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The concrete-lined Los Angeles River runs along the southern edge of Reseda.
Reseda is located at 34.201N, 118.535W. It is relatively flat and is approximately 740 ft. above sea level.
ZIP Code: 91335
The area now known as Reseda, California was originally inhabited by Native Americans of the Tongva tribe that lived close to the Los Angeles River. The vegetation was plentiful, and the natives worked a mere two hours a day to support themselves.
Reseda originated as a farm town named "Marian" that appeared in 1912. ( Marian Otis Chandler was the daughter of Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis, a director of the L.A. Suburban Homes Co. syndicate.)
In 1905, after Edgar Rice Burroughs bought 550 acres (2.2 km²) near the intersection of Reseda and Ventura boulevards and named it Tarzana (after his famous fictional character), Reseda came to refer more directly to an area farther north.
About 1920, Reseda, named after a fragrant North African yellow-dye plant, Reseda odorata, which grows in the hot dry climates -- replaced Marian as a designation for a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way.
The population of Reseda in 1930 was 1,805. In 1940, 4,147. By 1950 it had topped 16,000 -- but the Ventura Freeway lay 10 years in the future, and most Reseda residents still bought most of their fresh eggs, milk, honey and vegetables at stands along Ventura BoulevardVentura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was a. The name "Reseda" was given first to a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Railroad ( AAR reporting mark SP was an American railroad. The railroad was founded in 1865, forming part of the Central Pacific Railroad empire. By 1900, the Southern Pacific Company had grown into a major railroad system that incorp in the south San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley or, simply, The Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California. Geography The San Fernando Valley is bounded by the Santa Susana Mountains to the northwest, The Simi Hills to the west, the Santa Monica Mountains to the south,.
Reseda was one of the first suburbs in the San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley or, simply, The Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California. Geography The San Fernando Valley is bounded by the Santa Susana Mountains to the northwest, The Simi Hills to the west, the Santa Monica Mountains to the south,. Its large ranches were sub-divided and the area was developed by realtors just as the veterans of World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough were returning home. The earliest families came to live among orange groves which were successively plowed under in favor of housing. At the time, most of the jobs were in the Los Angeles basin, to the South, over the Santa Monica mountains.
By 1950, the Valley's population reached 400,000. The Valley pioneered the post-war baby boomA baby boom is any period of greatly increased birth rate within temporal and usually geographical bounds. Many such instances have been recorded in human history and are often caused by uplifting factors such as good harvests, victories in sport or war,, many of the children of which are today called the ' Yuppies'. The average new Valley home, in 1949, cost $9,000. By 1955, that same house could be resold for nearly $15,000. But even at that price, a household income only had to be $6,000 a year, not at all difficult, considering Valley incomes continued to hover above the national average.
By 1960, the average market value of a Valley home reached $18,850. During the 1970s, however, these costs and income patterns over the rest of the country began to reverse. Land and housing costs shot upward, while most incomes only crept. By the beginning of the 1980s, the average price of a home in the Valley reached $110,000.