Bel Air, Los Angeles

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Bel Air
—  Neighborhood of Los Angeles  —
The Bel Air west gate at Sunset and Bellagio
Bel Air Location within Western Los Angeles
Coordinates: 34°05′00″N 118°26′52″W / 34.08333°N 118.44778°W / 34.08333; -118.44778
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles

Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California.^[1] Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods.^[2]

Bel Air is situated about 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Los Angeles^[3] and includes some of the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. It borders the north side of UCLA along Sunset Boulevard. At the heart of the community sits the Bel Air Country Club and the Hotel Bel-Air. The community was founded in 1923 by Alphonzo E. Bell, Sr.^[4]

It is bordered by Brentwood on the west and southwest, Westwood on the south, Beverly Hills Post Office on the east, and Sherman Oaks on the north. Bel Air is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities and corporate executives.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Residences 2 Neighborhoods 3 Attractions 4 Television and film 5 Brentwood–Bel Air fire 6 Demographics 7 Government and infrastructure 8 Emergency services 8.1 Fire services 8.2 Police services 9 Education 9.1 Primary and secondary schools 9.1.1 Public schools 9.1.2 Private schools 9.2 Colleges and universities 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Residences

Residences in Bel Air tend to be private and hidden from the winding roads of the community. Most houses are not visible from the street, as they are hidden by dense foliage or gates. Residences range from modest ranch style houses to multi-story configurations to mansions. While some houses in Bel Air seem quite modest from the outside, often lying only six feet from the street, they have large grounds. In general, the higher up the mountain, the smaller the building lots and the more modest the houses. However, those residences along roads such as Stradella Road and Linda Flora Drive have panoramic views of the Los Angeles basin and Catalina Island. The most desirable houses are right off the main entrances of Bel Air and the country club entrance because these houses have both the views of the Bel-Air Country Club and the rest of Los Angeles. Lower Bel Air are among the most expensive homes in the community. Lower Bel Air is also more desirable because of its proximity to Sunset Boulevard, a major thoroughfare.

Multi-family housing is not permitted and ordinances regarding architectural styles, landscaping, and lot sizes exist to preserve Bel Air. Although no one is necessarily banned from entering on foot, most of Bel Air lacks residential sidewalks (unlike Beverly Hills) to discourage the public from walking around the community. Bel Air is also patrolled by local security companies.

President Ronald Reagan lived in a house in Bel Air from his retirement as President in 1989 until his death in 2004, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan continues to live there and attends nearby Bel Air Presbyterian Church.^[5]

[edit] Neighborhoods

Of several entrances, there are two main ones: the East Gate at Beverly Glen and Sunset Boulevards, and the West Gate at Bellagio Road and Sunset Boulevard, opposite an entrance to UCLA. Bel Air is generally subdivided into three distinct neighborhoods: East Gate Old Bel Air, West Gate Bel Air and Upper Bel Air.

[edit] Attractions

The UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is located in Bel Air. It was inspired by the gardens of Kyoto. Many structures in the garden - the main gate, garden house, bridges, and shrine - were built in Japan and reassembled here. Antique stone carvings, water basins and lanterns, as well as the five-tiered pagoda, and key symbolic rocks are also from Japan. Several hundred tons of local stones came from the quarries in Ventura County and the foot of Mt. Baldy, northeast of Los Angeles.

[edit] Television and film

Television shows and movies have been filmed in Bel Air, or are said to take place in the community. Exterior shots for the Beverly Hillbillies were shot in and around the 1938 French neoclassical-style mansion at 750 Bel Air Road,^[6] built by Lynn Atkinson (and later sold to hotelier Arnold Kirkeby after Atkinson's wife refused to move into a house she thought too ostentatious) (After the exterior shooting was completed, the residents of that address forbade any more filming, as passers-by would wander onto the property and ask to see 'Granny')^[7] Exterior scenes from movies such as Get Shorty have also been filmed in the area.^{[citation needed]} Several television films of The Rockford Files were filmed in Bel Air.^{[citation needed]} The television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was set in the neighborhood.^[8][9] The Bel Air Film Festival, first held in 2008,^[10] is an annual international film festival held in Bel Air and the Los Angeles area.

