Agoura Hills is a city (incorporated in 1982) in Los Angeles
County, California, and has the ZIP
code 91301. The population was 20,537 at the 2000 census. This city on
the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) straddles
the border between the county of Los Angeles to the east, west and south and Ventura
County to the north. It is approximately 30 miles west of the Downtown Los
Angeles and less than 10 miles west of the Los Angeles City limits (Woodland Hills), and is located in the eastern
Conejo Valley.
History
The area was first settled by the Chumash Indians, and later by Spanish Franciscan
missionaries. As the California coast was settled by Spaniards in the 1500s, El Camino Real, a road from
Loreto, BCS, Mexico to Sonoma, California, and connecting the Spanish
missions in California, was built through the heart of what would later be known as Agoura Hills.
Spanish expeditions and explorations in the 1700s resulted in many large Spanish land grants in
the area. Under the direction of King Philip V of Spain, Rancho Las Virgenes, or El
Rancho de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Las Virgenes as it was first called, was originally given to Miguel
Ortega. Later, under the United States flag, the grant was filed under the
ownership of Dona Maria Antonia Machado del Reyes. Her heirs, Jose Reyes and Maria Altgracia Reyes de Vejar, built a home of
adobe, "The Reyes Adobe", close to a natural spring near Strawberry Hill, and it
was last owned by Jacinta Reyes. This adobe home can still be found today in a museum along Reyes Adobe Rd. in central Agoura
Hills.
By 1900, Agoura Hills was being used as a popular stage stop for travelers along the
Camino Real because of its natural spring at the foothills of Ladyface Mountain, one of Agoura Hills' defining geographic features.
In the 1920s, the community was briefly known as Picture City, as Paramount Studios owned a ranch in the area used for filming Westerns. To obtain a post office of its own the residents were required to choose a one word name, and
in 1927 chose a misspelling of the last name of Pierre Agoure, a local Basque man and
French immigrant who had settled in the area in 1871 to live the
lifestyle of the Mexican rancher and styled himself Don Pierre Agoure[1], accordingly. Agoure was a successful sheep herder and had a reputation as a swashbuckler. His name was chosen
for the post office as it was the shortest name proposed[2].
Rapid growth occurred in the Agoura Hills area starting in the late 1960s, in the wake of the construction of the
Ventura Freeway through the city's heart, an action that isolated the northern half of
the city from the south. The first housing tracts started in Agoura were Hillrise, Liberty Canyon and Lake Lindero. Growth continued at a rapid pace during the 1970s. Schools were
built and much of downtown was erected.
In 1978, residents of the Agoura Hills area banded together to lobby Sacramento to widen the Kanan Bridge. Legislation was introduced and passed requiring the State
Department of Transportation to award contracts for widening of
the Kanan Road bridge overpass, over the Ventura Freeway, from two lanes to four
lanes.
In 1982, the residents of the City of Agoura Hills voted in favor of cityhood by a 68% majority. Agoura Hills became the 83rd
City in Los Angeles County. Elected to the first City Council were Mayor
Fran Pavley, Mayor Pro Tem Carol Sahm, Councilmembers Ernest Dynda, John Hood and Vicky
Leary. [3] Incorporating a
year after neighboring Westlake Village, the drive for cityhood in the
region was largely based on public discontent with the county's failure to limit residential development of the area, motives
that influenced Malibu and Calabasas
to follow suit in 1991[4].
The 1980s was a period of tremendous growth, with large land areas being subdivided into housing tracts and a great wave of migration of people into the city. In the 1990s numerous businesses
also set up shop in the city, and the downtown area was filled with shops and restaurants.
Map showing Agoura Hills Districts
In 1996, however, the murder of Jimmy Farris (the infamous Brandon Hein case) shook the
city and awakened it to a rising drug problem and petty theft crime
wave among its young. As a result, the city began sponsoring live music competitions and concerts in local parks (see Music).
The historic Reyes Adobe Museum (c. 1820), from the Rancho Las Virgenes, owned by the Los
Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, was built in the mid-2000s around the site of the old adobe. Today, it is a popular tourist attraction. [5] [6]
Geography
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 21.2 km² (8.2 mi²). 21.2 km² (8.2 mi²) of it is
land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.37%) is water.
Agoura Hills is called the "Gateway to the Santa Monica
Mountains National Recreation Area"[citation needed]. The city is unofficially divided into a number of varied districts
centered around the modern Downtown area of the city. The most notable of these districts include Downtown, Forest
Cove, South End, Malibu Junction, East Agoura, and Old
Agoura.
Music
Agoura Hills is known regionally for its live music scene and artistic originality in the alt/rap-metal scene, a fame that has
given rise to such top acts as Hoobastank, Underwood, Delve, and Linkin Park.
