Victory Boulevard (Los Angeles)

Victory Boulevard
Victory Boulevard
Maintained by	Bureau of Street Services, City of L.A. DPW
West end:	Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve
Major; junctions	Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Canoga Park; Reseda Blvd. in Reseda; Balboa Blvd. in Van Nuys; I-405 in Van Nuys; Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys; Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys; SR 170 in N. Hollywood; Vineland Ave. in N. Hollywood; W. Burbank Blvd. in Burbank; W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank; Western Ave. in Glendale
East end:	SR 134 at Griffith Park

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Victory Boulevard is a major east-west arterial road that runs 25 miles (40 km) traversing the entire length of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. Through much of the San Fernando Valley, Victory Boulevard divides the affluent communities at the southern end of the Valley (Woodland Hills, Tarzana, and Encino), from the less affluent communities of the central Valley (Canoga Park, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, and North Hollywood).

[edit] Geography

Traveling the 25-mile (40 km) length of Victory Boulevard reveals the diversity of the San Fernando Valley, from the undeveloped open rolling hills of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve and the multi-million dollar estates in the hills at the boulevard's western terminus, past the West Valley's major malls at Fallbrook Center and Westfield Topanga, alongside the headquarters of the company (Rocketdyne) that built the rocket engines that sent Americans into space and to the moon, through the Warner Center business district, past Pierce College, through the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Center with Lake Balboa, Pedlow Skate Park and golf courses, then through the largely Latin communities of Van Nuys, Valley Glen and North Hollywood in the center of the valley, crossing the Tujunga Wash, and continuing past Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery with its Portal of the Folded Wing, through Burbank's entertainment district, passing the Nickelodeon studios at Olive Avenue, then veering southeast to its eastern terminus at Griffith Park near the Los Angeles Zoo and Travel Town Museum (at the intersection of Riverside Drive & Sonora Avenue).

Victory Boulevard is one of three Los Angeles boulevards included in the lyrics of Randy Newman's song I Love LA: "...“Century Boulevard (We Love It!), Victory Boulevard (We Love It), Santa Monica Boulevard (We Love It)..."

[edit] History

Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys

When Van Nuys was plotted in 1911, Victory Boulevard was called 7th Avenue.^[1] Around 1916, the name was changed to Leesdale Avenue.^[1] Finally, Leesdale Avenue became Victory Avenue in the mid-1920s. In the mid-1920s, the Leesdale Improvement Association unveiled plans to expand Leesdale Avenue as an 80-foot (24 m)-wide "great east-and-west boulevard" through the Valley.^[1] At that time, the City also changed the name to Victory Boulevard, in honor of soldiers returning from World War I,^[2] and paved the boulevard as far west as Balboa Boulevard where it ended.^[1] Victory Boulevard did not extend to the West Valley until the 1950s.^[1]

[edit] Transportation

The Metro Local bus line 164 runs along Victory Boulevard.

[edit] Communities along Victory Boulevard (west to east)

West Hills - west of Shoup, Victory Boulevard marks the southern border of West Hills with Woodland Hills to the south
Woodland Hills - between the western city limits, and Corbin Avenue on the east, Victory Boulevard marks the northern border of Woodland Hills with West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka to the north
Canoga Park - Victory Boulevard marks the southern border of Canoga Park between Shoup, and DeSoto, with Woodland Hills to the south
Winnetka - Corbin Avenue is the eastern boundary, DeSoto Avenue is the western boundary, with the Los Angeles River and Woodland Hills to the south.
Reseda - Victory Boulevard marks the southern border of Reseda between Corbin Avenue and White Oak Avenue.
Tarzana - Victory Boulevard marks the northern border of Tarzana between Corbin Avenue (west) and Lindley Avenue (east)^[3]
Lake Balboa - between White Oak and the I-405-San Diego Freeway
Encino - Victory Boulevard marks the northern border of Encino between Lindley Avenue and White Oak
Van Nuys - between the I-405-San Diego Freeway and Hazeltine Avenue
Valley Glen - between Hazeltine Avenue and the CA 170-Hollywood Freeway^[4]
North Hollywood - between the CA 170-Hollywood Freeway and Clybourn Avenue
Burbank - between Clybourn Avenue and Allen Street
Glendale - between Allen Street and Riverside Drive/Sonora Avenue

