Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside
West Los Angeles (region)
The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has no official definition, but, according to the Los Angeles Times, it comprises , encompassing 18 districts in the city of Los Angeles and two unincorporated neighborhoods, plus the cities of...

 of the city of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle
Platinum Triangle (Los Angeles)
"Platinum Triangle" of Los Angeles is an informal name for three adjacent neighborhoods that are generally regarded as the most lavish in the immediate Los Angeles area. The "Platinum Triangle" is situated in Los Angeles Westside and is formed by Beverly Hills, its own city within Los Angeles...

 of Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Bel Air is situated about 12 miles (19.3 km) west of downtown Los Angeles and includes some of the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...

. It borders the north side of UCLA along Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

. At the heart of the community sits the Bel Air Country Club
Bel Air Country Club
The Bel Air Country Club is a social club located in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. The property includes an 18-hole golf course and tennis courts.-History:...

 and the Hotel Bel Air. The community was founded in 1923 by Alphonzo E. Bell, Sr.

It is bordered by Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...

 on the west and southwest, Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...

 on the south, Beverly Hills Post Office on the east, and Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California
Sherman Oaks is an affluent district in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of Los Angeles, California. In contrast to much of the Valley, the area is relatively urbanized, with commercial skyscrapers along Ventura Boulevard as well as scattered throughout...

 on the north. Bel Air is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities and high-profile corporate executives. The Bel Air Association has been operational since 1942, dedicated to preserving the life-style and property-values of their residential community. The Bel Air Association is located at the entrance of the East Gate of Bel Air at 100 Bel Air Road.

Residences

Residences in Bel Air tend to be private and hidden, by dense foliage and gates, from the winding roads of the community. Residences range from relatively modest ranch-style house
Ranch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...

s, to lavish mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

s on magnificent estates. While some houses in Bel Air seem quite modest from the outside, often lying mere feet from the street, they still have large grounds. In general, the higher up the mountain, the smaller the building lots, and more modest the houses. However, those residences along roads such as Stradella Road and Linda Flora Drive provide panoramic views of the Los Angeles basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...

 and
Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...

. The most desirable houses are near the main entrances of the Bel Air Country Club, because they boast views of both the country club and much of Los Angeles. Lower Bel Air boasts many of the most expensive homes in the community, largely because of their proximity to Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

, a major thoroughfare.

Multi-family housing
Multi-family residential
Multi-family residential is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. A common form is an apartment building...

 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
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 lived in a house in Bel Air from his retirement as President in 1989 until his death
Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...

 in 2004, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....

 continues to live there and attends nearby Bel Air Presbyterian Church
Bel Air Presbyterian Church
Bel Air Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch located in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church currently averages more than 3,000 in attendance each weekend.-History:...

.

Neighborhoods

Of several entrances, there are two main ones: the East Gate at Beverly Glen
Beverly Glen Boulevard
Beverly Glen Boulevard is one of three major routes that connects West Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley ....

 and Sunset
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

 Boulevards, and the West Gate at Bellagio Road and Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

, 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.

Attractions

The UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is located in Bel Air . It was inspired by the gardens of Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. Many structures in the garden - the main gate, garden house, bridges, and shrine - were built in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and reassembled here. Antique stone carvings, water basins and lanterns, as well as the five-tiered pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

, 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
Mount San Antonio
Mount San Antonio, commonly known as Old Baldy or Mt Baldy, at , is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, and the highest point in Los Angeles County...

, northeast of Los Angeles.

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, built by Lynn Atkinson (and later sold to hotelier Arnold Kirkeby
Arnold Kirkeby
Arnold Kirkeby was an American hotelier, art collector and real estate investor.He is now best known for owning the mansion in the West Los Angeles suburb of Bel-Air, which was the exterior set for the CBS TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.- Biography :Arnold S...

 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'. Exterior scenes from movies such as Get Shorty
Get Shorty
Get Shorty is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name.-Plot summary:...

 have also been filmed in the area. Several television films of The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...

 were filmed in Bel Air. The television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was set in the neighborhood although the exterior shots used were filmed in nearby Brentwood. The Bel Air Film Festival
Bel Air Film Festival
The Bel Air International Film Festival, first held in 2008, is an annual international film festival which takes place in Bel Air and the greater Los Angeles area...