This music scene was born amid the coming of age of the children of the first wave of migration into Agoura Hills, those that
settled in the 1960s. The 1980s was the first boom in the music scene, but by the late 80's, as many of these original rockers
moved off to college or aged, the scene quietly began to slip away.
However, in the mid-1990s the music scene began to take off again, energized by the coming of age of the children of those who
had settled in the early 1980s. The 1996 Jimmy Farris murder case (popularized by defendant Brandon Hein) spurred many city leaders to action in promoting the arts among teenagers, hoping to ward off
a rising crime wave. This patronage helped re-popularize live music among teenagers, and
created the fertile ground that led to the take off of Hoobastank and Linkin Park.
However, by the 2000s, much of this wave of teenagers had aged or gone to college, leaving the scene with only a shell of the
energy it once had. Although the scene lives on, pushed forward by various Battle of the
Bands competitions and garage concerts, the lack of a third major wave of migration to Agoura Hills (construction having
been relatively maxed out in the second migration) makes a major renaissance seem doubtful as of early 2007. Demographic data
suggests a possible resurgence within the coming years, but current data shows that the majority of young people in the city are
in the 10-14 age group, leaving a comeback to some years in the future. With mean house prices in Agoura at $1.03 million,
families with younger children(age 0-9) are probably not expected for a generation. [7]
As a result of this decline, it has become equally common to hear alt-rock blaring from stereos in Agoura as to hear
reggaeton, a fact evidenced by radio station Latino 96.3's
advertising campaign and runaway popularity in Agoura Hills.
Agoura Hills is home to The Canyon, a highly regarded concert venue that hosts national and regional touring acts such as
Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, X, Steel Pulse, The New
Cars, Asia, Boys II Men, Which
One's Pink?, Alan Parsons, and The
Smithereens.
Demographics
Agoura Hills, once a relatively homogeneous town, has in recent years become more diverse, both racially and socially. Having
grown 10.8% in the 2000-2005 period, Agoura Hills today boasts a Hispanic population (6.9%, or
1407 people) and a highly visible Iranian population (1.7%, or 349 people). Evidencing
this phenomenon is the growth of various ethnic restaurants in the city, especially in Lake Lindero and Downtown. A highly visible Jewish population is also present in the city, as
businesses cater to this group can be found in Downtown and a
regional synagogue is located in southern Lake Lindero [8].
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 20,537 people, 6,874 households, and 5,588 families residing
in the city. The population density was 969.4/km² (2,511.8/mi²). There were 6,993
housing units at an average density of 330.1/km² (855.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.96% White, 1.32% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 6.50% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 2.09% from other races, and 2.78% from two or more races. 6.85% of the population
were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 6,874 households out of which 47.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.7% were
non-families. 13.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from
45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $87,008, and the median income for a family was $95,765. Males had a median
income of $72,081 versus $42,656 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$39,700. About 2.8% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over. More than half of the population over the age
of 15 has a college degree, and 81% of residents qualify as white-collar workers.
[9]
Employment
There are 14,899 people at least 16 years old, of which 10,645 are in the civilian labor force
and 0 are in the Armed Forces. 360 are unemployed.
Of 7,660 females that are at least 16 years old, 4,865 are in the civilian labor force and 0 are in the Armed Forces. 4,715
are employed, and 150 are unemployed.
Of 10,166 out of the 10,285 workers 16 years or older, 8,454 drive to work alone in a motor
vehicle, 793 carpool, 90 use public transportation (including taxicabs), 76 walk, and 82
use other means of transportation to commute to work. 671 workers work at home.
The mean time to commute to work (one-way) is 30.5 minutes.
Of the 10,285 workers, 7,900 are privately employed, 1,124 are government workers, 1,211
are self-employed, and 50 are unpaid family workers.
Apartments in the Strawberry Hill district of Forest Cove
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Office construction in the Historic Quarter.
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View of Agoura Hills looking from southern edge of the Historic Quarter.
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Hills to the east of the city
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Businesses
- DTS, Inc., also known as Digital Theater Systems - developer of digital
multi-channel sound technology for movies and music.
- Line 6 - a manufacturer of digital modeling electric guitars, amplifiers and effects
processors.
- THQ - THQ Inc. - a large video game publisher.
- MyFatRobot LLC - a web production company:
parent company of NerdyShirts.com
- Aesthetic Refuge Inc. - a web based magazine and
community built for creative people.
Education
The Las Virgenes Unified School District serves Agoura
Hills.
Famous residents
References
External links
Coordinates:
34.153365° N 118.761805°
W
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