Overview
Glendale – is one of the cities in Los Angeles County. It is situated at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley cut through by the Verdugo Mountains. Glendale is a crucial suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Glendale is located at the common point of the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valley. Glendale has a total area of 79.4 km² and about 0.1 km² of it is water. It is surrounded by La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga to the north; the Atwater Village to the south; by Pasadena and Eagle Rock to the east; and Burbank to the West. Glendale is the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 17th largest city in California.

As of the year 2000, there were 194,973 people living in Glendale. It is notable that more than 54% of the people residing in Glendale are foreign-born. Glendale is home to many nationalities varying form Armenians, Iranians, Filipinos, and Arabs. Particularly dominant in this figure are the Armenians accounting to 40% of the foreign populace. Among the other races, 20% are Latino, 16% are Asian and about a third are Anglo. The total population is further divided to 71,805 households and 49,617 families living in Glendale. There are 2456 people living in Glendale per square kilometer. The median income per household was $41,805, and the median income per family is $47,633.

Glendale was originally populated by the Tongva, a Native American tribe. The modern day Glendale had its beginnings when Corporal Jose Maria Verdugo acquired the title to the Rancho San Rafael in 1798. Jose Maria’s grandson, Teodoro, built the Verdugo Adobe. The Verdugo Adobe is the oldest Building in Glendale. Today’s Glendale, Burbank, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park are encompassed within the land grant. When Jose Mari Verdugo passed away in 1831, the ownership of the land was inherited by his son and daughter, Julio and Catalina. The siblings did not divide ownership of the rancho until 1861. This division was consequently followed by a series of smaller divisions until a court decision known as the “Great Partition” was made in 1871, effectively dissolving the Rancho San Rafael. Many homes and businesses were developed as the land was divided to smaller parcels. The name Glendale became the town’s official name in 1887.

Glendale eventually became a city in 1906 and the neighboring town of Tropico was annexed 12 years later. A significant civic booster of the time was Leslie C. Brand. He had the El Miradero built in 1909. This estate was an architectural work of art and to further compliment its beauty, a private airstrip was built in 1919 and hosted fly-in parties. The El Miradero is now city-owned and is the site of the Brand Park and Brand Library.

Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park began operation 1917. Forest Lawn Memorial Park is famous now for being the pioneer of a new style of cemeteries. Owners Dr. Hubert Eaton and C.B. Sims believed in “a joyous life after death,” thus the cemetery projected a more optimistic personality. Forest Lawn houses the remains of many celebrities and Glendale’s residents.

The “Grand Central Airport” was a crucial facility to Glendale and to the history of aviation. Grand Central supplied the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains in 1923. It became the first official airport in Greater Los Angeles when it opened its first terminal in 1928. It is also notable that a couple of well known establishments had its beginnings in Glendale, such as Bob’s Big Boy food chain (1936), and Baskin-Robbins “31-flavors” ice cream parlors (1945). Glendale’s public library is the home to one of the world’s largest collection of books about cats. The Glendale Public Library boasts over 20,000 volumes that were donated to the library in the 1950’s by the Jewel City Cat Fanciers Club.

The 1970’s saw further significant development of Glendale. The completion of the Glendale Freeway (also called HWY 2) and the Ventura Freeway, redevelopment of Brand Boulevard, the renovation of the 1925 Alex Theater and the establishment of the Glendale Galleria made it possible for the revitalization of Glendale. Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen co-founded DreamWorks SKG on 1994 in Glendale.

Glendale’s schools are run by Glendale Unified School District. The district does not serve only the city of Glendale but also portions of La Cañada and the unincorporated communities of Montrose and La Crescenta. Glendale Unified School District is composed of 20 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 5 high schools and 2 Installations for special-needs students and homeschoolers. Glendale’s School District has 30,000 students and is the 3rd largest district in Los Angeles County and the State of California as of 2002.

The leading school of Glendale’s school district is Glendale High School. It is found at 1440 Broadway Avenue East in Glendale, California. Glendale High School celebrated its centennial in 2001.

Among the notable alumni of Glendale High School are:

The famous actor John Wayne
Bob Wian, founder of the Bob’s Big Boy food chain, which incidentally had its beginnings in Glendale.
Ralph Winter, the producer of The X-Men Trilogy and Fantastic Four 1 & 2.

Glendale sports one of the largest malls in California, the Glendale Galleria. Glendail Galleria underwent an expansion, building the Galleria II in 1982. Glendale Galleria boasts a total retail space of 1,466,053 square feet. The Glendale Galleria has over 260 stores and restaurants.

Brand Park is one of the spots worth checking out in Glendale. The 31 acre park is found at the base of the Verdugo Mountains. If you are an outdoors type of person and you happen to be in Glendale, you would enjoy the hiking and bike trails. If you enjoy sports, you will enjoy Glendale’s Brand Park as it offers a basketball court and a softball field. If you just want to spend the day outside, Brand Park offers picnic areas, children’s playground, and a seasonal children’s wading pool.

The Brand Park is also the home to the Brand Library. You could visit Brand Library if you happen to be in Glendale and fancied to spend the day on a book. Although the library does not have a direct bus service, the MTA Bus Line #92 and the Glendale Beeline Route #7 both stop at the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Grandview. It is about a mile south of the library.

Brand Park is open daily from 7am to 10 pm. Brand Library is open from 1pm to 9pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1pm to 6 pm on Wednesdays, and 1 pm to 5 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Brand Park can be found at 1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale, California.

DR. JOHN CHAVES
5312 Comercio Lane, Suite A
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Phone 818-999-2707
Fax 818-703-1998
appointment@cosmeticdentalservices.com