Glendale, California

Glendale, California
City
Aerial view of Glendale with the Verdugo Mountains in the background Americana at Brand Highrises in Downtown Glendale Holy Family Catholic Church Grand Central Airport St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Flag Seal
Nickname:  Jewel City
Location within Los Angeles County
Glendale Location within California Show map of California Glendale Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 34°08′46″N 118°15′18″W / 34.14611°N 118.25500°W / 34.14611; -118.25500
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles County
Incorporated	February 15, 1906[1]
Government
• Type	Council-Manager[2]
• Mayor	Elen Asatryan[2]
• City Council	Ardy Kassakhian Vartan Gharpetian Ara Najarian Dan Brotman
• City Treasurer	Rafi Manoukian[3]
• City Manager	Roubik Golanian[4]
Area [5]
• Total	30.60 sq mi (79.25 km2)
• Land	30.47 sq mi (78.92 km2)
• Water	0.13 sq mi (0.33 km2)  0.43%
Elevation [6]	522 ft (159 m)
Population  (2020)[7]
• Total	196,543
• Rank	4th in Los Angeles County 24th in California 138th in the United States
• Density	6,450.4/sq mi (2,519.7/km2)
Demonyms	Glendalian
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP Codes[8]	91201–91210, 91214, 91221, 91222, 91224–91226
Area code	747 and 818
FIPS code	06-30000
GNIS feature IDs	1660679, 2410597
Website	glendaleca.gov

Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley^[10] and Verdugo Mountains^[11] regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543,^[7] up from 191,719 at the 2010 census,^[12] making it the 4th-most populous city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-most populous city in California. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Los Angeles.

Glendale lies in the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city is bordered to the northwest by the Shadow Hills and Tujunga neighborhoods of Los Angeles; to the northeast by La Cañada Flintridge and the unincorporated area of La Crescenta; to the west by Burbank and Griffith Park; to the east by Eagle Rock and Pasadena; to the south by the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles; and to the southeast by Glassell Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Golden State, Ventura, Glendale, and Foothill freeways run through the city.

In 1798, José María Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish army from Baja California, received the Rancho San Rafael from Governor Diego de Borica, formalizing his possession and use of land on which he had been grazing livestock and farming since 1784. Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish concession, of which 25 were made in California. Unlike the later Mexican land grants, the concessions were similar to grazing permits, with the title remaining with the Spanish crown.^[13]

New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and from 1824, Rancho San Rafael existed within the new Mexican Republic.

Mexican rule ended during the Mexican–American War: Americans took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847.^[14] With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,^[15] confirmed by the Commission in 1855, and the grant was patented to Julio and Catalina Verdugo in 1882.^[16]

In 1860, José María Verdugo's grandson Teodoro Verdugo built the Catalina Verdugo Adobe, which is the oldest building in Glendale. The property is the location of the Oak of Peace, where early Californio leaders including Pio Pico met in 1847 and decided to surrender to Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont.

Verdugo's descendants sold the ranch in various parcels, some of which are included in present-day Atwater Village, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

In 1883, soon after Atwater Village was settled, the Atwater Tract Office brought train service to the area.^[17] In 1884, residents gathered to form a townsite and chose the name "Glendale". It was bounded by First Street (now Lexington Drive) on the north, Fifth Street (now Harvard Street) on the south, Central Avenue on the west, and the Childs Tract on the east.^[18] Residents to the southwest formed Tropico in 1887.^[19]

An important civic booster of the era was Leslie Coombs Brand (1859–1925), who built an estate in 1904 called El Miradero, featuring an eye-catching mansion, the architecture of which combined characteristics of Spanish, Moorish, and Indian styles, copied from the East Indian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, which he visited.

Brand partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the Pacific Electric Railway, or the "Red Cars", to the area. The Glendale–Burbank Line, which was operational from 1904 to 1955, ran from Downtown Los Angeles to Burbank via Glendale. The dual-track streetcars entered the Glendale city limit by crossing San Fernando Road, and the line continued northerly in the pavement of Brand Boulevard, crossing Los Feliz Boulevard, Chevy Chase Boulevard, Colorado Boulevard, Broadway and Lexington Drive. The main line continued north to Verdugo Wash where the line became a single track. At Arden Junction at Glenoaks Boulevard, the line branched. The old main line continued north in the pavement of Brand Boulevard to a terminus in North Glendale at Mountain Avenue. The Burbank Line diverged westerly as a single-track line on private way in the center of Glenoaks Boulevard, then continued westerly past Central, Pacific, Highland, Western, and Alameda Avenues to a terminus in Burbank at Cypress Avenue.^[20]

