Glassell Park, Los Angeles

Glassell Park
Neighborhood of Los Angeles

Glassell Park, as delineated by the Los Angeles Times
Glassell Park

Location within Northeast Los Angeles

Coordinates: 34°07′01″N 118°13′59″W / 34.116944°N 118.233056°W / 34.116944; -118.233056
Named for Real estate attorney Andrew Glassell

Glassell Park is a moderately diverse neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles, California, known for the high percentage of Asians and Latinos living there. The household size in Glassell Park is larger than in most other parts of Los Angeles. More than half of its 24,000+ residents were born outside the United States.

The relatively hilly neighborhood was affected by the housing boom of the early 2000s, with a rise in population. Most of the population lives in rental housing, and middle-class people have been attracted there by the abundance of historic homes at relatively inexpensive cost.

The neighborhood began its urban development with subdivisions being sold in 1907. There is one high school and three other schools in Glassell Park. The Rio de Los Angeles State Park is within the neighborhood.

Population

The 2000 U.S. census counted 23,467 residents in the 2.75-square-mile Glassell Park neighborhood—or 8,524 people per square mile, an average population density for the city. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 24,816. The median age for residents was 30, about average for the city and county.[1]

The neighborhood was considered moderately diverse ethnically, with a high percentage of Asians and Latinos. The breakdown was Latinos, 66.1%; whites, 13.7%; Asians, 17.4%; blacks, 1.4%; and others, 1.4%. Mexico (49.3%) and the Philippines (16.2%) were the most common places of birth for the 51.5% of the residents who were born abroad—a high percentage, compared to the city at large.[1]

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $50,098, an average figure for Los Angeles. The percentage of households that earned $20,000 to $40,000 yearly was high for Los Angeles County. The average household size of 3.3 people was high for Los Angeles. Renters occupied 56.2% of the housing stock and house- or apartment owners held 43.8%.[1]

Today Glassell Park is largely working class, Latino, white, and Filipino.[2] The neighborhood has been significantly affected by the Southern California real estate boom that began in the early 2000s. An influx of middle-class families have moved into the neighborhood, attracted by the abundance of Craftsman homes and relatively low prices.[3][4]

Geography

According to the Mapping L.A. project of the Los Angeles Times, Glassell Park is bordered on the north by Glendale, on the northeast and east by Eagle Rock, on the southeast by Mount Washington, on the south and southwest by Elysian Valley and on the west by Atwater Village.[5][6]

The neighborhood is located in a relatively hilly region of Los Angeles. While the hills often provide spectacular views, they can also become unstable, as happened during the unusually wet 2004-05 rainy season, during which hillsides slid down and destroyed several houses.[7] Like many hillside areas in Southern California, hillside areas of Glassell Park are susceptible to wildfires, leading the LAFD to impose parking restrictions on certain streets during high-fire-danger "red flag" days.[8]

In early 2013, a local artist installed large letters spelling "Glassellland" in the vacant hills above the Glassell Park Recreation Center.[9] The name "Glassellland" is a reference to "Hollywoodland"—a real estate development whose promotional sign still stands as the famous Hollywood Sign.

Nearby places

Relation of Glassell Park to nearby places, not necessarily contiguous:[5][10]

 Burbank Glendale Occidental College
Atwater Village Eagle Rock & Occidental College
   Glassell Park  
Silver Lake Elysian Valley Mount Washington

History

The land that would later become Glassell Park was originally part of Rancho San Rafael, granted in 1784 to Spanish army corporal José María Verdugo. Attorney Andrew Glassell received part of Rancho San Rafael from the lawsuit known as the Great Partition of 1871. Glassell eventually settled in the area with his family, for whom many streets, including Toland Way, Drew, Andrita and Marguarite Streets are named.[11]

The development of Glassell Park began in the early 20th Century, as subdivisions between Verdugo and San Fernando Roads began to be sold in 1907. In 1912, the city of Los Angeles annexed most of Glassell Park, annexing the remainder in 1916.[12] The Glassell family continued to subdivide their land, selling off what is now Forest Lawn Memorial Park during the Great Depression. The growing neighborhood was served by a line of the Los Angeles Railway, which traveled in the median of Eagle Rock Boulevard towards Eagle Rock.[13]

Glassell Park became a center for gang activity in the 1970s, leading to the arrival of the Avenues. In 2008, more than 500 officers and federal agents arrested 28 gang members located in Glassell Park.[14]

Government

Districts that represent Glassell Park, in part or completely currently are:

Education

NRHP listed Glassell Park Elementary School.

Nineteen percent of Glassell Park residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average figure for both the city and the county.[1]

Schools in Glassell Park are:[15]

Recreation

The Glassell Park Recreation Center is near the center of Glassell Park, on Verdugo Road.[16] The Rio de Los Angeles State Park is along San Fernando Road and adjacent to the Los Angeles River. It is on part of the former Taylor Yard, a railway switching facility in Glassell Park and Cypress Park.[17]

Notable people

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glassell Park, Los Angeles.

Coordinates: 34°07′01″N 118°13′59″W / 34.11694°N 118.23306°W / 34.11694; -118.23306

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