About Us
Panorama City, California — “Heart of the Valley”
For more information
For native plant list
This land used to be occupied by the Tongva Native Americans. It was a
beautiful, fertile area with many native flowers, plants and animals. The land
that is now Panorama City was covered by the San Fernando mission.
Panorama City was the first planned community on the West Coast. In 1947,
developer Fritz B. Burns partnered with industrialist Henry J. Kaiser in the
collaboration of Kaiser Community Homes and purchased 411 acres of the
Pellissier family's Panorama Ranch. In 1950 the company purchased another
400 acres south of Roscoe Blvd.
Here, on this former farming land, located in the center of the still largely
undeveloped San Fernando Valley and dictated by the remoteness of the area from
other Valley population centers, Burns envisioned and embarked upon building a
"total community," a city within a city, with equal weight given to
attractive, well-built homes, schools, churches, recreation, and shopping.
A central business district surrounded by homes still defines the community. The
parks, schools, churches and curved residential streets that intersect in
unexpected ways still serve their original purposes. An industrial district runs
along the Union Pacific right of way. A shopping center, police and fire
facilities, and office buildings have replaced the General Motors Van Nuys
assembly plant. A beautiful Panorama High School now sits on the old Carnation
laboratory site where Coffeemate was invented.
Panorama City has always been a suburban home for young working families.
Veterans returning from the Second World War bought the original two-bedroom,
one-bath, 900 square foot ranch style homes. Today the community of
approximately 75,000 is diverse, with a Latino majority, a significant Filipino
population, and African-American, Anglo and Armenian minorities.
Early signs proclaimed Panorama City “The Heart Of The Valley”.
Encompassing zip code 91402, its central location between the 405 and 170
Freeways and north of the railroad line to Ventura makes it the most
conveniently located area in the Valley for transportation; nearby are the
Flyaway bus terminal to LAX, the Burbank airport, 118, and 5 freeways, and a
local Amtrak station. Panorama City is also a Metro bus transit hub, with a new
light rail line along Van Nuys Blvd planned to open in 2028.
Panorama City’s single family homes remain among the most affordable
houses in the Valley. They are comparable in price to houses in the distant
desert areas of Palmdale and Lancaster, and yet are located in attractive
neighborhoods minutes away from jobs and commuter corridors. The west side of
Panorama City has been converted almost entirely to apartments, in the largest
concentration of apartments in the Valley.
Who We Are
We are an all-volunteer council made up of people who want to help our
neighborhood. We are constantly looking for others who share the same drive to
improve our community and love when people share their input and enthusiasm!
Join us at a meeting today! We care: come and share.
The neighborhood council represents
all of the interests in the
community. Because of this, it is an effective resouce for community action. The
council advocates for the social and business interests of the Panorama City
area, and organizes community members and partners in community improvement
efforts.
The City of Los Angeles provides modest funding for official city advisory
agencies called Neighborhood Councils. These volunteer efforts have the right to
advise on all city services for a local community. There is a governing board
that is elected every two years. Anyone who lives, works or owns property in the
neighborhood, or who declares some other factual stake, is eligible to run for a
seat on the Board and to vote in neighborhood council elections. Panorama
City’s Board of Directors has seats for homeowners, renters and business
people, and provides that none of the groups can form a majority of the
Board.
In Panorama City, there are 21 seats on the council’s Board of Directors,
plus 5 Alternate positions. However, the council can only be as effective as the
number of volunteers that participate. Most of the council’s work is done
in committees. All committees are open to anyone with an interest in Panorama
City. You do not need an official seat on the Board or an Alternate position to
be an active participant in the council. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to
join in the council’s efforts to improve Panorama City.
Meetings
Join us once a month at the Panorama City Neighborhood Council Board Meeting
and find out what is happening in the community. Everything from crime
reports to city politics to local schools is covered. The Board meets on the
fourth Thursday of every month at 6:30 PM.* Meetings are held at the Mission
Community Hospital Medical Office Building, 14860 Roscoe Blvd, west of Willis, in Room 208. Free parking is available in the parking
structure on the east side of the hospital campus.
*Because of holidays, meetings in November and December are the 3rd
Thursdays.
More from Panorama City Neighborhood Council
MENU