Brand loved to fly, and built a private airstrip in 1919 and hosted "fly-in" parties, providing a direct link to the soon-to-be-built nearby Grand Central Airport. The grounds of El Miradero are now city-owned Brand Park and the mansion is the Brand Library, according to the terms of his will.^[21]

The Forest Lawn Cemetery opened in 1906 and was renamed Forest Lawn Memorial-Park^[22] in 1917. Pioneering endocrinologist and entrepreneur Henry R. Harrower opened his clinic in Glendale in 1920, which for many years was the largest business in the city.

In 1922, the Atwater Tract Office was demolished, and construction began on the Glendale Transportation Center.^[23]

The city flag was adopted by Glendale on September 18, 1924, and was designed by Hugh A. Maron, who also won $100 for designing it. The flag was then changed to the current one (seen above) in 2001.

The American Green Cross, an early conservation and tree preservation society, was formed in 1926 (it disbanded three years later and the current organization of that name is unrelated).

Grand Central Airport was the departure point for the first commercial west-to-east transcontinental flight flown by Charles Lindbergh.

Until as late as the 1960s, Glendale was a sundown town. Nonwhites were required to leave city limits by a certain time each day or risk arrest and possible violence.^[24] In the 1930s, Glendale and Burbank prevented the Civilian Conservation Corps from stationing African American workers in a local park, citing sundown town ordinances that both cities had adopted.^[25] In 1964, Glendale was selected by George Lincoln Rockwell to be the West Coast headquarters of the American Nazi Party. After a legal battle with the city of Glendale, the party moved their headquarters to El Monte in 1966.^[26][27]

The emergence of increasingly visible ethnic groups—including Armenians, Cubans and Filipinos and Koreans—changed the official discourse in Glendale. In 1972, C.E. Perkins, then city manager, encouraged the Rotary Club of Glendale to prepare itself as the city could no longer remain isolated in an increasingly diverse America.^[28]

Glendale is located in the southeastern San Fernando Valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.6 sq mi (79.212 km²); 30.5 square miles (79 km²) of it is land and 0.13 square miles (0.34 km²) of it (0.43%) is covered by water. Glendale is the fourth largest^[29] city within Los Angeles County. It is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga; to the south by the Atwater Village and Glassell Park communities incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by Pasadena and Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by Griffith Park and the city of Burbank. Glendale is located 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Los Angeles.^[30]

Several known earthquake faults criss-cross the Glendale area and adjacent mountains, as in much of Southern California. Among the more recognized faults are the Sierra Madre and Hollywood faults, situated in the city's northern and southwestern portions, respectively. Additionally, the Verdugo and Raymond faults intersect through the city's central and southeastern areas. The San Gabriel fault, meanwhile, is located northeast of the city. Roughly 75 miles (121 km) northeast of Glendale is a major portion of the San Andreas Fault known as the "Big Bend", where quake-recurrence tracking shows major activity roughly every 140–160 years. The closest portion of the San Andreas is actually 29 miles (47 km) from Glendale. The last major quake along the southern San Andreas was recorded in 1857.

In the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which took place along the western edge of the Sierra Madre Fault, surface ruptures were nearly 12 miles (19 km) long, including one portion a few miles northwest of Glendale. Most of the damage was in the northern San Fernando Valley, though 31 structures in Glendale suffered major damage and had to be demolished, plus numerous chimneys collapsed. The 1994 Northridge earthquake had an epicenter about 18 miles (29 km) from Glendale. The city suffered severe damage to a public parking structure and sections of the Glendale Galleria parking structures and exterior columns incurred damages.^[31]

Glendale has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with hot summers and mild winters with occasional rainfall. The highest recorded temperature in Glendale was 115 °F (46 °C) on September 6, 2020. The lowest recorded temperature was 17 °F (−8 °C) on February 15, 1990. The warmest month is August and the coolest month is January.

The annual average precipitation is just over 21 inches (530 mm), mostly falling between November and April. Rainfall totals are highly variable from year to year, with the wettest years (sometimes over 30 inches (760 mm) of rainfall) usually associated with warm El Niño conditions, and the drier years (sometimes under 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall) with cool La Niña episodes in the Pacific.

