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This article is about the neighborhood in Los Angeles. For the city in Contra Costa County, see Brentwood, California.
Brentwood is an affluent district in western Los Angeles, California, United States; it is not to be confused with Brentwood, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California nor the Brentwood area of Victorville city, California. Located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State Park on the west and Mulholland Drive along the ridgeline of the mountains on the north. Nearby neighborhoods and cities include Pacific Palisades on the west, Santa Monica on the southwest, West Los Angeles on the south, Sawtelle on the southeast, Westwood on the east, Bel-Air on the northeast and Encino on the north. Brentwood's ZIP code is 90049, which includes Brentwood and part of Bel-Air Estates (the other section of Bel-Air Estates is located in the 90077 zip code). It is addressed, Los Angeles, CA 90049 to avoid confusion with Brentwood in Northern California.
[edit] HistoryThe area that is now Brentwood was part of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, a Spanish land-grant ranch sold off in pieces to Anglos after the Mexican-American War. The area now popularly known as Brentwood began following the establishment of the large 600-acre (2.4 km2) Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. The economic growth stimulated by this veterans facility led to immediate property development outside its west gate. The community of 'Westgate' was annexed on June 14, 1916. Westgate was the city's 17th annexation, and added another 127 km² (49 mi²) to the city of Los Angeles, including large parts of what is now the Pacific Palisades and a small portion of today's Bel-Air. (Note: There is a Westgate Avenue in West Los Angeles/Brentwood that retains the original name of the district.) Originally an agricultural district (soybeans, avocados, et al.), Brentwood is now one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and one of the prominent districts of the Westside. It has prosperous commercial districts along each of its major east-west thoroughfares, Wilshire Boulevard, San Vicente Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. It is largely populated by professionals and executives. The name Brentwood comes from Brentwood of Essex, England, a town on the outskirts of London dating back to Saxon times.[citation needed] Street names such as Barrington, Gorham, and Bristol, to name a few, are British-influenced. Local traditions include the Maypole erected each year on the lawn of the Archer School for Girls, carrying on the tradition set by the Eastern Star Home that it replaced, and the annual decoration of the coral trees with holiday lights. 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 parade, complete with a flotilla of classic cars and an elephant named Tiny; the tradition is now only sporadically practiced due to funding. [edit] 1961 Brentwood-Bel Air fireIn 1961, a construction crew working in Sherman Oaks noticed the smoke and flames in a nearby pile of rubbish. Within minutes, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mph (100 km/h) sent burning brush aloft and seared November 6, 1961, into Los Angeles' civic memory. Life magazine called it "A Tragedy Trimmed in Mink," as stars of stage and screen scrambled to do battle with the blaze that swept through Bel-Air and Brentwood that day. Flaming embers danced from roof to wood-shingled roof, spreading the fire across the Santa Monica Mountains to the south and into the affluent Westside enclaves. In Bel-Air, some film stars stood their ground against the encroaching flames. Maureen O'Hara risked her life to remain at her home and hose down her wooden roof. Fred MacMurray battled the flames and contained damage to just a portion of his home. But comedian Joe E. Brown saw his home burn to the ground. Burt Lancaster and Zsa Zsa Gabor also lost their homes. Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his chief researcher, Al Moscow, were working on a draft of Nixon's "Six Crises" when the flames threatened his rented house on North Bundy Drive. Nixon and Moscow took to the roof to water down the wood shingles, saving the home. 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 in some areas. 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 10,000 acres (40 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 16,090 acres (65 km2), destroying more than 484 homes and 190 other structures and causing an estimated $30 million in damage. [edit] EnvironmentBrentwood, like nearby Santa Monica, is kept fairly cool by marine breezes off the Pacific Ocean and frequently wakes to the so-called "marine layer," a cover of clouds brought in at night and burned off by mid-morning. The topography of the area is generally split into two, broadly divided by Sunset Boulevard. North of Sunset, the area is defined by the ridges and canyons created by the Santa Monica Mountains; south of Sunset (exceptions include Franklin Hill), the area is relatively flat. The southern district (and the neighboring Westgate-Sawtelle areas) features underground springs which bubble up into a small creek along "the Gully" in south Brentwood near the golf course, and in the "Indian Springs" (the springs were formerly the site of a Tongva village) portion of the University High School campus. San Vicente Boulevard, considered the "Main Street" of Brentwood, is divided by a wide median on which stand many large coral trees. The median and the trees replaced the derelict Pacific Electric track, and the trees have become a Historic-Cultural Monument (#148) for the city of Los Angeles. (Brentwood boosters have adopted the silhouette of a coral tree as a de facto town logo.) Bundy Drive is lined with extremely tall date palms, likely planted by the district's original developer. [edit] NeighborhoodsThere are a number of residential subdistricts; some defined by original developers, some defined by present-day local realtors. Some may be as small as a few blocks, others range over acres of hills:
