KITCHEN REMODELING Topanga, California

Topanga (pronunciation) (Tongva: Topaa’nga) is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow southern ration of Topanga at the coast is amongst the city of Malibu and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. As of the 2020 census the population of the Topanga CDP was 8,560. The ZIP code is 90290 and the area code is primarily 310, with 818 lonesome at the north stop of the canyon. It is in the 3rd County Supervisorial district.

History

Topanga is the name total to the Place by the Native American indigenous Tongva tribe, and may mean “where the mountain meets the sea” or “a place above.” The post in the Tongva language, Topaa’nga, has a root topaa’- that likely comes from the Chumash language. It was the western border of their territory, abutting the Chumash tribe that occupied the coast from Malibu northwards. Bedrock mortars can be found carved into rock outcroppings in many locations.

Topanga was later colonized by Mexicans in 1839. In the 1920s, Topanga Canyon became a weekend getaway for Hollywood stars in imitation of several cottages built for that purpose. The rolling hills and plenty vegetation served to allow both privacy and attractive surroundings for the wealthy and famous.
During the 1960s, Topanga Canyon became a magnet to many further artists. In 1965 Wallace Berman fixed in the area. For a time, Neil Young lived in Topanga, first living bearing in mind producer David Briggs then later buying his own house. He recorded most of his After the Gold Rush album in his basement studio in 1970. Charles Manson had back been bustling in Topanga, where he had briefly befriended both Neil Young and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. Members of the Manson Family began their rouse of murder on July 31, 1969, with the murder of Topanga resident Gary Hinman, a music educational who had opened his house to anyone needing shelter.

Geography

Topanga Canyon

Topanga Creek drains Topanga Canyon and is the third largest watershed entering the Santa Monica Bay. The creek is one of the few unshakable undammed waterways in the area, and is a spawning sports ground for steelhead trout. The area typically receives roughly 22 inches (560 mm) of rain annually. Topanga Beach lies on the coast at the outlet of Topanga Creek. Topanga Canyon Boulevard, State Route 27, is the principal thoroughfare, connecting the Ventura Freeway (US 101) to the north following Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) on the south. The southern share of the boulevard largely follows Topanga Creek. North of the Old Topanga Canyon Road intersection, the boulevard traverses the Santa Monica Mountains.

Topanga Canyon contains lands of Topanga State Park, the largest park in the Santa Monica Mountains and one of the largest door space preserves amongst a city in the world, as capably as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It is portion of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It primarily represents a California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion, with large areas of the California oak woodland forest community, and a broad variety of indigenous plants.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and teetotal summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Topanga has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated “Csb” on climate maps.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Topanga had a population of 8,289. The population density was 433.2 inhabitants per square mile (167.3/km²). Topanga had a median household income of $120,711, with only 5.9% of the population living under the poverty line. The racial makeup of Topanga was 7,313 (88.2%) White (84.5% Non-Hispanic White), 117 (1.4%) African American, 35 (0.4%) Native American, 353 (4.3%) Asian, 3 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 125 (1.5%) from extra races, and 343 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 534 persons (6.4%).

The Census reported that 8,289 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized intervention quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 3,442 households, out of which 996 (28.9%) had children under the age of 18 animate in them, 1,772 (51.5%) were opposite-sex married couples lively together, 262 (7.6%) had a female householder when no husband present, 140 (4.1%) had a male householder in the same way as no wife present. There were 239 (6.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 49 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 903 households (26.2%) were made happening of individuals, and 256 (7.4%) had someone full of life alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41. There were 2,174 families (63.2% of all households); the average relations size was 2.87.

The population was 1,682 people (20.3%) under the age of 18, 333 people (4.0%) aged 18 to 24, 1,917 people (23.1%) aged 25 to 44, 3,188 people (38.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,169 people (14.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For all 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

There were 3,750 housing units at an average density of 196.0 per square mile (75.7/km), of which 2,589 (75.2%) were owner-occupied, and 853 (24.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.8%. 6,597 people (79.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,692 people (20.4%) lived in rental housing units.

Lower Topanga Canyon

The bottom of Topanga Canyon, where it meets Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean, was owned for many years by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, a wealthy private club in downtown Los Angeles. The 1,659-acre (6.71 km²) parcel was rented out to a variety of businesses and residents for decades at remarkably low rents, considering that it borders the city of Malibu. Thus Lower Topanga became unique as one of the last outposts of the timeless Topanga Canyon bohemian hippie lifestyle.

The Chumash people considered Lower Topanga a sacred, economic, and cultural meeting place for tribes everything along the coast. One of the main neighborhoods, the “Rodeo Grounds”, takes its publicize from an actual rodeo showground that existed there on a Mexican ranch in the 1800s.

