Within the Los Angeles Westside is the Beverlywood District. The district lies southeast of Century City, east of Cheviot Hills, northeast of Palms, north of Culver City, west of Crestview, and south of South Robertson. Beverlywood’s boundaries are Robertson Boulevard on the eastern side, the city limits of Culver on the south, the Hillcrest Country Club and Beverwil Drive on the western side, and Monte Mar.
Transport
The main roads in Beverlywood include Pico Boulevard, La Cienega Boulevard, Robertson Boulevard, Venice Boulevard, Beverwil Drive, Cadillac Avenue, and Cattaraugus Avenue. These roads are largely free of congestion except on rare occasions with some semi-heavy traffic on school-day mornings.
Neighborhood
Beverlywood is a mostly residential district home to a heavy Jewish presence with a significant Persian-Jewish population and a considerable Israeli-American population. The Museum of Tolerance run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center is right next to the neighborhood on Pico Boulevard. The museum was established in honor of the famous Nazi-hunter, Simon Wiesenthal, in 1993 to examine issues related to prejudice and racism with its primary focus being the events of the Second World War holocaust and other atrocities of Hitler’s Nazi regime. The museum also runs programs aimed at educating children and the general public on other forms of racism, hatred, and prejudice.
Most homes in Beverlywood were constructed between 1920 and 1960 with the oldest ones located on the hills going towards Beverly Hills. The homes host single families with just a handful of apartment buildings. The Beverlywood community is a powerful, conservative community which is among the few to have successfully warded off attempts by the City of Los Angeles to conduct an up-zoning back in the 1960’s. The Beverlywood Homes Association strictly enforces neighborhood regulations. The areas covered by the neighborhood association roughly fall between Airdrome Street on the northern side, Robertson Boulevard and Canfield Avenue on the Eastern side, Cattaraugus Avenue on the southern side, and the Hillcrest Country Club on the western end.
Education
The Beverlywood neighborhood is covered by the Los Angeles Unified School District though a majority of the neighborhood’s families prefer to send their children to privately-run schools. The schools in the district include Shenandoah Street Elementary, Castle Heights Elementary, Canfield Elementary, Palms Middle School, and Hamilton High School.
Services
Police services are provided by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) at the West Los Angeles Community Police Station which is located at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025. Health services are provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Service Planning Area 5 West Area Health Office. One of the primary offices is at the Simms/Mann Center at 2509 Pico Boulevard. Beverlywood food and Beverlywood catering services are popular whitin this area and a major attraction.
Summary
The Beverlywood district is comparable to one big suburban neighborhood with neatly kept private, single-family homes and only a few apartment buildings. The neighborhood committee strongly defends the community and neighborhood against actions to change the structure. This is exemplified by their strong resistance to the up-zoning program by the City of Los Angeles. Many of the homes retain their original architecture from the time they were built, mostly between the 1920’s and 50’s.