Beverly Hills, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Beverly Hills, California
City
Beverly Hills City Hall Rodeo Drive Motion Picture Academy Beverly Wilshire Hotel Beverly Cañon Gardens
Flag Seal Shield
Nicknames:  "Garden Spot of the World," "B.H.," "Bev Hills," "90210,"
Location within Los Angeles County, California.
Beverly Hills, California Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Beverly Hills, California Location in California Show map of California Beverly Hills, California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
Incorporated	January 28, 1914
Named for	Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts
Government
• Type	Council–manager
Area
• Total	5.71 sq mi (14.79 km2)
• Land	5.71 sq mi (14.78 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.04%
Elevation	259 ft (79 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	32,701
• Density	5,728.98/sq mi (2,212.00/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	90209–90213
Area codes	310/424, 323
FIPS code	06-06308
GNIS feature IDs	1652672, 2409840

Beverly Hills is a famous city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It's a well-known suburb of Los Angeles, located southwest of the Hollywood Hills. The city is about 12 miles (19.6 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills covers about 5.71 square miles (14.79 km²) of land. It is completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, along with the smaller city of West Hollywood to its east. In 2020, about 32,701 people lived in Beverly Hills.

The city is famous for being a wealthy area in Los Angeles. It has high property values and is known for its fancy Rodeo Drive shopping district. Many designer brands have stores there. Over the years, Beverly Hills has been home to many celebrities. It also has many well-known hotels and resorts, like the Beverly Hilton and Beverly Hills Hotel. You might have seen Beverly Hills in many movies, TV shows, and songs!

Before it became a city, Beverly Hills was mostly a farming area. It was part of a large Mexican land grant called Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. In 1914, a group of investors officially made it a city. They had been looking for oil but found water instead. So, they decided to build a town.

Discovering Beverly Hills' Past

How Beverly Hills Began

Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas around 1905. It was owned by Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker.

The area that is now Beverly Hills was first explored in 1769. Later, in 1828, a ranchera named María Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband settled there. They named their large property, about 4,500 acres, Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas.

By the 1880s, the ranch was divided into smaller pieces. Many people from Los Angeles and the East Coast bought these parts. Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker bought most of the land. They used it to grow lima beans. This area became known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch.

The Search for Oil and the Birth of a City

The Beverly Hills Hotel was the first big building project in what became Beverly Hills.

In 1900, a group of investors formed the Amalgamated Oil Company. They bought the Hammel and Denker ranch to look for oil. However, they didn't find enough oil to make it profitable.

So, in 1906, they changed their plan. They renamed their company the Rodeo Land and Water Company. They called the land "Beverly Hills" and started selling plots for homes. The name "Beverly Hills" came from Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts, and also because of the hills in the area.

The first house was built in 1907. But it took a while for many people to buy land.

Early Rules for Living in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills was one of many new communities in Los Angeles at that time. These communities had rules that only allowed white people to own or rent homes. The only exception was if non-white people worked as servants for white residents. These rules also made it difficult for Jewish people to buy or rent property.

Becoming an Independent City

Burton Green started building The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911. The hotel opened in 1912. The hotel attracted many visitors, and some decided to buy land in Beverly Hills. By 1914, enough people lived there for it to become an independent city.

That same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company separated its water business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was created to handle all the city's water and other services.

Greenacres, a historic estate built in 1918 by silent movie star Harold Lloyd.

In 1919, famous actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land and built a huge mansion. It was finished in 1921 and called "Pickfair" by the newspapers. Many other movie stars also built homes in Beverly Hills. This made the city even more appealing and famous.

Water Challenges and Growth

By the early 1920s, Beverly Hills had grown a lot. The city's water supply became a big topic. Some people suggested that Beverly Hills should join the city of Los Angeles to solve this.

However, many famous residents like Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Will Rogers did not want Beverly Hills to join Los Angeles. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission also opposed the idea. They held a special election, and the plan to join Los Angeles was voted down.

Beverly Wilshire Hotel, built in 1922 on Wilshire Boulevard.