[edit] TransportationMajor thoroughfares include Sunset, San Vicente and Wilshire Boulevards; Barrington and Montana Avenues; and Bundy Drive. Brentwood is also situated close to the Wilshire, Montana and Sunset exits of the 405 freeway. Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus serves Brentwood with its 2, 3, 4, 11, 13, and 14 bus lines. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (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 line), and several lines along Sunset Blvd. Once linked to Los Angeles by a Pacific Electric Railway 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, in a possible precursor to the adoption of bus rapid transit 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 leg of Metro's Purple Line subway, which currently ends at Western Avenue in Koreatown, 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. [edit] PoliticsIn general, the area strongly tends toward a blue state perspective and votes for Democrats. Celebrities and wealthy Angelenos who live in the hills often sponsor fundraising dinners for local and national candidates. Brentwood's representatives in the California State Assembly (Karen Bass, Michael Feuer and Fran Pavley) and U.S. House of Representatives (Henry Waxman) are noted for their socially liberal views. (Waxman scores 80 of 100 on the Americans for Democratic Action scorecard and 95 of 100 by the ACLU.) [edit] DemographicsAccording 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, 9 percent Asian-American and 6 percent Hispanic or Latino. Brentwood has a significant Iranian community that is classified as white by the U.S. Census. After English, the primary secondary household languages are Spanish and Persian, with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French and Hebrew also 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. As of the 2000 census, among people over age 25, approximately five percent of the population had no high school degree, eight percent had only a high school diploma, 15 percent of the population had some college education but no degree, 37 percent of the population had a bachelor's degree, 15 percent had a master's degree, and 16 percent had either a doctorate or a professional degree. [edit] HousingAs of 2000, there were just over 22,000 housing units in Brentwood. Most Brentwood residents reside in single-family homes, many of which—while seemingly modest in style, square footage and lot size—would rarely sell for less than $750,000 due to the area's high housing costs. There are many mansions and multi-million-dollar estates located in the hilly areas north of Sunset. There are also large, modern apartment complexes and condominiums located on most of district's primary and secondary thoroughfares, many of which are home to young professionals and students attending nearby University of California Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Almanac, the median value of a single-family home in Brentwood as of 2004 was $1.4 million. [edit] RecreationPopular 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" created from the playground at Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School. There is also a tented farmer's market held each Sunday on a strip of Gretna Green Way between Brentwood Science Magnet and the Brentwood Country Club. The 2.7-mile (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 and the Sepulveda Pass. Public open space is limited in the area, but green space with occasional or partial free public use can be found at the VA and on Brentwood Common. Local public parks are Crestwood Hills Park and Barrington Recreation Center, the latter of which features a community center, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds and a dog park. Fire roads in the Santa Monica Mountains, good for mountain biking and hiking, can be accessed at the top of Sullivan Canyon and Westridge. [edit] Economy and businessesDutton's Brentwood Books is a longtime local landmark, and an institution that Sunset magazine calls the "last of the truly independent bookstores." However, by April 2008, this community meeting place and bookstore closed with over 300 attending a closing party. In addition, Brent-Air Pharmacy, run by the founding Lassoff family from its conception up until June 2007, has served Brentwood for more than 50 years. The drug store has been the scene of many famous scandals[citation needed] 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—a rarity in Los Angeles—that has served Brentwood for decades. A popular area for dining and coffee for local residents is located at the intersection of Barrington and San Vicente. More than a dozen restaurants and coffee shops are located within a two-block stretch of this intersection and offers an array of culinary selections ranging from Italian to Mexican in addition to a Peet's Coffee, Starbucks and Coffee Bean. [edit] Emergency services[edit] Fire serviceLos Angeles Fire Department Station 19 is in Brentwood.[1] [edit] Police serviceLos Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood.[2]. [edit] Education[edit] Primary and secondary schools[edit] Public schools
In addition to Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School[3] (which only zones some residents for kindergarten), the area is served by Kenter Canyon Elementary School[4], Brockton Avenue Elementary School[5], 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. The area is within Board District 4.[6] As of 2008 Marlene Canter represents the district.[7] Canter announced that she will not seek re-election after her term expires in June 2009.[8] Locals attending public school usually go to Paul Revere Charter Middle School, 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, and Palisades Charter High School, in the nearby neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.[9] [edit] Private schoolsBrentwood is also home to several private schools, including Brentwood School, St. Martin of Tours Catholic School, and the Archer School for Girls, 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 Chinatown (1974). [edit] Colleges and universitiesOne of the two campuses of Mount St. Mary's College, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college for women, is located in the hills above Brentwood (the other is located in downtown Los Angeles, near USC). [edit] Public librariesLos Angeles Public Library operates the Donald Bruce Kaufman Brentwood Branch. The current building was constructed in the 1990s, but has been sited at the same location since the mid-20th century.[10]. [edit] Postal serviceThe United States Postal Service operates the Barrington Post Office at 200 South Barrington Avenue, 90049-9998. [edit] Popular culture
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