, first held in 2008, is an annual international film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 held in Bel Air and the Los Angeles area.

Brentwood–Bel Air fire

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 mi/h sent burning brush aloft and ultimately seared November 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
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...

 risked her life to remain at her home and hose down her
wooden roof. Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....

 battled the flames and contained damage to just a portion of his home. But comedian Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown (comedian)
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...

 saw his home burn to the ground. Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...

 and Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...

 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
Six Crises
Six Crises is the first book written by Richard Nixon, who later became the thirty-seventh president of the United States. It was published in 1962, and it recounts his role in six major political situations.-The Alger Hiss case:...

" 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 10000 acres (40.5 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, 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 16090 acres (65.1 km²), destroying more than 484 homes and 190 other structures and causing an estimated $30 million in damage.

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
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Bel Air statistics: population: 7,928; median household income: $207,938

Government and infrastructure

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Health services to over 10 million residents in the Los Angeles County are provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Mental health services are provided by the County Department of Mental Health...

 SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Bel Air.

It lies within the 5th city council district, represented (as of 2007) by Jack Weiss
Jack Weiss
Jack Stephen Weiss is an American politician. He is a former member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 5th district from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2000...

. 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
Stone Canyon Reservoir
Stone Canyon Reservoir and Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir are adjoining reservoirs in West Los Angeles, California, located in the northeastern Bel Air neighborhood of Beverly Glen. Situated in the Santa Monica hills at above sea level, it lies south off Mulholland Drive, and west of North Beverly...

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

Emergency services

Fire services

Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles....

 Station 71 is in the area.

Police services

The Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

 operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood.

Education

Public schools

The community is within the Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...

. The area is within Board District 4. As of 2009 Steve Zimmer represents the district.

Two elementary schools, Roscomare Road Elementary School in Bel Air and Warner Avenue Elementary School in Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...

 serve Bel Air . Emerson Middle School
Emerson Middle School (Los Angeles, California)
Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School is a middle school in the Los Angeles Unified School District in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA. It was designed by famed architect Richard Neutra and was named in honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American author, poet, and philosopher.The school offers...

 in Westwood and University High School in West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region known as the "Westside."-Geography and transportation:...

 serve Bel Air .

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

Private schools

Private schools in the Bel Air area include:
  • John Thomas Dye School
    John Thomas Dye School
    The John Thomas Dye School, nicknamed JTD, is an independent private coeducational nonsectarian elementary day school located in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles, California, serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade....

     (K–6)
  • Marymount High School
    Marymount High School
    Marymount High School is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school located in the Holmby Hills/Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. It sits across from the University of California, Los Angeles campus at 10643 Sunset Boulevard....

  • Westland School
    The Westland School (Los Angeles)
    The Westland School is a progressive, independent, private, coeducational, nonsectarian elementary day school located in the Bel-Air community of Los Angeles, California, serving students from kindergarten through sixth grade. The school is located on Mulholland Drive across from the Bel Air...

     (K-6)
  • Berkeley Hall (Christian Science
    Christian Science
    Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...

    , K-8)
  • Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary (Reform Jewish
    Reform Judaism
    Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

    ; K-6)
  • Milken Community High School
    Milken Community High School
    Milken Community High School, colloquially Milken, is a private Jewish High School. It is located on Mulholland Drive in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles, California.Though long affiliated with Stephen S...

     (Jewish
    Judaism
    Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

    ; 7-12).
  • The Mirman School
    Mirman school
    Mirman School for Gifted Children is an independent, co-educational school for gifted children located at 16180 Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, California, United States with 330 pupils aged 5 to 14...

     (K-8)
  • The Curtis School
    Curtis School
    Curtis School is a private school in the Los Angeles area.-History and background:In 1925, Carl F. Curtis founded it as a school for swimming at its original location in West Hollywood, near the Beverly Center.-21st century Curtis:...

     (DK-6)

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
    Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
    The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, informally known as the "Ziegler School" or simply "Ziegler", is the graduate program of study leading to Ordination as Conservative Rabbis at the American Jewish University...


External links

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