In the in the future 1900s, Lower Topanga was a Japanese fishing village. William Randolph Hearst owned the property for a become old and turned it into a weekend getaway spot with beach shacks for his and Marion Davies’ guests.

In the ’60s, a effective community of artists and surfers sprang taking place in Lower Topanga. They maintained their houses without assistance, sometimes digging them out of the mud after floods or feel backfires to prevent a spreading wildfire from afire down their neighborhood. The roads remained unpaved.

In 2001, Lower Topanga was sold to California State Parks. Even even though the Lower Topanga community occupied less than 2% of the total purchased land, State Parks had an uncompromising policy to relocate everyone and bulldoze whatever of the houses. (State Parks had already evicted residents who lived directly on Topanga Beach in the late ’70s.)

A work of 10 Lower Topanga poets calling themselves the “Idlers of the Bamboo Grove” published a wedding album of the similar name in 2002, celebrating their community and lamenting the prospect of having to leave. Their publisher, Brass Tacks Press, continued publishing works practically Lower Topanga, as without difficulty as maintaining an online Lower Topanga Photo Archive.

Even even though Lower Topanga residents were unchangeable money to leave, some fought bitterly neighboring their relocation in court. However, the last holdouts were forced off the home in March 2006. Currently there are lithe efforts by TreePeople and Mountains Restoration Trust to revolutionize the area to its pristine condition as it was prior to development.

Culture

Topanga is known as a bohemian enclave attracting artists, musicians, filmmakers, and others. Numerous music festivals have been organized in the canyon, including the Topanga Days Festival and Topanga Earth Day. The Topanga Film Institute hosts the annual Topanga Film Festival.

In the 1950s, blacklisted actor Will Geer had to sell his large Santa Monica home and assume his intimates to a small Plan in the canyon where they could go to their own produce. Geer’s buddy Woody Guthrie had a small shack upon the property. They by mistake founded what became an artists’ colony. Since its founding in 1973, the Geer associates has continued to decree the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. It has grown into an Equity theater, and occupies a natural uncovered amphitheater. It features Shakespearean plays, modern classics, and indigenous productions, as capably as musical concerts. Performers have included Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Della Reese, and Burl Ives. Odetta was part of the early music scene in the 1960s.

A well-known venue in the canyon was the Elysium Institute, also known as Elysium Fields, a nudist club started by Ed Lange in 1967. After surviving outstretched battles subsequent to county officials the 9-acre (3.6 ha) property was sold in 2002 by its founder’s heirs.

Every Memorial Day weekend on the grounds of the Topanga Community House, Topanga has an annual fair and parade, called Topanga Days. Topanga Days Country Fair features music, belly dancing, over 80 unique craft vendors and a variety of food from Cajun to Mexican to vegan. A parade is held on Memorial Day. The parade is said to have inspired the more well-known Doo-Dah Parade in Pasadena, California.

Topanga Canyon also hosts an annual reggae festival titled Reggae upon the Mountain that has grown to be one of the largest deeds in the area. The matter serves as a fundraiser for the Topanga Community Club in a thesame fashion as Topanga Days.

The Topanga Film Institute presents the annual Topanga Film Festival each July. The festival undertakings to bridge cultures, create and early payment community, provide cultural squabble and networking opportunities.

Two external shopping centers featuring local businesses form the hub of local commerce. There are no hotels, motels or gas stations in Topanga, nor are there any chain or big bin stores.

The location of Topanga in the Santa Monica Mountains along with makes the natural surroundings an important part of the culture. Streams, waterfalls, cliffs of exposed bedrock, landmark stone outcroppings, and overlooks in the song of panoramic views of the mountains, Pacific Ocean and Los Angeles are common attractions. There are many trails for quick walks, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, birdwatching, and rock climbing, all of which are important parts of the local community.

Government and infrastructure

The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Topanga Library located on 122 N Topanga Canyon Blvd.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department operates Fire Station No. 69 in Topanga as a allocation of Battalion 5. During the 1960s and 1970s, “problematic firefighters” were placed here under the organization of James O. Page.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas, serving Topanga.

The United States Postal Service Topanga Post Office is located at 101 South Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The California Highway Patrol, West Valley Area, handles the traffic on the State Route and in the unincorporated areas.

The Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (T-CEP) operates an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) near the Topanga Town Center.

Education

Most Topanga residents are zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Place is within Board District 4. As of 2010 Steve Zimmer represents the district.

Some portions are in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). Those portions are zoned to Webster Elementary School and Malibu High School. Some are in the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

Private schools:

The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Topanga Library.

Notable people

See also

References

External links