What to Watch in 2025 It’s 2025! Can you believe it? Time passes much too quickly. For someone as busy as I, it’s all I can do to just keep up. As a steering committee member of the Crescenta Valley Community Association, I follow proposed development that will affect land use in the Crescenta Valley. […]
The 100-year-old La Crescenta Business – La Crescenta Pharmacy Whereas the business district of Montrose has a sense of long-term stability, Foothill Boulevard’s business center and anchor storefronts have shifted like wind-blown sand dunes in the desert. Although CV’s founder Benjamin Briggs laid out the “city center” of La Crescenta at Foothill and La Crescenta […]
Looks Forward to Implementation of WSGVAP Thank you [CV Weekly] for covering the county board approval of the West San Gabriel [Valley] Area Plan in the Dec. 12 paper. The article does a great job explaining some zoning aspects while also touching on the Area Plan’s intention to increase walkability, wildlife conservation and support for […]
Sunland Co-Founders and Their Pasts When last we spoke, Monte Vista was founded in 1885 and two hotels had been built. The founders of the town, Judge Sherman Page and F. C. Howes, had sold out their enterprise to Frank Barclay. Before we turn the page on Page and Howes, I thought it interesting to […]
The Stone Barn and the Local History of Winemaking Deukmejian Wilderness Park near the top of New York Avenue, besides having miles of hiking trails, is a treasure trove of local history. It’s located in Dunsmore Canyon, a deep ravine in the San Gabriel Mountains. The centerpiece of the park is the Le Mesnager Stone […]
As we close out the year, we would like to inform residents that there will not be a general meeting in December. The council will take a hiatus for the month allowing members to regroup and prepare for the upcoming year. We are pleased to announce that the newly-elected council members Dede Mueller, Chris Kilpatrick […]
The Founding of Sunland as Monte Vista In the fall of 1876, the Southern Pacific tunnel through the San Fernando Mountains was complete. This was no small accomplishment; at 6,967 feet it was the third longest in the United States and connected Los Angeles to the transcontinental rail. In the years that followed the tunnel […]
Thanksgiving Blessings Thanksgiving was a bust … or so it seemed. Our family was looking forward to a quick getaway to our ranch house in the high desert for Thanksgiving weekend – just the five of us and the dogs. But our plans changed. I caught a cold four days before, which meant two family […]
Verdugo Hills Ridgeline Drive Proposed in 1924 Our Verdugo Mountains are an amazing treasure. The north side that faces the Crescenta Valley is lush with oaks and sage. The entire range, which extends from Glendale northwest to Sunland and Sun Valley, provides a wildlife oasis almost entirely surrounded by development. It is a hiking and […]
More on the Ancient Grove In 2016, I visited Sunland Park to conduct a survey of the grove of oaks. A fact had come to light as to why this little forest flourished there. As rainwater drains down from the heights of Tujunga it sinks below the surface and, through circumstances of geology, a portion […]