The hills and mountains of northern Glendale very rarely have snow, owing to its warmer temperatures during the winter. It may only occur about every five to ten years. The last time it snowed was February 26, 2011, in which snow accumulation of approximately 3 inches (7.6 cm) occurred and sleet was present. Frost sometimes occurs at night from late November to early March. Heavy rains and thunderstorms are also common during the winter. The spring brings temperate weather, with little rain. The summer is usually fairly warm, with highs from 85 °F (29 °C), to the low 100s (40 °C). Summer is usually very dry, but thunderstorms can come from Arizona, bringing high humidity into the area. These rare days cause heat indices over 120 °F (49 °C). Fall often brings clear and dry weather, but can be gusty due to the Santa Ana winds, blowing in once or twice a year from October to December. Santa Ana winds can reach up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), with gusts up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) in mountain passes and canyons. Thunderstorms occur very rarely and they are accompanied by gusty winds and hail.^[32]

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	2,746		—
1920	13,536		392.9%
1930	62,736		363.5%
1940	82,582		31.6%
1950	95,702		15.9%
1960	119,442		24.8%
1970	132,664		11.1%
1980	139,060		4.8%
1990	180,038		29.5%
2000	194,973		8.3%
2010	191,719		−1.7%
2020	196,543		2.5%
2022 (est.)	189,221		−3.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[35] 2020 and 2022[7]

The 2020 United States census reported that Glendale had a population of 196,543. The age distribution was 22.9% under 18, 58.7% from 18 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 or older.^[36]

As of 2021, Glendale’s population includes:^[37]

• 54,000 children under the age of 18 years,
• 10,100 women who live alone,
• 7,000 men who live alone, and
• 730 women and men who are in same-sex relationships, either as married or unmarried couples.

Glendale, California – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[38]	Pop 2010[39]	Pop 2020[40]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	105,597	117,929	122,519	54.16%	61.51%	62.34%
Black or African American alone (NH)	2,230	2,325	3,365	1.14%	1.21%	1.71%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	293	192	203	0.15%	0.10%	0.10%
Asian alone (NH)	31,227	31,073	29,461	16.02%	16.21%	14.99%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	143	105	120	0.07%	0.05%	0.06%
Other race alone (NH)	370	366	709	0.19%	0.19%	0.36%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	16,661	6,315	6,591	8.55%	3.29%	3.35%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	38,452	33,414	33,575	19.72%	17.43%	17.08%
Total	194,973	191,719	196,543	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Glendale has one of the largest communities of Armenian descent in the United States.^[41]

Armenian families have lived in the city since the 1920s, but the surge in immigration escalated in the 1970s. Armenian Americans are well integrated into the city, with many businesses, several Armenian schools, and ethnic/cultural organizations serving this ethnic group.

Beginning in the late 1970s, as a result of the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution, a dramatic influx of Armenians began to arrive in Glendale.^[42]

Beginning in the late 1980s, with assistance from family and friends already there, Armenians from the former Soviet Union began arriving.^[30] In the Glendale Unified School District, by 1988, along with students from the Middle East, they had become the largest ethnic group in the public schools, now having a larger number than Latinos.^[43]

By 1996, longtime Anglo residents, largely fueled by anti-Armenian sentiment, decried the increased density in South Glendale.^[44] By 1999, about 25% of the population spoke Armenian and there were many Armenian businesses.^[45]

According to the United States 2000 Census, Glendale is home to 65,343 Armenian Americans^[46] (making up 34.1% of the total population), increasing from 1990 when there were 31,402 Armenian Americans in the city.^[47] As of 2005, one-third of Los Angeles' estimated 153,000 Armenians (or 51,000, around a quarter of Glendale's 205,000 residents) lived in Glendale. At that time, Armenians held a majority on the Glendale city council,^[48] and it had done so since that year.^[49] By 2005, the Armenian population was 40% of the total population.^[49]

In 2014, a Glendale Police Department spokesperson, stated, "In five to eight years, the [Armenian] community went from a few thousand to about 40,000."^[30] Levon Marashlian, an instructor of Armenian history at Glendale College, stated that in the early 1990s Glendale's Armenian community became the largest in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, surpassing the Armenian community of Hollywood.^[30] Alice Petrossian, the GUSD director of intercultural education, stated that Burbank lies within the middle of other Armenian communities, so it attracted Armenians.^[43] There are also a great number of Armenian immigrants from Iran who, due to the religious restrictions and lifestyle limitations of the Islamic government, immigrated to the US, many to Glendale since it was where their relatives resided.

