Panorama City, California

Panorama City, California is a community within the City of Los Angeles. The population of Panorama City is about 70,000. Panorama City is located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, and in fact was once touted as “THE HEART OF The San Fernando Valley” on area signage. Panorama City is generally considered to be bounded on the south by the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. Neighbors of Panorama City are the communities of Van Nuys, North Hills, Sun Valley, Valley Glen, Arleta, and Mission Hills. Presently, Panorama City consists mainly of single-family homes and low-rise apartment buildings along with some commercial and retail development.

Urban Design Assistance Team has identified ways in which Panorama City can boost its economy. Establishing a discernable town center is central to this goal. Better defining of the boundaries of residential, commercial, and industrial areas will also help reinvigorate Panorama City. Additional landscaping, including adding landscaping to currently barren median strips, would improve the desirability of the area’s commercial districts. Creating vibrant streetscapes—including the addition of kiosks, outdoor seating, and planting—would enliven commercial areas.

East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project will use the same technology as current Metro light rail lines. The project will run along Van Nuys Boulevard and pass through Panorama City, with a stop near Panorama Mall. Construction of the first segment of this project, which has eleven stops along its 6.7 mile length, is anticipated to begin in 2023. This will be the first rail service along Van Nuys Boulevard since Pacific Electric Red Car service was discontinued in 1952. Though the project is not yet fully funded, the Federal Transit Administration has promised $909 million for the venture.

Primestor Development has proposed redeveloping Panorama Mall as a mixed-use development replete with residential units, a hotel, along with space devoted to retail, food and beverage, and entertainment uses. Currently, Panorama Mall consists of retail and restaurant space and a parking structure. The existing buildings would be demolished to make way for the mixed-use project.

The Kaiser Permanente Panorama Medical Center offers emergency services, urgent care, and a 24-hour pharmacy. The facility, which was part of the original plan for the community, was completed in 1962.

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley in nearby Northridge, housed on the tree- covered grounds of Rancho La Cordillera del Norte is a good place to visit to learn more about the history of the San Fernando Valley, including Panorama City. Rancho La Cordillera del Norte was briefly the home of Oscar-nominated actress Barbara Stanwyck and now covers 11 acres as a community park and community center.

In the 19th and early 20th century, the area now comprising Panorama City was used mainly for grazing and dry (non-irrigated) farming. There were few structures in the area. Nearby Mission Hills contained the two oldest structures in the San Fernando Valley—San Fernando Mission (San Fernando Rey de España) founded in 1797, and Andres Pico Adobe, which dates from around 1834. Mark Raymond Harrington, archeologist and curator of the Southwest Indian Museum, later painstakingly restored Andres Pico Adobe, which is currently the official headquarters of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society.

When the City of Los Angeles brought water from the Owens Aqueduct to the San Fernando Valley, rapid agricultural development ensued.

Northridge was the first planned community of tract housing in the San Fernando Valley, built on what was mainly dairy and sheep grazing land (Panorama Ranch). Spearheaded by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and home builder Fritz Burns, Northridge was originally a planned community of about 400 acres when it was established in 1948. The project, which consisted mainly of single family dwellings in the Minimal Traditional style, was extremely popular. By the early 1950s, Panorama City had a population of 20,000, demonstrating the project’s popularity and the shortage of housing in post-World War II San Fernando Valley. Financing provided by the Federal Housing Administration and the G.I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944) was crucial in the success of Panorama City. The Panorama City project called for over 4,000 homes as well as commercial development, including supermarkets, churches, and schools. Panorama City remains mostly residential to this day.

The location was ideal, on the periphery of urban Los Angeles and near industries that employed many of the people who lived in Panorama City. For example, Panorama City was home to the approximately 100-acre General Motors/Chevrolet assembly plant (where over 6.3 million automobiles were manufactured between 1947 and 1992). The General Motors/Chevrolet assembly plant closed in 1992, eliminating

2,600 jobs. In its early days, large swathes of open space surrounded the plant. The site is now occupied by a fire station and “The Plant,” a retail complex with retail stores, food and beverage establishments, and theatres.

Another major area employer, Lockheed Aircraft Company manufacturing plant and corporate headquarters was located in nearby Burbank.

A Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company plant (later Stroh Brewery Co.) was located in adjacent Van Nuys. Panorama City was home to the Carnation Research Laboratory (where Coffee-mate was first developed) as well as the Broadway– Valley shopping center (later marketed as Panorama City Shopping Center and now known as Panorama Mall). At one time, Panorama City Shopping Center featured 18 acres of parking lots and was touted as the only shopping center in the San Fernando Valley with four major department stores. The Panorama was a 1,000 seat movie theater that opened in 1949 and was touted at the time as the “most beautiful in the entire valley. “A church now uses the building.

Between 1945 and 1960, the population of the San Fernando Valley quintupled.

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