[edit] Landmarks along Victory Boulevard (west to east)

The Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch)- a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) public nature preserve park of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, located at the western terminus of Victory Blvd. in West Hills-Woodland Hills. ^[5]
Fallbrook Center - 75-acre (300,000 m²), 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m²), open-air shopping center located at Victory Boulevard and Fallbrook Avenue in West Hills; retailers including Mervyn's, Kohl's, Home Depot, Target, Ross, Michael's Arts & Crafts, Designer Shoe Warehouse, Linens 'n Things and Petco.^[6]
Westfield Topanga - opened in 1964 as Topanga Plaza, California's first enclosed shopping mall, and located at Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Victory Boulevard, Westfield Topanga has been extensively renovated from 2006-2008 and features 230 stores including Macy's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sears and Target.^[7]
Rocketdyne - located in Canoga Park, Rocketdyne built the engines for most of the United States' rockets from the 1950s to 1970s.^[8]

Rocketdyne, in Canoga Park.

Los Angeles Pierce College - opened in 1947 as an agricultural college and the San Fernando Valley's first institution of higher learning, Pierce College today is a two-year public college with almost 100 disciplines and 20,000 students, located on 426 acres (172 ha) in the Chalk Hills, with 2,200 trees, thousands of rose bushes, a nature preserve, botanical garden, and a forest area boasting giant redwoods; Pierce still maintains large sections of tillable and range land and a 226-acre (91 ha) farm at the west side of campus, with an equestrian center and small herds of cattle, sheep and goats.^[9]
Jewish Home for the Aging - 18855 Victory Blvd., Reseda, CA 91335^[10]
Reseda High School - a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District established in 1955; used as the setting for the high school in The Shield, several episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and in the feature film Grosse Pointe Blank.
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies - located in Tarzana, SOCES is the largest magnet school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, 1780 students in the grades 4-12; #1 High School API test score in LAUSD.^[11]

Pedlow Skate Park, in Encino.

Reseda Park and Reseda Recreation Center - park and recreation center located at 18411 Victory Blvd., including barbecue pits, baseball diamond, basketball courts, children's play area, community room, picnic tables, seasonal ppol, tennis courts and volleyball courts.^[12]
Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park - 5-acre (20,000 m²) off-leash dog park in Lake Balboa, at the corner of Victory Boulevard and White Oak with separate fenced area for small dogs.^[13]
Pedlow Field Skate Park - 8,500-square-foot (790 m²) concrete skate bowl located in Encino at 17334 Victory Blvd. includes rails, steps, walls, a "fun box," "pyramid" and "waterfall."^[14]

Portal of the Folded Wings, at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Van Nuys National Guard Armory - located at 17330 Victory Boulevard^[15]
Birmingham High School, Lake Balboa - built in 1953 on the site of a U.S. Army hospital; from 1976-1979, the San Fernando Valley's first professional sports team, the Los Angeles Skyhawks of the American Soccer League, played their home games at Birmingham Stadium on Victory Boulevard.^[16] In May 1967, a rock concert at the football field at Birmingham High featured Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Merry-Go-Round, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, The Sunshine Company, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.^[17]
Lake Balboa - a 27-acre (11 ha) lake south of Victory Boulevard filled with water reclaimed from the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant featuring fishing, boating, remote-control boating and jogging/walking.^[18]
Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area - a large urban recreation area located south of Victory Boulevard in the central Valley consisting of Balboa Sports Center, Hjelte Sports Center, Lake Balboa/Anthony C. Beilenson Park, Sepulveda Garden Center, The Japanese Garden, Sherman Oaks Castle Park, Woodley Park, Encino Golf Course, Balboa Golf Course, and Woodley Lakes Golf Course.^[19]
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood - cemetery founded in 1923; the Portal of the Folded Wings, a tribute to the pioneers of aviation, is on the National Register of Historic Places; Valhalla is the burial site of many aviation pioneers and early Hollywood celebrities, including Oliver Hardy and "Gorgeous George" Wagner.^[20]
Griffith Park - located at the eastern terminus of Victory Boulevard, Griffith Park is LA's largest park covering 4,210 acres (1,700 ha) with attractions including the Autry National Center, Greek Theatre, Griffith Observatory, L.A. Equestrian Center, Los Angeles Zoo, and Travel Town^[21]