Glendale City Information and Real Estate

The area now known as Glendale, was long inhabited by the Tongva people (People of the Earth), who were later renamed the Gabrieleños by the Spanish missionaries. In 1798 a Spanish army corporal Jose Maria Verdugo received the Ranch San Rafael from Governor Diego de Borica and formalized his possession as a use of land for livestock grazing. Verdugo’s descendants sold the ranch in various parcels, some of which included Atwater Village, Eagle Rock and Highland Park. In 1884, residents gathered to form a town-site and chose to name it Glendale.

Glendale incorporated in 1906 and in the 1920’s it thrived under the influence of Leslie Coombs Brand who built and estate and a private air strip for his fly-in parties. He later partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the Pacific Electric Railway to the area, today memorialized on one of the city’s main thoroughfares, Brand Boulevard.

Glendale has a Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and mild to warm winters and occasional rainfall. The highest recorded temperature in Glendale was 110 °F (43 °C) on a number of occasions and the lowest was 17 °F (−8 °C) in February 2003. The warmest month is August and the coolest is January.

According to the 2010 United States Census,  reported population was 191,719 and according to the Southern Association of Government’s 2016 Demographic and Growth Forecast, the population of Glendale is expected to reach about 214,000 by 2040.

The racial makeup of Glendale was 136,226 (71.1%) White, 2,573 (1.3%) Black, 531 (0.3%) Native American, 31,434 (16.4%) Asian (6.9% Filipino, 5.4% Korean, 1.3% Chinese), 122 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 12,146 (6.3%) from other races, and 8,687 (4.5%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 33,414 persons (17.4%). Non-Hispanic Whites were 61.5% of the population.

Glendale is also one of the largest communities of Armenian descent in the United States. Armenian families have lived in the city since the 1920’s but the surge in immigration escalated in the 1970’s. The city of Glendale is home to one of the largest Armenian communities outside of Armenia.

Beginning in the late 1980s, with assistance from family and friends already there, Armenians from the former Soviet Union began arriving. By 2005 the Armenian population was 40% of the total Glendale population.

Glendale elects its City Council members at large to a four-year term. The current mayor and council members are:

Mayor: Vrej Agajanian
Council Members: Paula Devine, Ara Najarian, Ardy Kassakhian, and Daniel Brotman

State and federal representation

In the United States House of Representatives, Glendale is in California’s 28th congressional district, represented by Democrat Adam Schiff.

In the California State Legislature, Glendale is in the 25th Senate District, represented by Democrat Anthony Portantino, and in the 43rd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Laura Friedman.

The Glendale Unified School District operates the public schools in Glendale.

The GUSD high schools include:

• Glendale High School
• Herbert Hoover High School
• Clark Magnet High School
• Crescenta Valley High School located in La Crescenta
• Allan F. Daily High School.

A number of private schools also operate in Glendale, including

• Chamlian Armenian School
• Holy Family High School
• Salem Lutheran School
• Glendale Adventist Academy.

Glendale is also home to Glendale Community College.

Middle schools are:

• Roosevelt Middle School
• Toll Middle School
• Rosemont Middle School
• Wilson Middle School.