[edit] Brentwood–Bel Air fire

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In 1961, a construction crew working in Sherman Oaks noticed the smoke and flames in a nearby pile of rubbish. Within minutes, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mph (97 km/h) sent burning brush aloft and ultimately seared Nov. 6, 1961, into Los Angeles' civic memory.

Life magazine called it "A Tragedy Trimmed in Mink," and glittering stars of stage and screen scrambled to do battle with the blaze that swept through Bel Air and Brentwood that day. Flaming embers danced from roof to wood-shingled roof, spreading the fire across the Santa Monica Mountains to the south and into the affluent Westside enclaves.

In Bel Air, some film stars stood their ground against the encroaching flames. Maureen O'Hara risked her life to remain at her home and hose down her wooden roof. Fred MacMurray battled the flames and contained damage to just a portion of his home. But comedian Joe E. Brown saw his home burn to the ground. Burt Lancaster and Zsa Zsa Gabor also lost their homes.

Then former Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his chief researcher, Al Moscow, were working on a draft of Nixon's "Six Crises" when the flames threatened his rented house on North Bundy Drive. Nixon and Moscow took to the roof to water down the wood shingles, saving the home.

More than 300 police officers helped evacuate 3,500 residents during the 12-hour fire, and more than 2,500 firefighters battled the blaze, pumping water from neighborhood swimming pools to douse flames in some areas. Pockets of the fire smoldered for several days. Even as firefighters battled what was to become the Bel Air disaster, a separate fire had erupted simultaneously in Santa Ynez Canyon to the west, further straining local firefighting resources. That blaze was contained the next day after consuming nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) and nine structures and burning to within a mile of the inferno raging in Bel Air and Brentwood.

At least 200 firefighters were injured, many by the tar from the roofs of the homes,^{[citation needed]} but no one was killed and 78% of the homes were saved. Still, the fires were the fifth worst conflagration in the nation's history at the time, burning 16,090 acres (65.1 km²), destroying more than 484 homes and 190 other structures and causing an estimated $30 million in damage.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,928 people in the neighborhood. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 86.24% White, 6.84% Asian, 4.65% Hispanic, 1.93% Black, 0.06% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.30% from other races, and 3.59% from two or more races.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Bel Air statistics: population: 7,928; median household income: $208,861.^[11]

[edit] Government and infrastructure

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Bel-Air.^[12]

It lies within the 5th city council district, represented (as of 2007) by Jack Weiss. It is located in the 90077 (Bel Air Estates & Beverly Glen) ZIP code, which is part of the city of Los Angeles.

Stone Canyon Reservoir lies in the northeastern part of Bel Air. Established in 1994, it serves around 400,000 people.

[edit] Emergency services

[edit] Fire services

Los Angeles Fire Department Station 71 is in the area.^[13]

[edit] Police services

The Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood.^[14]

[edit] Education

[edit] Primary and secondary schools

[edit] Public schools

The community is within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The area is within Board District 4.^[15] As of 2009 Steve Zimmer represents the district.^[16]

Two elementary schools, Roscomare Road Elementary School in Bel-Air and Warner Avenue Elementary School in Westwood serve Bel Air.^[17][18] Emerson Middle School in Westwood and University High School in West Los Angeles serve Bel-Air.^[18]

In addition, an LAUSD magnet school named Community Magnet School is near the area.^[19]

[edit] Private schools

Private schools in the Bel Air area include:

• John Thomas Dye School (K–6)^[20]
• Marymount High School^[21]
• Westland School (K-6)
• Berkeley Hall (Christian Science, K-8)
• Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary (Reform Jewish; K-6)
• Milken Community High School (Jewish; 7-12).
• The Mirman School (K-8)
• The Curtis School (DK-6)

[edit] Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities in Bel Air include:

• American Jewish University, comprising an undergraduate school, MBA, MaED, and Rabbinic ordination through the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bel-Air Association Official Website
• Los Angeles City Council District 5
• "Bel-Air: A part of the city, yet apart from it too" (6 Mar 2005) Los Angeles Times, Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column.

Coordinates: 34°05′00″N 118°26′52″W / 34.08333°N 118.44778°W / 34.08333; -118.44778

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