Northridge is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley. It is the home of California State University, Northridge, as well as eleven public and eight private schools.

Real Estate

The median home value in Northridge is $712,500. Northridge home values have gone up 2.6% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 0.7% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Northridge is $347, which is lower than the Los Angeles average of $535. The median price of homes currently listed in Northridge is $725,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $717,000. The median rent price in Northridge is $3,200, which is lower than the Los Angeles median of $3,500.

Originally named Zelzah, the community was renamed North Los Angeles in 1929 to emphasize its closeness to the booming city. This created confusion with Los Angeles and North Hollywood. At the suggestion of a civic leader, the community was renamed Northridge in 1938.[1] Northridge can trace its history back to the Gabrielino (or Tongva) people and to Spanish explorers. Its territory was later sold by the Mexican governor to Eulogio de Celis, whose heirs divided it for sale.

Northridge Demographics Profile
Statistic Northridge Los Angeles California
Population 108,186 3,918,872 38,654,206
Population density (sq mi) 6,416 8,362 232
Median age 39.7 35.0 36.0
Male/Female ratio 1.0:1 1.0:1 1.0:1
Married (15yrs & older) n/a 44% 52%
Families w/ Kids under 18 42% 45% 46%
Speak English n/a 40% 56%
Speak Spanish n/a 43% 29%

The neighborhood was considered "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of Asian people. The breakdown was whites, 49.5%; Latinos, 26.1%; Asians, 14.5%; blacks, 5.4%; and others, 4.6%. Mexico (24.7%) and the Philippines (9.8%) were the most common places of birth for the 31.8% of the residents who were born abroad—an average figure for Los Angeles.[2]

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $67,906, considered high for the city. Renters occupied 46.4% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 53.6%. The average household size of 2.7 people was considered average for Los Angeles.[2]

In 2000 there were 3,803 military veterans, or 8.5% of the population, a high percentage compared to the rest of the city.[2]

Geography

Northridge neighborhood as delineated by the Los Angeles Times
Northridge touches Porter Ranch and Granada Hills on the north, North Hills on the east, Van Nuys on the southeast, Lake Balboa and Reseda on the south and Winnetka and Chatsworth on the west.[3]

History
Further information: History of the San Fernando Valley
Indigenous peoples
The area now called Northridge was first inhabited about 2,000 years ago by the Native American Gabrielino (or Tongva) people. Among their tribal villages Totonga was nearby Northridge.[4] The Gabrielino-Tongva people, who lived in dome-shaped houses, are sometimes referred to as the "people of the earth".[5] They spoke a Takic Uto-Aztecan (Shoshonean) language. Their pictographs are very hard to find nowadays, and those not public, nor protected, many destroyed by the development of Greater Los Angeles; there are no public rock art sites in Los Angeles County. A replica can be seen at The Southwest Museum and there are archeological exhibits at Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Rancho Los Alamitos, Louis Robidoux Nature Center and El Dorado Nature Center.[6]

Mexican land grant
In the late-1840s, Mexican Governor Pio Pico broke with the tradition of "granting" land and, instead, sold it, without the usual area limitations, to Eulogio de Celis, a native of Spain. By 1850, de Celis was listed in the Los Angeles Census as an agriculturist, 42 years old, and the owner of a real estate worth $20,000.[7]

Land division
A few years later, the land was split up. The heirs of Eulogio de Celis sold the northernly half - 56,000 acres (230 km2) - to Senator George K. Porter, who had called it the "Valley of the Cumberland" and Senator Charles Maclay, who exclaimed: "This is the Garden of Eden." Porter was interested in ranching; Maclay in subdivision and colonization. Francis Marion ("Bud") Wright, an Iowa farm boy who migrated to California as a young man, became a ranch hand for Senator Porter and later co-developer of the 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) Hawk Ranch, which is now Northridge land.[8]

Growth and metamorphosis
In 1951, a local reporter reported that Northridge's population had reached 5,500 residents, an increase of 1,000 people from 1950. In addition, it was around this time that Reseda Boulevard had been paved at its full width and become the main business street of boulevard proportions. The need also arose for Northridge to accommodate the new population, so in 1954 the first middle school opened in the rapidly growing town. Northridge Junior High School, later known as Northridge Middle School, opened with 1,000 students who had been brought all the way from Fulton Middle School in Van Nuys.[9]

Education
Thirty-four percent of Northridge residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average percentage for the city but high for the county. The percentages of the same-age residents with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree or higher were high for the county.[2]