Glendale is its own city, but like all of the cities that make up the Los Angeles area (88 in total), it’s unavoidable overshadowed by the sprawling metropolis that is The City Of Angels.  Glendale’s primary shopping destination is The Americana at Brand—which is what they call an “outdoor mall experience” immaculately groomed to look like more like a planned community than a place you’d go to pick up new shoes. One block away you’ll find the grandaddy of shopping malls in Glendale, the Glendale Galleria, which used to be the only show in town until The Americana took over.

Glendale has had its fair share of Hollywood movie stars, Professional Athletes, and Fortune 500 Executives as residents. Going out to eat in Glendale lets diners experience LA’s melting pot of cultures. Glendale is well-known for its Armenian bakeries, Mediterranean food, Greek and Lebanese eats to American and Italian. It is also home to one of Southern California’s most famous bakeries, Portos.

Glendale’s fairly high population density of 6,295 per sq. mi. is comparable to Milwaukee’s, above that of nearby Burbank and Pasadena, and not far behind that of Los Angeles as a whole. While some view density in a negative light, it is in many ways positive for quality of life, bringing the advantages of the city more easily to more people without the need to waste time traveling. That’s one of the reasons that the density of a city correlates to its “greenness.”

In 1798 Corporal Jose Maria Berdugo (later changed to Verdugo) established title to the Rancho San Rafael. The Rancho included most of present day Glendale, Burbank, Eagle Rock and Highland Park. In 1831, Jose Maria Verdugo died and passed the Rancho San Rafael to his son and daughter (Julio and Catalina). It was not until 30 years later (1861) that Julio and Catalina divided the Rancho between them. A series of smaller divisions took place until a court decision known as the “Great Partition” was made in 1871 dissolving the Rancho San Rafael. As smaller parcels were created, many homes and businesses were developed. Six individuals contributed land to create the original 150 acre townsite which was named Glendale. This was platted, filed and recorded,with the County Recorder as the “Town of Glendale” in 1887.

In 1906 the City was incorporated. It consisted of 1,486 acres. By 1920, the City had grown through nine annexations to over 7,000 acres. From 1920 to 1930, ten annexations brought the total area to 12,294 acres. The period 1930 to 1950 established many small annexations culminating in the 2,160 acre Whiting Woods and Verdugo Mountains annexations. This brought the area of the City to 15,140 acres or 23.6 square miles. Two major annexations, New York Avenue (in the La Crescenta area) and Upper Chevy Chase Canyon, and several smaller annexations enlarged the City to 29.2 square miles by 1952. Since 1952, twenty-seven annexations have occurred. The largest of these was the 662.8 acre Inter-Valley Ranch, now known as the George Dukemejian Wilderness Park Currently the City consists of 30.5 square miles

History abstract above is courtesy of the City of Glendale.

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