In 1994, a new headquarters of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region opened in Glendale. ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian stated "One could look at it cynically and say they're coming because this is an election year, but on the other hand[,] the Armenian community has a lot of friends, because we're active in the public life of many cities[.]"^[50] In 2004, the Armenian Cultural Foundation started planning for an educational and recreational youth center in south Glendale. In 2009, upon the center's completion, the various Armenian Revolutionary Federation-aligned organizations — such as the Armenian National Committee of America, the Armenian Relief Society, the Armenian Youth Federation and Hamazkayin — moved to this new facility.^[51]

The Armenian Assembly of America's Western Region office is in Glendale.^[52]

The Armenian General Benevolent Union serves Glendale through its Pasadena-based Pasadena-Glendale chapter.^[53]

Homenetmen, a non-aligned sport and scouting organization, started its Glendale Ararat chapter in 1983. Since 1996, the chapter has been located in neighboring Glassell Park.^[54]

The Mexican American community was established in Glendale by the 1960s. The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw increases in Mexican American population as Glendale offers higher-quality education in a safer suburban environment away from the city.^[30]

Several Korean cities have sought to create business and cultural relationships with Glendale.^[55] Central Park has the only West Coast monument to Korean comfort women of World War II.^[56]

As of 2012^[update], Filipino Americans were the third largest minority group in Glendale, making up seven percent of the city's total population, overtaking Korean Americans.^[57] In 2022, the Filipino American Friendship Monument was unveiled in Central Park.^[58]

After the Iranian Revolution, many Persians migrated to the cities seeking a suburban city with lower crime and quality education.^[59]

St. Mark's Episcopal Church dates back to 1888, but the current building was built in 1948.^[60]

Holy Family Catholic Church dates back to 1907, but the current building was consecrated in 1922.^[61]

Since 1975, St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church has served Glendale.^[62]

The Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator was consecrated in 2001.^[63] In 2012, the North American diocese of the Armenian Catholic Church moved from New York City to Glendale.^[64]

Since 2012, the Islamic Center of Glendale, a Sunni mosque, has served Glendale.^[65]

Since 1949, Temple Sinai, a Reform synagogue, has served Glendale.^[66]

Since 2008, a Self-Realization Fellowship temple has served Glendale.^[67]

Since 2019,^[68] glendaleOUT has advocated on behalf of Glendale's LGBT+ residents. Since 2022, the orgination has hosted the annual Glendale Pride in the Park event held at Adams Square Mini Park.^[69][70] The event is a family-friendly picnic.^[71]

GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society provides specialized services to the local Armenian LGBT+ community, and the organization has been recognized as a community leader by Glendale elected officials. At the Glendale City Council's 2024 proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, GALAS Boardmember Shant Jaltorossian commented, stating “Our work as a cultural hub and resource group emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in our fight for justice. GALAS will continue to build a loving community which celebrates our roots, both Armenian and LGBTQ+, as we advocate for a better, more inclusive future."^[72]

At the June 6, 2023 Glendale Unified Board of Education meeting, where an annual Pride Month declaration was to occur, a crowd of more than 200 — including far-right organizations such as the Proud Boys^[73] — gathered outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters. As tensions between pro- and anti-LGBT+ sides rose, the Glendale Police Department declared an unlawful assembly.^[74] Some progressive Armenian activists have noted a "deliberate divide and conquer strategy" seeking to pit the local Armenian and LGBT+ communities against each other.^[75] Following the incident, GALAS, Armenian-American Action Network, and Southern California Armenian Democrats released a joint statement "calling attention to the collective safety of LGBTQ+ Armenians, the need for active allyship, and the dangers of alarmist and racist narratives about the Armenian immigrant population."^[76]

