Brookside
The Brookside community is a phenomenal neighborhood consisting of single family homes. Brookside's boundaries encompass Highland to Muirfield and Olympic to Wilshire. In 1978, proposals for zoning the undeveloped area called "Park Mile" concerned the residents who lived south of Wilshire. Thus, their concerns lead to the incorporation of the Brookside Homeowners Association.
"Park Mile" was an undeveloped area whose future was full of proposals for unrestricted commercial development. This sort of development would adversely affect the homes in the area because of height and density regulations. An informal meeting lead to the decision to take concerns into their own hands and homeowners distributed invites to help form a homeowners association. As a result, roughly seventy-five homeowners congregated and the following was put into practice:
- The official boundaries of the association's responsibilities were to be Wilshire Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard, Highland Avenue, and Muirfield Road.
- Initially, they chose the name "South Brookside" because of the natural stream, Rio del Jardin de las Flores, which flows year round from the Hollywood Hills south between Highland and Longwood. Later the name was shortened to just Brookside.
- The Brookside Homeowners Association chose to become an affiliated member of the Wilshire Homeowners Alliance which was comprised of six other homeowners associations. They included, Windsor Square, Oxford Square, Fremont Place, Hancock Park and Ridgewood-Wilton, for the purpose of drafting a Park Mile Zoning Ordinance to protect the neighboring single family homes.
- A president was elected for the Brookside Homeowners Association as well as representatives to the Executive Committee of the Wilshire Homeowners Alliance.
The Park Mile Specific Plan was adopted in 1980, which was the Ordinance that defined zoning for "Park Mile." It was unbelievable that the organization was able to succeed in attaining a zoning ordinance that protected the adjacent single family homes from the threat of commercial development. The Ordinance consisted of such provisions as a three-story height limit on Wilshire Blvd., low density use of land, no retail sales establishments, mandatory landscaping, and many other provisions. The Brookside Homeowners Association remains active and focuses on enforcing the zoning regulations and other important subjects.
Maintaining the high standards of the neighborhood is the Brookside Homeowners Association's promise to homeowners. The association addresses and handles issues such as: noise and trash pollution, crime, street maintenance, trash collection, proper lighting, tree pruning, traffic congestion and parking control, zoning violations that turn single family homes into rooming houses or places of business, and all the other problems that call attention to the need for help from the city officials.
Meetings were once held in the Brookledge Theatre, but now meetings are held in the auditorium of Wilshire Elementary School three or four times each year. Guest speakers frequent the meetings such as representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department.
As a way to promote and perpetuate a sense of community, summer block parties are held on a different block each year. Permission is gained from the homeowners of the particular street to block it off and the Block Party Planning Committee conducts events for the children. Residents bring their favorite dish and homemade dessert for the dessert contest. Larchmont merchants donate products for the silent auction and a band serves as musical entertainment.
Resources & Links:
- Local School Links
- Crime Statistics
- Southern California Home Sale Activity
Los Angeles home sales data, organized by ZIP code. Updated monthly. - Southern California Home Sale Data
Comparative Los Angeles home sales data, organized by city. - LA County Online
- The Los Angeles Times
Online version of the local periodical. - KCRW
National Public Radio station, based at Santa Monica College. - MovieLink/777-FILM
Local movie listings and show times. - ArtScene
Guide to California's museums.
- National Park Search
Great National Parks link. - California State Parks
Highly recommended.
- Yahoo! Neighborhood Profiles
For neighborhood demographics, cost of living and quality of life. - Local Real Estate Stats