In 1928, the Beverly Wilshire Apartment Hotel opened. It's now known as the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. That same year, oilman Edward L. Doheny finished building Greystone Mansion. This huge 55-room mansion was a wedding gift for his son. Today, the city of Beverly Hills owns the house, and it's a historical landmark.

In the early 1930s, Santa Monica Park was renamed Beverly Gardens. It was made longer to stretch across Santa Monica Boulevard. The Electric Fountain is a famous landmark at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. In April 1931, the new Beverly Hills City Hall opened. It was built in the beautiful Italian Renaissance style.

Beverly Hills City Hall, built in 1932.

Changes to Housing Rules

In the early 1940s, some black actors and business people started moving into Beverly Hills. This happened even though the city had rules that only allowed white people to live there. A neighborhood group tried to stop them in court.

However, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) helped defend the black residents. They won the case. In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled that these kinds of housing rules could not be enforced. This was a big step towards fairness in housing.

In 1956, Paul Trousdale bought the Doheny Ranch. He developed it into Trousdale Estates, a neighborhood with large, luxurious homes. He convinced Beverly Hills to add this area to the city. Many famous people have lived in Trousdale Estates, including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and President Richard Nixon.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, many Persian Jews came to live in Beverly Hills.

In the late 1990s, there were plans to extend the Metro D Line subway through Beverly Hills. The city first opposed this idea. However, the D Line Extension is now planned to be finished by 2027. It will include a station at Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.

Beverly Hills in the 21st Century

Rodeo Drive has become one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world since the 1960s.

By 2010, traffic in Beverly Hills had become very bad. This led the city to support building subways within its limits. As part of the D Line Extension project, the D Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail will extend through Beverly Hills. It will add two underground stations by the 2020s.

In 2008, Beverly Hills strongly opposed Proposition 8, a ballot measure that ended legal recognition of same-sex marriages in California. While the measure passed statewide, 66% of Beverly Hills voters were against it.

During the 2015 drought, Beverly Hills was found to use a lot of water. The state asked the city to reduce its water use by 36%. Many residents started replacing their lawns with native plants that need less water. The city government also replaced the grass in front of City Hall with Mexican sage.

In 2016, Beverly Hills received an award for its Ambassador Program. This program helps the city's homeless population. The Beverly Hills Community Dog Park also opened in 2016.

Where is Beverly Hills?

Beverly Gardens Park.

Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. Beverly Hills is next to Bel-Air and the Santa Monica Mountains to the northwest. To the east, it borders West Hollywood and parts of Los Angeles. To the south, it borders the Beverlywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The "Platinum Triangle" is a very wealthy area. It includes Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills.

The ZIP codes for Beverly Hills are 90209 (for P.O. boxes), 90210, 90211, 90212, and 90213 (for P.O. boxes).

Different Areas of Beverly Hills

The Flats

Most people in Beverly Hills live in an area called "the flats." This is a mostly flat area that gently slopes away from the hills. It includes all of Beverly Hills south of Sunset Boulevard and north of Santa Monica Boulevard. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located here.

Trousdale Estates

Trousdale Estates is a neighborhood of large, fancy homes in Beverly Hills. It covers 410 acres. Most of these homes were built in the 1950s and early 1960s. Greystone Mansion, a historic landmark, is in Trousdale Estates. Homes in this area often sell for over $10 million.

Downtown Beverly Hills

Downtown Beverly Hills, also known as the Golden Triangle, is a popular area for shopping and dining. It's shaped like a triangle, surrounded by Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard, and Crescent Drive. It attracts both locals and visitors from all over the world.

• Rodeo Drive is famous for its high-end fashion stores.
• Beverly Drive has many upscale chain stores, similar to what you'd find in a mall.
• Cañon and Crescent drives have popular restaurants and shops.
• Wilshire Boulevard is home to two large department stores: Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

South of Wilshire Boulevard, homes are generally smaller and have more rectangular lots. There are also more apartment buildings in this part of Beverly Hills.

