendale and surrounding neighborhoods are for the most part a thick concentration of boxy apartment complexes, where people are stacked one atop another.

Put simply, you can find just about any kind of residential area in Glendale. It really is a metropolis onto itself. The only thing it really lacks is a really strong artistic or hipster presence—but with Silver Lake just to the west, they even might be said to have this covered.