Glassell Park, Los Angeles, California

Glassell Park is a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles, California.

Geography

Glassell Park borders Atwater Village and the Los Angeles River on the west, the city of Glendale on the northwest, Eagle Rock on the northeast, Mount Washington on the southeast and Cypress Park on the south. The district's boundaries are roughly the city of Glendale on the north, the Los Angeles River on the west, Division Street on the southeast, El Paso Drive and York Boulevard on the northeast.

The neighborhood is split between Los Angeles City Council districts 13 and 14, with a small portion in district 1. [http://www.lacity.org/distmaps/CD14.pdf L.A. Council District 14 map] . It is part of part of California's 31st congressional district, lies within zip code 90065, and the area code is 323.

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. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/national/24calif.html NY Times article on mudslides] 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. [http://web.lafd.org/redflag/images/CD14-Red_Flag.gifRed Flag Day parking restrictions in northeast LA]

Transportation

Located 5 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles, thoroughfares running through Glassell Park provide relatively easy access to most parts of Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley. The Glendale Freeway runs through the neighborhood, connecting with the Ventura Freeway to the north and with the Golden State Freeway to the south and terminating shortly thereafter at Glendale Boulevard. Plans had originally called for the freeway to extend to Santa Monica. Major arterial streets include Eagle Rock Boulevard and San Fernando Road.

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. With the transition of power in California from Spain to Mexico, the ranchos began to be parceled off. Part of Rancho San Rafael was purchased by successful attorney Andrew Glassell. Glassell eventually settled in the area with his family, for whom many streets, including Toland Way, Drew, Andrita and Marguarite Streets are named.http://www.gpia.org/History.html Glassell Park Improvement Association - History]

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. [http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb9s2012xw/ Map showing territory annexed to the city of Los Angeles] 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. [http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/fiveline.htm]

The Neighborhood

Today Glassell Park is largely working class, Latino, white, and Filipino. [http://www.laalmanac.com/population/po24la.htm Population Data for Los Angeles neighborhoods] Glassell Park 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. Despite such gentrification, sections of Glassell Park, however, have remained plagued by gang-related crime and violence. [http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/the-gangsters-of-drew-street-glassell-park/18444/ LA Weekly news story]

Glassell Park has two elementary schools and one middle schoolGlassell Park Elementary School (which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2007) [cite web |authorlink=National Register of Historic Places |title=Recent Listings |publisher=National Park Service |date=2007-04-20 |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20070420.HTM |accessdate=2008-02-22] , Fletcher Drive Elementary School,and Washington Irving Middle School .Near the center of Glassell Park, on Verdugo Road, is the Glassell Park and Recreation Center. [ [http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/facility/glassellPk.htm City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks ] ] . Along San Fernando Road and adjacent to the L.A. River is the Rio de Los Angeles State Park, built on part of the Taylor Yard railway switching facility. [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22277 CA State Parks - Rio de Los Angeles State Park]

Local Information

More information can be found at the external websites
* [http://www.gpia.org Glassell Park Improvement Association]
* [http://www.GlassellParkNC.com Glassell Park Neighborhood Council]
* [http://yorkblvd.com York Boulevard]

References