Tarzana, Los Angeles

Tarzana is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan.

History
The area now known as Tarzana was occupied in 1797 by Spanish settlers and missionaries who established the San Fernando Mission. Later absorbed by Mexico, the land was ceded to the United States in 1848 by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. Under US rule it evolved into a series of large cattle ranches owned by local elites. Investors took over in the 1870s, turning grazing into large-scale wheat farm operation.

The area was purchased in 1909 by the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. LA Times founder and publisher General Harrison Gray Otis invested in the company and also personally acquired 550 acre in the center of modern-day Tarzana.

In February 1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the popular Tarzan novels, arrived in California with his family, relocating from Oak Park, Illinois. He and his family had wintered in Southern California twice before, and he found the climate ideal. On March 1, Burroughs purchased Otis’s tract and established Tarzana Ranch. Burroughs subdivided and sold the land for residential development with neighboring small farms following suit.

Boundaries
Tarzana, which measures 8.79 square miles, is bounded on the south by Topanga State Park, on the east by Encino, on the north by Reseda and on the west by Woodland Hills.

Victory Boulevard marks the northern edge of the neighborhood, Lindley Avenue the eastern, Corbin Avenue, with a jog to Oakdale Avenue, the western, and Topanga State Park the southern.

Population
The U.S. census counted 35,502 people living in Tarzana in 2000, and Los Angeles estimated the neighborhood's population at 37,778 in 2008. There were 4,038 people per square mile, among the lowest population densities in the city.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the racial composition was predominantly white (70.7%), followed by Asian (5%), and black or African American (3.6%). The Los Angeles Times considered the area as "moderately diverse". Thirty-five percent of the population was foreign-born. Iran (24.2%) and Mexico (12.1%) were the most common foreign places of birth.

The percentage of divorced men and women was among the county's highest. Some 9% of the residents were military veterans, considered high for the city of Los Angeles. The percentages of residents aged 50 and older were among the county's highest. The median age, 38, was old when compared to the rest of the city and the county. The median household income in 2008 dollars was considered high, at $73,195.

Notable people

 * Sir Robert Bryson Hall II (Logic) rapper, lyricist, MC, writer, actor, singer
 * Edgar Rice Burroughs, author, creator of Tarzan, buried in Tarzana
 * Neal Acree, composer born in Tarzana
 * Mike Connors, actor
 * Jamie Foxx, actor
 * Kevin Hart, comedian and actor
 * Iggy Azalea, rapper
 * Hailee Steinfeld, actress and singer
 * Dwight Howard, basketball player
 * Jordan Farmar, basketball player
 * Paul Thomas Anderson, filmmaker
 * Selena Gomez, actress and singer
 * DeSean Jackson, American football player
 * Gabe Kapler, major league baseball player and manager
 * Blake Lively, actress, born in Tarzana
 * Jon Lovitz, comedian and actor, born in Tarzana
 * Robert Peernock, convicted murderer, born in Tarzana
 * Paul Rodriguez, skateboarder, born in Tarzana
 * Jim Rome, radio personality, host of Jim Rome is Burning, born in Tarzana
 * Banks, singer
 * Nick Young, basketball player
 * Bobby Womack, soul singer-songwriter
 * Paul Abrahamian, reality television participant
 * Arturo Sandoval, trumpeter
 * Rosanna Pansino, Youtube Personality

Education
A total of 40.3% of Tarzana residents aged 25 and older have earned a four-year degree. Percentages of those residents with a bachelor's degree or with a master's degree are also high for the county.

Elementary and secondary schools
Schools within Tarzana are:


 * Gaspar de Portola Middle School, LAUSD, 18720 Linnet Street
 * Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (4-12), LAUSD alternative, 18605 Erwin Street
 * Vanalden Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 19019 Delano Street
 * Tarzana Elementary School, LAUSD, 5726 Topeka Drive
 * CHIME Institute's Schwarzenegger Community School, LAUSD charter, 19722 Collier Street
 * Wilbur Charter for Enriched Academics, LAUSD K–5, 5213 Crebs Avenue
 * Nestle Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 5060 Nestle Avenue

Zoned high schools serving Tarzana include:
 * Birmingham High School in (Lake Balboa area)
 * Reseda High School (in Reseda area)
 * Taft High School (in Woodland Hills area)

Private schools include:
 * Lycée International de Los Angeles West Valley Campus

Postsecondary schools

 * Columbia College Hollywood, a private nonprofit film school on Oxnard Street.

Public libraries
The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Encino-Tarzana Branch on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana.

Parks and recreation
The Tarzana Recreation Center has a gymnasium that also is used as an auditorium; the building's capacity is 600. The park also has barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, and lighted volleyball courts.

Caballero Canyon, located on the north side of the Santa Monica mountains in Tarzana offers multiple trails for hiking, mountain biking and unobstructed views of the San Fernando Valley. There is a 3.6 mile loop trail located here that is moderately trafficked and allows dogs on a leash. At the top of the trail hikers and mountain bikers will see signs leading the entrance of Topanga State Park. There are no fees or permits required to hike Caballero Canyon.

Filming location

 * Portola Middle School in Tarzana was used as a location for the films The Karate Kid, Akeelah and the Bee and 'Thirteen; the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark takes place in Tarzana.
 * Tarzana Armenian Deli in Tarzana was used as a location for the HBO TV show Six Feet Under.
 * Season 2 and 13 The Bad Girls Club was filmed in Tarzana.
 * Some episodes of A&Es Intervention TV series featured Tarzana Treatment Centers.