Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles

The Magnolia, a historic Mission Revival–style estate built in the 1920s

A partner of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, Gen. Moses Hazeltine Sherman developed Sherman Oaks. The company had subdivided 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land that would become Sherman Oaks. In 1927, each acre was sold for $780.[1] Sherman's other major venture was the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad.

In 1991, a group of homeowners living in the Chandler Estates area successfully petitioned former Los Angeles City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky to re-draw the boundaries of Sherman Oaks from Magnolia to Burbank Blvd to the north, and from Coldwater Canyon to Van Nuys Blvd to the west, with the goal of including their neighborhood. This request was nothing new to the San Fernando Valley; other neighborhoods had either sought to change their names, or sought to attach themselves onto more affluent neighborhoods.[2] Residents in the area argued, however, that the area was originally part of Sherman Oaks, but was labeled Van Nuys instead through the creation of ZIP codes in 1962; a resident produced a property deed to buttress the case.[3]

Just a few weeks after the Chandler Estates area successfully seceded from Van Nuys, Magnolia Woods, a 45 block area bordered by Van Nuys Boulevard on the east and the San Diego Freeway on the west, and between Burbank and Magnolia Boulevards, also successfully petitioned Los Angeles City council member Marvin Braude to secede from Van Nuys and join Sherman Oaks. Petitioners in the area argued that their neighborhood was also part of Sherman Oaks, though they were only able to produce 22 deeds showing so. As a result of this change, Van Nuys Middle School became separated from its namesake neighborhood.[4]

Finally, in 2009, the Los Angeles City council voted to redraw neighborhood boundaries again to allow an area of about 1,800 homes in Van Nuys to be included.[5]

The 1994 Northridge earthquake caused damage in the surrounding area. The Community Redevelopment Agency sought to manage the rebuilding efforts. The homeowners in the Sherman Oaks area later won a lawsuit to prevent the agency from managing efforts.[1]

The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Studio City to the east, Van Nuys to the north, Encino to the west, Bel Air and Beverly Hills Post Office to the south.

• My Gym Children's Fitness Center, a worldwide children's fitness center has headquarters at Sherman Oaks.[14]

Van Nuys Middle School

Sherman Oaks Elementary School

Notre Dame High School

Forty-five percent of Sherman Oaks residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of those residents with a master's degree or higher was also high for the County.[8]

LAUSD schools within the Sherman Oaks boundary include:

• Van Nuys Middle School. The school was in the Van Nuys community until 1991, when City Council member Marvin Braude directed that a 45-block area that included the school be renamed as part of Sherman Oaks. The school continued to use the name "Van Nuys Middle".[15]
• Kester Avenue Elementary School
• Chandler Elementary School
• Robert A. Millikan Middle School
• Sherman Oaks Elementary
• Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary
• Riverside Drive Elementary School

Charter schools within the Sherman Oaks boundary include:

• Ivy Bound Academy for Math, Science, and Technology on Morrison Street
• Community Harvest Charter School, closed in 2012

Portions of Sherman Oaks, including Magnolia Woods, are zoned to Van Nuys High School in Van Nuys.[16] Other portions are zoned to Grant High School in Valley Glen.[1]

Scott Glover of the Los Angeles Times stated in 1993 "many Sherman Oaks residents do not have school-age children, and many others send their children to private schools".[17]

Private schools include:

• Notre Dame High School
• The Buckley School
• Village Glen School

The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park is in Sherman Oaks. Dinah Eng of the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2002 that the park "is a popular site for family gatherings".[1] The park has an auditorium, two lighted baseball diamonds, six unlighted baseball diamonds, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a 60-person community room, a lighted American football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer (football) field, and lighted tennis courts. Located in the same place as the park, the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool is a seasonal outdoor heated swimming pool.[19]

The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizen Center (also known as Bernardi Center), also on the park grounds, has an auditorium and multi-purpose room; its banquet capacity is 200 and its assembly capacity is 300. The senior center also has two community/meeting rooms; one can hold 50 people and one can hold 30 people. The senior center has two kitchens, a play area, a shuffle board place, a stage, and two storage rooms.[20] The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Tennis Courts facility in the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park has eight courts.[21]

In addition, the city operates the Sherman Oaks Castle Park with arcade, batting cages, and miniature golf facilities, in Sherman Oaks.[22]

The TV series Sherman Oaks appeared on the USA network from 1995 to 1997. It followed plastic surgeon Dr. Sanford Baker and his family as they were filmed by a young documentary filmmaker.[66][67]

The series Never Have I Ever, and Black-ish are set in Sherman Oaks.

In the TV series Two and a Half Men, Alan Harper owns a house in Sherman Oaks, from which his wife ejects him.[68] The TV series It's Garry Shandling's Show (1986–1990) takes place in Sherman Oaks.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sherman Oaks.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.

• Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council
• Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce
• Sherman Oaks crime map and statistics, Los Angeles Times
• Colored map, Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
• View of Sherman Oaks valley, from a home on Round Valley Drive, Sherman Oaks, 1934. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.