West Gateway

The city’s West Gateway is on Wilshire Blvd. It borders the Los Angeles Country Club. This area has hotels like The Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. The One Beverly Hills project is being built here and will include the tallest building in Beverly Hills. One of the city’s elementary schools, El Rodeo, is across from this complex.

South East Beverly Hills

The South East area is centered around La Cienega Park. This large park has tennis courts, baseball fields, and soccer fields. This region also has the historic Saban Theater. The "Restaurant Row" on La Cienega Boulevard has many famous restaurants. The Wilshire/La Cienega station, one of the two Metro D Line subway stations in the city, is located here. It is expected to open in 2025.

Beverly Hills Adjacent Areas

Will Rogers Memorial Park.

Beverly Hills Post Office (BHPO) is an area just north of Beverly Hills. It uses the 90210 ZIP code, but it's actually part of the City of Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills is one of the "Three Bs" in the Los Angeles Westside. The other two are Bel-Air and Brentwood. These are all very wealthy areas.

Weather in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills has a warm Mediterranean climate. This means it has mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The city gets about 15 inches (380 mm) of rain each year. Summers are warm to hot with little wind. Winters are mild, with some rain and occasional dry, warm winds called Santa Ana winds. Snowfall is very rare. It has only been recorded a few times in history.

People in Beverly Hills

Population in 2010

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study, built in 1928.

In 2010, Beverly Hills had a population of 34,109 people. Most residents were White (82.4%), with 8.9% Asian and 2.2% African American. About 5.7% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

There were about 14,869 households in the city. About 25.3% of these households had children under 18. The average household had 2.29 people. The median age in Beverly Hills was 43.6 years old.

In 2009–2013, the average household income in Beverly Hills was $86,141. About 8.8% of the population lived below the poverty line.

Population in 2000

Church of the Good Shepherd.

In 2000, Beverly Hills had 33,784 people. The city had 15,035 households. About 24.4% of households had children under 18. The average household size was 2.24 people.

The median age was 41 years. The median income for a household was $70,945. For families, the median income was $102,611.

Beverly Hills' Economy

Rodeo Drive is one of the most expensive streets in the world.

Beverly Hills is home to Live Nation Entertainment, a large company. The headquarters of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a famous film studio, moved to Beverly Hills in 2011. Many big talent agencies, like William Morris Endeavor and United Talent Agency, are also based here.

The city has a large Beverly Hills Oil Field underneath it. There are four drilling islands that drill diagonally into the earth.

Major Employers in 2015

Greystone Mansion is often used for filming movies and TV shows.

Here are the top employers in Beverly Hills in 2015:

Learning in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills High School

Beverly Hills is served by the Beverly Hills Unified School District. This district includes:

• Two schools for kindergarten through fifth grade (Hawthorne and Horace Mann).
• One middle school (Beverly Vista).
• Beverly Hills High School.
• Moreno High School, an alternative school that shares a campus with Beverly Hills High School.

There are also several private schools in Beverly Hills. Good Shepherd School is a PreK-8 school that is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Another private school is Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy.

City Services

Former Beverly Hills Post Office

The Beverly Hills Police Department and the Beverly Hills Fire Department provide emergency services for the city.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has an office in Santa Monica that serves Beverly Hills.

The United States Postal Service operates several post offices in Beverly Hills. The former Beverly Hills Post Office is a historic building.

Future of Transportation

In 2016, the Beverly Hills City Council decided to work towards having self-driving cars for public transportation within the next ten years. This is a big goal to make transportation easier and safer for everyone.

Media and News

Sign marking the Beverly Hills city limit

Beverly Hills has two free weekly newspapers: The Beverly Hills Courier and Beverly Hills Weekly.

The BHUSD also has a public TV station called KBEV. It is run by students from Beverly Hills High School.

Famous Places in Beverly Hills

Sister Cities

Beverly Hills has "sister city" relationships with other cities around the world. This helps promote cultural exchange and understanding.

• Acapulco, Mexico
• Cannes, France
• Herzliya, Israel
• Pudong, China

See also

In Spanish: Beverly Hills para niños