The Los Angeles LGBT Center has partnered with the Glendale Teachers Association and the National Union of Healthcare Workers to address anti-LGBT+ hate in Glendale, gathering support from several local elected officials, including Glendale City Councilmember Dan Brotman, Glendale City Clerk Suzie Abajian, Burbank City Councilmember Konstantine Anthony, State Assemblymember Laura Friedman and State Senator Anthony Portantino. Joey Espinoza-Hernandez, Director of Policy & Community Building at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, noted “We can’t stress this enough, the outcomes of the school board elections will have tremendous consequences on the future of Glendale schools, students, and teachers for years to come.”^[77] Ultimately, the March 5, 2024 Glendale Board of Education election was won by pro-equality candidates.^[78]

As of 2023^[update], the top employers in the city are (with number of employees):^[79]

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Glendale Unified School District	4,000
2	Adventist Health Glendale	2,600
3	Countrywide Home Loans	1,815
4	City of Glendale	1,785
5	Glenair Inc.	1,768
6	Glendale Community College	1,500
7	Walt Disney Imagineering	1,011
8	Alecto Healthcare Services	900
9	DreamWorks Animation	891
10	USC Verdugo Hills Hospital	750

Grand Central Airport was a municipal airport developed from 1923 which became the largest employer in Glendale for many years, and contributed to the development of aviation in the United States in many important ways. The main terminal building still stands and includes both Art Deco and Spanish-style architectural elements. The facility was the first official terminal for the Los Angeles area, as well as the departure point for the first commercial west-to-east transcontinental flight flown by Charles Lindbergh. During World War II, the Grand Central Air Terminal building was camouflaged to protect it from enemy targeting. It was closed down in 1959, and made way for the Grand Central Business Centre, an industrial park.

Forest Lawn Memorial Park started in Tropico (later annexed to Glendale) in 1906 and is famous for its art collection and the burial of many celebrities, as well as for the 1933 opening of the first funeral home on cemetery grounds anywhere in the United States.^[80] The Bob's Big Boy chain of hamburger restaurants started in Glendale on East Colorado in August 1936, and the Baskin-Robbins "31 Flavors" chain of ice cream parlors started in Adams Square in 1945.

The city experienced significant development in the 1970s, with the completion of the Glendale Freeway (Highway 2) and the Ventura Freeway (Highway 134). This included redevelopment of Brand Boulevard, renovation of the 1925 Alex Theatre, and construction of the Glendale Galleria shopping mall which opened in 1976, and was further expanded in 1982.

Several large companies have offices in Glendale including the U.S. headquarters of International House of Pancakes. The Los Angeles regional office of California's State Compensation Insurance Fund is in Glendale. Americas United Bank was founded in Glendale in 2006 and is still headquartered there. In August 2013, Avery Dennison Corp., a label maker for major brands, announced plans to move its headquarters from Pasadena to Glendale.^[81] Avery employs about 26,000 people.

In 2005, construction began near the Galleria of developer Rick Caruso's "Americana at Brand", a 15.5-acre (63,000 m²) outdoor shopping and residential community. Caruso had previously designed and built the Grove at Farmers Market. The new Glendale development was opened to the public on May 2, 2008, and features 75 shops and restaurants, 238 apartments, 100 condominiums, and a AMC Theatres 18-plex Cinema which seats 3,000 people.^[82]

Glendale, along with neighboring Burbank, has served as a major production center for the American film industry, and animation in particular.

Located near Walt Disney's Hyperion studio in Los Feliz, the Alex Theatre was Disney's favorite place during the 1930s to gauge audience reactions to his cartoons.^[83] Following his death in 1966, Disney was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.^[84]

When The Walt Disney Company outgrew its Burbank studio lot in the early 1960s, it expanded to Glendale's Grand Central Business Centre. First came the headquarters for Imagineering, and from 1985 to 1995, during the Disney Renaissance, Walt Disney Animation Studios (then known as Walt Disney Feature Animation) was headquartered in the Grand Central Business Centre. Disneytoon Studios, a division of WDAS, is still located in the Grand Central Business Centre near GC3, along with the Animation Research Library, Disney Animation's archive. Today, Disney's Grand Central Creative Campus (known as GC3 for short) is also home to Consumer Products, Disney Interactive, Marvel Animation and The Muppets Studio.^[85] Disney-owned KABC-TV is located on Circle 7 Drive to the south of GC3.

Between 1991 and 2006,^[86] Universal Cartoon Studios was located in Glendale.

