The area was originally settled by Tongva Native Americans. Most of  today’s West Los Angeles was part of the Spanish land grant Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica.

California became part of the United States in 1848 through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which marked the end of the Mexican-American War. The Republic of California was admitted as a U.S. state on September 9, 1850.

By the 20th century the area was used to mostly cultivate beans and wheat. Many Japanese farmers moved in establishing orchards and nurseries. Although a couple of the nurseries survive, most of the Japanese farmers were rounded up and imprisoned in camps like Manzanar after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, many Japanese moved back to reclaim their businesses.

The core of West LA was incorporated as the City of Sawtelle. In the 1922 the area was annexed by the City of Los Angeles.

West Los Angeles bordered by Santa Monica on the west, Brentwood on the northwest, the Veterans Administration grounds on the north, Westwood on the northeast, Rancho Park on the east and southeast, and Mar Vista on the south and southeast.

In West LA, 42,000 people live in three square miles. They are 77% White, 11% Asian, 5% Latino, 2% Black. West Los Angeles has a median household income of $86,000. 60% of the residents 25 and older have a four year degree.  The median age is 34.  One in three has a Bachelor’s Degree. 29% of the population is foreign born. Iranian and Mexican are the most common ancestries.  58% of the residents speak English at home.

Two major freeways border West Los Angeles, the San Diego Freeway on the east and the Santa Monica Freeway on the south. West LA’s major surface routes Olympic, Santa Monica, Pico, Wilshire, and Sawtelle Boulevards, Barrington and Bundy Drives.

 It’s an affluent area with it’s accessible location leading to the construction of several high rise office buildings along Olympic, Santa Monica, and Wilshire Boulevards.

 Although there are many single story tract homes built in developments between 1920- and the late 1960s, most of the people in West LA live in low rise apartment buildings. There are two high rise residential towers at the intersection of Wilshire and Barrington on West LA’s northern border.

 In recent years, more apartment buildings have been constructed in West LA with single family homes being demolished to make way for them. 77% of the population rents. The median number of rooms in apartments is 3. Most of the housing stock was built between 1960 and 1980. Most renters pay between $1000 to $2000 a month in rent, with most of these people paying between $1500 and $2000 a month. Most renters own a car. 74% of the residents drive to work.

 The Stoner Recreation Center features barbecue pits, a lit baseball diamond and basketball courts, a children’s playground, a lit football field, an indoor gym, picnic tables, a soccer field, tennis and volleyball courts.  The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, co-sponsored by the West Los Angeles Japanese American Community Center, is held at The Stoner Recreation Center.

 Brentwood Place Shopping area has Borders Books, TJ Max and several restaurants

 Sherman Oaks is in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. It grew as a direct result of the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct which opened in 1913. Anticipating the water that would make wide spread development possible, much of the land, 1000 acres were  bought by General Moses Hazeltine Sherman in 1911who subdivided the property selling it for $780 an acre.

 Since the incoming water was legally limited to land within the city limits, the settlement ultimately agreed to being annexed by the city of LA, a historic episode replete with underhanded dealing, depicted in the Jack Nicholson movie “Chinatown.”

In contrast to much of the valley there are large commercial office buildings in Sherman Oaks along Ventura Boulevard,  the area’s main street. Sherman Oaks is bounded by Studio City to the east, Van Nuys to the north, Encino to the west, Bel Air and Beverly Hills to the south along Mullholland Drive

 Sherman Oaks has 62,000 people in 9 square miles. It’s 74% White, 12% Latino, 6% Asian, 4% Black. The median household income is $70,000. 46% of the residents 25 and older have a four year degree. The median age is 37.

 There is a mix of neighborhoods. In some condominiums and apartments dominate. Others are primarily single family homes. About half the residents rent. Most of the housing stock was built between 1950 and 1980. Most renters pay between $900 and $1250 a month.

 The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park is in Sherman Oaks. It is a premiere recreational facility with an auditorium, two lit baseball diamonds, with six unlit baseball diamonds. There are both indoor and outdoor lit basketball courts, a playground, a lit football field and soccer field as well as a dozen lit tennis courts and a seasonal heated outdoor pool. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizen Center is also on the park grounds.

 Along Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks are many high end fashion boutiques, and upscale houses restaurants.

 For many people Sherman Oaks is best known for the Sherman Oaks Galleria, a shopping mall with a range of department stores and restaurants. It’s also home to the Arclight Cinemas one of the best places to catch first run films in the valley.

 For locals the Galleria became identified as a pick up place for teen age valley girls. The mall inspired the 1983 movie “Valley Girl” and a song with that name by Frank Zappa.  Part of the 1982 movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” was filmed in the mall.

 Every third Sunday each October, the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce hosts a street fair along half mile stretch of Ventura Boulevard. Rides, food and booths of wares attract an average of100,000 visitors each year.

History of Inglewood

The first native Americans living in Inglewood probably frequented the natural springs in what is now Edward Vincent Jr. Park. Spanish settlers in the Los Angeles area drove their cattle to the lush grass near the springs, which they named centinelas a variation of the word sentinels, describing where they would watch their flocks.

The first record of a building in Inglewood was of a hut and corral built by Mexican Ygnacio Avila in 1822 for his herders. Avila expanded the original hut into a three room adobe. The oldest building now in the city is 1834’s Centinela Adobe which overlooks the San Diego Freeway and is used as the headquarters of the Centinela Valley Historical Society.

