So when did Canoga Park become Woodland Hills? (Los Angeles, Fallbrook: real estate, apartment)

[rob3gd]

I was talking with my grandfather and i told him i was about to go to Canoga Park to the mall. He insisted that it was in Woodland Hills but i knew better. Out of curiosity, just to make sure i was right, i checked the Los Angeles Times Mapping LA and it had the correct boundaries i was used to. Then i checked Google maps, and it has Canoga park starting at vanowen instead of victory. I also checked the Canoga Park Neighborhood Council and the boundary begins at vanowen. So when in the world did this power grab happen? Did the people of woodland hills think that the people of Canoga Park was too "ghetto" or "poor" to have the mall zoned in its original neighborhood? This kind of crap that City Hall allows is ridiculous. This neighborhood zoning stuff in the valley has gotten way out of hand.

[Charles]

Which mall: Topanga Plaza (Canoga Park), Promenade (Woodland Hills), or Fallbrook Square (West Hills)?

[SandyCo]

This is pretty much how I felt when Lake Balboa was created. In reality, it's still the western part of Van Nuys, and renaming it won't change that! It sounds so pretentious, I just want to every time I think about it.

Woodland Hills has more prestige than Canoga Park. I once looked for an apartment in Canoga Park, because I'd be so close to work (within 5 minutes!), and I discovered that once you get north of Victory, that area completely changes. I don't know when the boundary change from Victory to Vanowen occurred, but nothing is any different, except in those residents' minds, I suppose!

[Curmudgeon]

Elementary! When the name results in higher housing prices.

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Elementary! When the name results in higher housing prices.

Bngo....we have a winner....

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Elementary! When the name results in higher housing prices.

This is true.

Real estate agents are the biggest liars there are, and will do or say ANYTHING to make their property sound better than it actually is.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by rob3gd

I was talking with my grandfather and i told him i was about to go to Canoga Park to the mall. He insisted that it was in Woodland Hills but i knew better. Out of curiosity, just to make sure i was right, i checked the Los Angeles Times Mapping LA and it had the correct boundaries i was used to. Then i checked Google maps, and it has Canoga park starting at vanowen instead of victory. I also checked the Canoga Park Neighborhood Council and the boundary begins at vanowen. So when in the world did this power grab happen? Did the people of woodland hills think that the people of Canoga Park was too "ghetto" or "poor" to have the mall zoned in its original neighborhood? This kind of crap that City Hall allows is ridiculous. This neighborhood zoning stuff in the valley has gotten way out of hand.

I grew up in the West Valley so this thread caught my attention. No longer live there but have family in the area. This was news to me as well.

A couple of things:
1. The Topanga Mall's official website still lists the address as Canoga Park;
2. You are right about the Neighborhood Council boundaries. Canoga Park Neigh. Council starts at Vanowen. The Topanga Mall is located in the "Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council" area.

I am just speculating but here are my best guesses:
1. The owner of the Topanga Mall is Westfield, the Australian-based shopping center giant, which ALSO owns the Promenade Mall. They have long had expansion plans to link both malls together and add more shops and even housing or offices on the parking lots surrounding both sites. Having both malls in one Neighborhood Council probably made more sense for them. Even if the Neigh Councils are only advisory the planning bodies and politicians listen to them. Far easier for Westfield to win support of one Neigh Council than two.

2. The Topanga Mall is zoned in the "Warner Center Specific Plan" area and has been since the 1980's when that plan was adopted. So perhaps when the Neighborhood Councils were being drawn ten years ago the thought was the mall should go in the "Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neigh Council" area as that dovetails with the planning for the area. This may have pre-dated Westfield's purchase of both malls....which I think was not until around 2005. But I am not sure.

Finally, isn't it possible the area is still considered officially Canoga Park (as the mall's website does) and just happens to be part of the adjacent Neigh Council?

[john818]

The boundaries of Canoga Park is victory boulevard on the south and Nordhoff on the north and de soto on the east and shoup on the west. Canoga Park Boundary Map

[jziggs]

As a child my family drove to my grandparent's home on Shoup Ave. in Canoga Park and spent many happy days and nights there. My grandparents bought the 10 acre property in 1946 and lived there until 1953 when my grandmother sold it as my grandfather had died in 1952. The property had its own gasoline pumps, a small guest house where my grandfather polished rocks and a large patio where we often gathered with our cousins. I remember a sheep ranch across the street. I was 9 when the property was sold and I remember that the acreage was subdivided and 20 other homes were built on it but the main house was left intact. I googled Zillow today to see what the old ranch house looked like and was surprised that it's now considered to be in Woodland Hills, not Canoga Park. The original floor plan of the house is imprinted in my mind and it's now over 7000 square feet and unrecognizable. So I, also, was surprised that part of Canoga Park had become Woodland Hills.

[looker009]

I would check LATimes or the website John818 listed.


http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhood...09&g=Geocodify