Sherwood Forest is a residential neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Sherwood Forest is located in the central area of the San Fernando Valley region in the City of Los Angeles; it is within the Northridge South Neighborhood Council District.[2] The neighborhood is bounded by Nordhoff Street in the north, Balboa Boulevard in the east, the Southern Pacific Railroad in the south, and Lindley Avenue in the west.[3] It is an enclave in the neighborhood of Northridge and is near the neighborhoods of Lake Balboa to the south, Van Nuys to the southeast and North Hills to the east.[4]
The area of Sherwood Forest had a subdivision of large estates with small ranches and one to a couple of acres of land with tall trees; the main thoroughfare, Parthenia Street, was lined with cedar trees and the subdivision was named Sherwood Forest by realtors.It had the residences of multiple local celebrities like character actor Walter Brennan, Lloyd Bridges, Jim Davis, Richard Pryor who lived on Parthenia Street in the 1980s, and Hollywood animator Abe Levitow, plus Founder and President of Rocketdyne, William Guy.[6]
The neighborhood existed informally for decades within the neighborhood of Northridge and eventually had its own Homeowners Association, becoming one of the most active in the region. In 2012, the community won the Los Angeles City Council's official recognition as a separate neighborhood with an 11–0 vote.[4]
Sherwood Forest is governed locally by the City of Los Angeles and is represented in the Los Angeles City Council by the member elected for district 12. The current member representing the district is John Lee.[7]
Sherwood Forest lies in the district of the Northridge South Neighborhood Council.[2] The Neighborhood Council was certified by the City of Los Angeles Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on May 4, 2010.[8]
In 2012 the neighborhood had a population of about 4,848 on around 1,200 properties.[1]
Education
There are no schools within the neighborhood boundaries; however, it is served by nearby schools in surrounding neighborhoods. The neighborhood is adjacent to California State University, Northridge. The nearest public library is the Northridge Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.[12]
Elementary school students in the neighborhood are in the attendance boundaries of Calahan Street, Dearborn, and Parthenia Street Elementary Schools; the majority of the neighborhood is covered by Dearborn Elementary School.[13]Middle school students may attend Oliver Wendell Holmes International Middle School and Northridge Middle School.[14]High school students may attend Grover Cleveland Charter and James Monroe High Schools.[15]
Local School District Administration
The neighborhood is in the Northwest Local District in the North Region of LAUSD,[16][17] both headed by Superintendent David Baca.[18][19] The neighborhood is in the 3rd District of the LAUSD Board of Education,[20] represented by board member and Board Vice President Scott Schmerelson.[21]
Infrastructure
The major west-east thoroughfares in the neighborhood are Nordhoff Street, which forms the neighborhood's northern boundary, and Parthenia Street which passes through the center of the neighborhood. The major north–south thoroughfares are Lindley Avenue and Balboa Boulevard, which bound the neighborhood on the west and east respectively and the latter being the most important of the two. White Oak and Louise Avenues are two smaller but notable north–south streets that provide more local connections in the neighborhood. These major and secondary roads are arranged in a grid pattern, as is the case in most of the San Fernando Valley's roads; residential streets are also generally arranged in a grid, but some are more curved and are cul-de-sacs. There is no designated bicycle infrastructure in the neighborhood.[22]
