City, Los Angeles County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 91302, 91372
Middle to upscale to wealthy city in foothills of Santa Monica Mountains, on the west side of San Fernando Valley. Many neighborhoods protected by guards and gates. School rankings high. Crime low. Population 23,725. www.mccormacks.com
Median age of residents is 39. Under 18 years, 29 percent. Over 55 years, 19 percent. Older parents with lots of kids.
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Not a town for smokers. In 2006, Calabasas cocked eyebrows when it banned smoking outdoors in all public places, including sidewalks, parks, restaurant patios and condominium commons. Some exceptions in areas set aside for smokers. Mayor said the town would not sic the cops on smokers. Rather, he hoped that the law would pressure smokers to desist and give courage to those who would like to tell offenders to snuff the demon weed.
A stage stop and rough town whose vigilantes hung desperadoes from a tall oak, Calabasas mellowed into a farm burg. Warner Brothers owned 1,200 acres in region, backdrop for countless movies. Name derives from Spanish for “Pumpkins” or Indian for “Where the wild geese fly.”
As L.A. grew and the freeways were constructed, what was inaccessible became the opposite and, after some time, highly desirable. Until 1991, the Calabasas region was under the control of the county government, which gave the OK to apartment complexes, everyday single homes, luxury homes, condos, stores, shops, some office complexes, even a small mobile home park (off in the hills).
But developers aimed a lot at the upper end. Many of the homes run to four and five bedrooms and two stories. The most striking are large custom homes, some perched on mesas with great views. Ravines and canyons divide the city and create a sense of separate neighborhoods. In 1991, Calabasas voted to incorporate itself as a legal city, bringing development under local control. www.mccormacks.com
Calabasas rolls over hills and borders the rugged mountains that extend to Malibu. Country feeling. On the south side and in the middle of town, miles of open space. In 2003, residents (and others) killed a big development that many hated; land to go into preserve. Some claim ocean breezes clean the air.
State in 2008 counted 8,605 housing units: 6,010 single homes, 804 single attached, 1,538 multiples, 253 mobiles.
Served by Las Virgenes School District. Bond passed in 1997 to renovate schools and build Calabasas middle school. Parcel tax passed in 2004 to maintain program quality, which indicates strong support of education. Academic rankings in 80th and 90th percentiles. See Schools.
Zero homicides in 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000. For previous years 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0. Calabasas contracts with sheriff’s department for protection. Private security for the gated neighborhoods. See Crime.
Horses. Hiking and riding trails. Swimming-tennis center. Community center. Golf course. Skate park. Six parks. Dog park. Two libraries. Many activities and sports: yoga, dance, drawing, fencing, kindergarten prep and parenting, soccer and volleyball camps for kids, dog training, etc. Kind of town where some people put weights on their ankles and jog the hills. Shops, restaurants, Barnes and Noble bookstore. Popular bar-restaurant with 1,000 seats. Farmers market. www.mccormacks.com
Short drive to Ventura Boulevard (shopping-dining). About 26 miles to downtown L.A. Highway 101 skirts north side, and leads over to Interstate 405, the road to LAX. By L.A. standards, not a bad commute. Chamber of commerce: (818) 222-5680.
• Commute buses to downtown L.A. Free buses around town.
• Calabasas catches the traffic coming from the mountain-canyon communities of Topanga Canyon, Fernwood and Monte Nido and possibly Malibu. At commute hours, this causes backup along Mulholland Drive and some of its feeder streets.
• Calabasas forbids outsiders from starting work — and creating noise — before 7 a.m. In 2005, at one development, the builders, carpet layers, landscapers, etc., were lined up for well over a mile, waiting for the 7 a.m. gong.
• City celebrates the town's colorful history and some of the older buildings have been saved. But Calabasas is very much a modern suburb. www.mccormacks.com
• Never mentioned as a “star” town, Calabasas is probably home to many working in the movie-television-media field. It's located about 15 miles from the Burbank and Disney and Universal studios. The Motion Picture and Television Foundation Hospital sits on the city's eastern border. The city rec. department sponsors acting classes.
• Calabasas gives home buyers five distinctive “looks.”
* For 1960s-1970s single homes, one and two story, ranging over hills drive the east side around Topanga Canyon Road and Mulholland Drive. Many homes have views of San Fernando Valley. Utility lines over head. Tall, full trees. Some new tracts feature three-car garages. Townhouses and duplexes near freeway on flatlands.
* For the gated neighborhoods and the upscale new housing, drive Calabasas Parkway. Also hills and views. Country club and golf course. Shops and offices near Highway 101. Movies.
* Calabasas Highlands, off of Mulholland Drive, a few miles from freeway. Older homes built on steep hills. Narrow streets. Great views. Bordered by open space. Country feeling.
* For apartments, take Las Virgenes Drive north off of Highway 101. Also in this neighborhood, city hall and a library. In this section and in a small neighborhood to west, more single homes, the new ones large and custom, the older ones, standard three bedroom. Just outside Calversas city limits to the northeast is a large gated tract of luxury homes. Hills and views. www.mccormacks.com
* For apartments, condos and homes priced more for the middle-class drive Las Virgenes Road to the south. Sheriff's station and community center in this area. Also large business, light-industry park.
Because they are neighbors and share the same school district and often the same stores, Calabasas is often linked with Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village.
They also commute along the same road, Highway 101, which over the last 20 years has attracted many office and high-tech firms. With the exception of a few small neighborhoods, the housing in these towns falls into new suburbia, the great majority of it built after 1970 and employing parkways that move traffic quickly to the freeway and homeowner associations that pay close attention to appearances (and charge dues for upkeep.)
Miscellaneous:
• In 2006, local voters favored more open space by putting restraints on the development of vacant land within the city.
• Construction began in 2006 on a civic center with library, to be completed in 2008. If money is secured, the center may add a performing arts center. www.mccormacks.com
• Just outside Calaveras, on its south side, King Gillette of razor blade fame, in the 1920s built a ranch-estate that rolled over the countryside and took in streams and old Indian settlements. Later the property was sold to Bob Hope, then to churches and a private university that wanted to expand but ran into opposition from conservationists. In 2006, government and private agencies and individuals purchased the 600 acres for a park opened to the public.
For orientation on cities, towns and neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, see County Overview.
City web site: www.cityofcalabasas.com