 Although Inglewood is known as a largely Black city with a solid African- American middle class, race relations didn’t always run smoothly. In the early part of the 20^th Century the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city, reaching its nadir with the 1922 arrest and trial of 37 men for a night raid on a Spanish speaking bootlegger and his family. One of the perpetrators, an Inglewood constable, was killed yet the jury returned a not guilty verdict for all concerned. The threat of KKK activity kept Blacks out until the Inglewood chapter was disbanded in 1931.

The 1960 census showed 29 Blacks living within the city limits, and no Black students in the public schools. A growing Black population lived just East of the city, but within Inglewood, real estate agents refused to rent to Blacks or sell them homes. By 1965 Blacks began moving in the eastern half of the city while White held onto the West. School quality in Black areas deteriorated.  In 1970 a judge ordered desegregation in the Inglewood school system prompting a series of stormy meetings.

Blacks slowly gained power in the city, electing a school board member in 1971, seating a Black city councilor in 1972, and electing the first Black mayor in 1980. During the 1980’s the Latinos population soared, attracted by cheap rents. In the 2000s the balance shifted, with more Latinos now living in the city than Blacks.

 Description of Inglewood

Inglewood is 9 square miles and is densely populated with more than12,000 people per square mile. It is four miles from Los Angeles International Airport. The city borders Westchester to the west, Lennox and Hawthorne to the south, Ladera Heights to the northwest, Baldwin Hills to the north, Hyde Park to the northeast, and Manchester Square, Gramercy Park, Westmont and Athens to the east.

 Residents of Inglewood

Inglewood has 129,000 residents. The median age is 29. The median household income is $47,000 compared to $59,000 for the state as whole. 17% of the population lives in poverty, although here Latinos and other races are poorer than Blacks. The population is 47% Latino, 45% Black, 4% White, and 1% Asian. 13% of the population 25 and older has a four year degree.

 Rentals in Inglewood

The median gross rent in Inglewood is $1002. There is no rent control. Both homes and apartments are available.

 Fun Things to do in Inglewood

The Forum used to be home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Ever since the team moved to the Staples Center in downtown LA, the venue has continued to host concerts and other events but has fallen out of favor with major tours. New life will be breathed into the venue by the pending owners, New York’s Madison Square Garden which will use The Forum to book major acts.

 Hollywood Park was founded in 1938 by Jack Warner of Warner Brothers. Stake holders included a who’s who of Hollywood luminaries including Al Jolson, Ronald Colman, Walt Disney; Bing Crosby, Sam Goldwyn, Darryl Zanuck and George Jessel. To this day the park still offers thoroughbred horse racing

History of Pacific Palisades

The hilly topography discouraged many from settling in Pacific Palisades. In 1911, film director Thomas Ince founded his movie studio there to churn out Westerns, employing hundreds of people. Ten years later Methodist Minister Charles Scott bought the land to establish a religious commune. Within two years he christened his settlement Pacific Palisades. By 1925, the Palisades had 100 homes. Several of the original streets were named for Methodist missionaries. For many years liquor was banned in town.

With the threat of WW II, many intellectuals fleeing Nazi Germany, settled there. Immigrants included Thomas Mann and Lion Feuchtwanger.

Today it’s the home of many Hollywood celebrities attracted by the proximity to the ocean, and hills that are often just above the marine layer that clouds coastal communities at lower elevations.

 Description of Pacific Palisades

As befits its name, Pacific Palisades is hilly. The area’s 29 square miles are bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the West, Santa Monica to the South, Topanga to the north and Brentwood to the northwest.

 Residents of Pacific Palisades

Pacific Palisades is home to 24,000 people. The median age is 43. By any measure it’s an affluent community. This is where Ronald Reagan was living when he was elected President in 1980. With a median income of $168,000 a year, that is more than double that of California as a whole. English is overwhelming spoken at home, in 99% of the households. Pac Pal has many married couple families, 60% of the population. The community is 89% white, 3% Latino, 6% Asian, and less than half a percent Black.  71% of the residents 25 and older have a four year degree. Veterans comprise 12% of the population, high for LA County.

 Rentals in Pacific Palisades

The median rent in the community is $2,410, again more than double that of California as a whole. It’s a mix of larger newer homes, smaller older homes, condominiums and apartments.  The most common number of rooms in a Pacific Palisades rental are 4-5, more than in most communities within the city limits of Los Angeles. Because it is part of the city of LA, there is rent control

 Fun Things to do in Pacific Palisades

There are some large parks in and around Pacific Palisades, perfect of hiking and mountain biking. Some trails have sweeping ocean vistas.

 Rustic Canyon is a public recreation area with tennis courts, and an outside pool.

 Will Rogers State Historic Park and Polo Club was originally the humorist’s weekend getaway while he lived in Beverly Hills. It became a state park after he died in 1944. The park is notable for the polo field the Oklahoma native built where he used to challenge his Hollywood buddies. The home is preserved in its original state.

 Getty Villa, was the original J. Paul Getty art museum. It was built to resemble a Roman Villa. From one spot on the portico, it’s possible to look out on the ocean and see no sign of modernity. Now that the Getty Trust has moved primarily to Brentwood next to the 405 freeway, the Getty Museum is used to house a rich antiquities collection.