Van Nuys - City of Los Angeles

Demographics Land Area (Sq. Mi.): 17.2 Population: 128,078 African American: 6.5% Asian American: 7.5% Hispanic: 59.2% White: 26.3% Other: 0.5% Median Housing Value: $373,000 Number of Households: 56,818 Related Websites City of Los Angeles Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce

Van Nuys is famous for Van Nuys Boulevard, a major north-south thoroughfare where teenagers congregated and went "cruising."  Those days are long gone, but today there's plenty to do here that's a lot more fun, and best yet, legal.

The city was named after one of its early settlers, Isaac Van Nuys.   He and Isaac Lankershim founded the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association in 1869, four years before the railroad was built.  City Hall was erected in 1933, and today it remains the center of Valley government, with federal, state, county and city offices sharing the premises with a public library, police station and municipal court buildings.

Van Nuys has its own airport, which hosts the largest air show in Los Angeles with more than 350,000 spectators attending, and a number of other landmarks.  Band leader Horace Heidt bought the Oliver Hardy estate after the comedian's death. He tore down all the buildings except Hardy's home and built in their place a large apartment complex that still stands.

Van Nuys has other show business connections.  Van Nuys High School, which Marilyn Monroe and Robert Redford attended, was showcased in the films "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," and "Rock and Roll High School," and the city and its streets have served as locations for countless movies and episodic TV series.  Perhaps one of the most famous film forays is the final scene in "Casablanca," which was shot at Van Nuys Airport.