Crescenta Highlands

CRESCENTA HIGHLANDS LOCATION

Crescenta Highlands is part of Glendale CA, but most see it as a part of La Crescenta – a Los Angeles County, unincorporated area. This means Crescenta Highlands falls under City of Glendale utilities and police/fire services. It also means it is part of the City of Glendale building and permit departments.

The east border is Lowell Ave. and the western border is Pennsylvania Ave. Foothill Blvd divides Crescenta Highlands North from Crescenta Highlands South.

WHAT PEOPLE LOVE

La Crescenta calls itself “The Balcony of Southern California”, seeing themselves above the mess of the city down below. During the Seventies, you could see the dirty brown smog covering the valley floor while the air in La Crescenta was fresh and clean.

People love the small-town feel of the Crescenta Highlands. Families remain, generation after generation and it is hard to finish an entire day without waving a friendly hello to someone you know. This is a self-contained community – most people work, play, and conduct all their daily business without ever needing to go “down below”.

The location is also naturally spectacular. The Angeles Crest Mountains are literally just up the road – biking, hiking, camping, and skiing can be a daily activity.

What People Don’t Love

This is not a hotbed of hipster happenin’ lifestyle. If you crave walkability and new restaurants opening every month…you’ll be disappointed.  It takes a bit of a drive to get to marquee locations and new residents take time to adjust. But, if this is your place, you’ll soon find everything you need and want is here.

FAVORITE CRESCENTA HIGHLAND ATTRACTIONS

Deukmejian Wilderness Park – people love to hike in the Deuk- there are remnants of long-ago cowboy culture, natural little brooks, interesting plants and fragrant chapparal shrubs. The Le Mesnager Barn is a historic feature and the Historic Society holds special events like Wine Tasting from time to time.

Tickle Tree Cafe – This unexpectedly cool and hip eatery features the latest in coffee technology, excellent food, and a relaxed urban vibe.

La Crescenta Regional Library – We are huge book nerds at DIGGS and this library is one of our favorites. We love the modern Crafstman design on the outside and the technology-infused check out system. Our librarians have more time to help patrons find the books and information they need.

CRESCENTA HIGHLANDS HISTORY

Here’s a quote from the North Glendale Community Plan:

Crescenta Highlands features North Glendale’s most diverse collection of architecture, ranging from simple Craftsman bungalows to Modern‐style post‐and‐beam tract homes.    With the exception of Highway Highlands and several blocks at the southeast corner of the neighborhood between Pennsylvania and New York Streets, which retain many homes from the 1920s, the area is a product of the postwar boom.    This is especially true of the area north of Foothill Boulevard were almost all construction dates to 1945 or after.

Unlike smaller neighborhoods that often bear the trace of a single developer, Crescenta Highlands is something of a jigsaw puzzle put together by many different subdividers.  The result is, however, rather harmonious because so many of the small tracts were built around the same times, reflecting period tastes and consumer demand.  Ranch style homes dominate the area, though with many stylistic variations ranging from Traditional to Modern.    Developers of sizeable and/or multiple tracts include Greggs Artistic Homes, Webster Wiley, Gangi Brothers, MacDonald and Albert, Anderson Brothers, and the Jenkins Family.

SCHOOLS

Crescenta Highlands belongs to the Glendale Unified School District. There are several award-winning elementary schools. Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School. Clark Magnet High School is also located within Crescenta Highlands.

In general, the schools associated with Crescenta Highlands are the most sought-after schools in the Glendale Unified School District.