Kiwanis Club of La Cañada

ncorporated in 1976, the City of La Cañada Flintridge represents the best of small-town Southern California life. Nestled between the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and the Verdugo Hills to the south, this "glen between the hills" feels private and serene, despite its proximity to downtown Los Angeles and to business and cultural opportunities in Pasadena and Glendale.

A low-key lifestyle centered around children and community is central to the city's 22,000 residents. The City's public school system, founded in 1885 and unified in 1963, consistently ranks in the top five percent of California schools. Houses of worship and a variety of service organizations are an integral part of the community. Volunteers contribute more than 250,000 hours to civic causes each year. Local businesses clustered along Foothill Boulevard offer shopping, dining, and other services within City limits. Residents also have access to parks; a community center; a large and amply endowed YMCA; a multiplex movie theater; a library; golf, tennis and riding clubs, and scenic hiking and equestrian trails.

The climate is perfect for the many deodars, oaks, and other arboreal species that support the City’s designation as "Tree City U.S.A." La Canada Flintridge enjoys about 300 sunny days per year and a mean year-round temperature of 64 degrees, with an average rainfall of about 20 inches.

Bordered by Angeles National Forest on the north, and the cities of Pasadena and Glendale on the east and south, our 8.5 square-mile city is 13 miles northeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center. Census statistics show that executives and professionals comprise 54 percent of area employees, with other white-collar occupations adding another 32 percent. Approximately 80 percent of adult residents have attended college, with more than 50 percent being college graduates.

Among the points of interest enjoyed by La Canada Flintridge residents and visitors are Descanso Gardens, a world famous botanical preserve with a live-oak forest, bird sanctuary, lake, meadows, and koi-filled streams, provides a relaxing 165-acre oasis of natural beauty. Also within city limits is the historic Lanterman House, completed in 1915 by Roy Lanterman of the Lanterman family, original settlers of the La Cañada area.

Those with more rugged recreational tastes can avail themselves of the miles of scenic hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails that crisscross the city and lead to trails in the adjacent Angeles National Forest. Closer to home, the newly renovated Memorial Park in the middle of downtown La Cañada Flintridge provides playground and picnic facilities and is the site of the city’s beloved summertime Music in the Park concert series.

Also within city limits is the 72-hectare (177-acre) main site of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a world-class space exploration facility managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. JPL is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system, and JPL spacecraft have visited all known planets except Pluto (a Pluto mission is currently under study for the early part of the next decade). In addition to its work for NASA, JPL conducts tasks for a variety of other federal agencies and manages the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia.