Towns, City of Los Angeles
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 91316, 91416, 91426, 91436
Upscale communities, located on north side of Santa Monica mountains, facing the San Fernando Valley, close to the movie-entertainment businesses. Home to stars and movie-media professionals. www.mccormacks.com
Tarzana was named after Tarzan. Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan books, lived here.
Al Jolson was one of the first honorary mayors of Encino (Spanish for oak). The 2000 census counted 70,227 residents in both towns.
Both are towns of the City of Los Angeles and patrolled by the L.A. police. Both are educated by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Crime not tracked by FBI but demographics say low. A few homes and a few upscale developments hide behind security gates and tall hedges and many homes subscribe to security services. See Crime.
Although well-to-do, these towns favor the three- and four-bedroom designs that proved so popular after World War II. Many homes are one story.
Where they differ from other towns is in quality of appearance (lot of care) and in luxury mix. On some streets, the first, second and third homes might be described as middle-class nice, the fourth as a mansion. www.mccormacks.com
Generally, the higher the elevation the bigger and better the home but even in the flatlands Tarzana and Encino have some gorgeous homes, with striking designs. Some hill homes, supported by steel beams, are built out over steep ravines — quintessential L.A. For more on this area, read Sherman Oaks profile.
Near Ventura Boulevard, apartments and condos enter and older, smaller homes. This explains the hodgepodge scores. The schools mix kids from various demographic backgrounds.
Sample state rankings: Encino Elementary, 70th and 80th percentile; Wilbur Avenue Elementary, 80th and 90th percentile; Tarzana Elementary, 50th to 70th percentile. See Schools.
On the mountain side, Encino and Tarzana ascend into steep hills and rough terrain, much of it taken over by government agencies for parks and a reservoir. The housing spreads out, comes to sudden stop and surrenders to trees, shrubs and trails, which give the towns and many of their hill streets a feeling of privacy, of being part country and part suburbia.
Two homeowner groups fight to maintain housing and commercial quality and discourage traffic congestion. They also sound off about noise from Van Nuys Airport. www.mccormacks.com
Both towns straddle Ventura Boulevard, which has restaurants, shops, bookstores, tall office buildings and a little to the north, the Promenade Mall.
Six golf courses in or near these towns. Velodrome (bike racing). About half-dozen parks, including Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, 2,000 acres.
Quick access to Highway 101 or Interstate 405. Relatively short drives to movie-media studios at Burbank and Universal City, and a little farther, Hollywood area. Buses. About 22 miles to downtown L.A.
For orientation on cities, towns and neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, see County Overview.
Encino Chamber of Commerce (818) 789-4711; Tarzana chamber: (818) 343-3687.
• Freak. During the winter storms of 2005, the rains undermined a pine tree and sent it crashing into a Tarzana street and onto a Jeep Cherokee. The driver, a man 75 years old, was killed. www.mccormacks.com