In 1992, Disney and Warner Bros. animator and director Darrell Van Citters and his business partner Ashley Postlewaite founded Renegade Animation in neighboring Burbank, and it soon moved to Glendale.^[87]

In 1994, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen formed DreamWorks SKG, a diversified entertainment company. DreamWorks Animation remains located in the city's Grand Central Business Centre on land formerly occupied by a helicopter landing base next to the old airfield (and next to KABC-TV). Following Comcast's 2016 purchase of DreamWorks Animation, Katzenberg stated that "We will absolutely continue to make animated films here."^[88]

In 2002, the city's redevelopment agency gave Animation Initiative Glendale six months to develop a viable plan for adapting the historic Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan building^[89] for use as an animation museum.^[90][91] These plans were ultimately unsuccessful.

In 2024, East End Studios announced the completion of a film production complex, named "Glendale", featuring two sound stages and ancillary facilities.^[92] A second, much larger East End Studios facility in Glendale, named "Griffith", is currently being built.^[93]

In October 2024, Mayor Elen Asatryan travelled to South Korea, where she struck an entertainment partnership deal with the Incheon Free Economic Zone. The agreement includes a new government-to-government platform jointly built by the governments of Incheon and Glendale and sharing it with entertainment companies in both cities. ^[94]

Glendale Tech Week was created in 2016 to celebrate technology through panel discussions, workshops, and networking events.^[95]

In 2017, Glendale's City Council adopted the Glendale Tech Strategy, a roadmap for growing Glendale's technology-based sector.^[96]

In 2023, Glendale and neighboring Burbank partnered to launch Upstart Valley, a program to support startups, entrepreneurs, and the technology industry.^[97]

Notable technology companies in Glendale include:

• Evite
• LegalZoom
• ServiceTitan

Influenced by the city's immigrant history, Glendale's food culture includes a wide selection of international cuisines, including Filipino cuisine^[98] and Armenian cuisine and also Iranian cuisine.^[99][100]

Zhengyalov Hatz, which serves zhingyalov hats, is the Michelin Guide's only Armenian restaurant in the United States.^[101]

Important landmarks in Glendale include the Alex Theatre,^[102] the Glendale Main Post Office,^[103] and the Glendale Transportation Center.^[104]

The Glendale Public Library operates 8 public libraries in the city.^[105]

In 2016, the Museum of Neon Art (MONA), which focuses on historical neon signs, moved to downtown Glendale, with the City committed to funding the museum's new site and construction.^[106] The museum has featured exhibitions dedicated to the local community, including Armenians^[107] and LGBTQ+ people.^[108]

In 2024, the Martial Arts History Museum, which is devoted to the history of martial arts, moved to Glendale.^[109] The museum has displays relating to Chinese kung fu, Filipino kali, Hawaiian Kapu Kuialua, Japanese judo and karate, Korean taekwondo, and Thai Muay Thai.^[110] At this new, larger location, the museum will also feature Armenian kokh and Mexican lucha libre.^[111]

Local galleries include ace/121 Gallery,^[112] Armenian Arts,^[113] Junior High,^[114] and Tufenkian Fine Arts.^[115]

The Alex Theatre opened in 1925 as the Alexander Theatre, and featured featured vaudeville performances and silent films on a single screen.^[116] Currently, the theatre is a performing arts center featuring live performances and film screenings.^[117]

Local theatre companies include Antaeus Theatre Company ^[118] and The Nocturne Theatre.^[119]

The City sponsors several concert series: the Brand Summer Music Series, at the Brand Library;^[120] the Jewel City Concert Series, at the Artsakh Paseo;^[121] and the Summer Concert Series, at Verdugo Park.^[122]

The City of Glendale's public art includes "Beyond the Box", a utility box art program which includes more than 150 murals,^[123] and "Creative Crosswalks", a crosswalk mural program.^[124]

In 2016, a 1936 Streamline Moderne filling station in the Adams Hills neighborhood was added to the Glendale Register of Historic Resources and Historic Districts and converted into a public art gallery.^[125]

The city has nearly 50 public parks, from Deukmejian Wilderness Park in the north to Cerritos Park in the south.^[126]

According to the city's most recent comprehensive annual financial report, the city's various funds had $576 million in revenues, $543 million in expenditures, $2,090 million in total assets, $481 million in total liabilities, and $460 million in cash and investments.^[127] Glendale elects its City Council members at large, to a four-year term. Elections are held on a Tuesday after the first Monday in April of odd-numbered years along with the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education and the Glendale Community College District Board of Trustees.

The current Mayor and City Council members are:^[2]

• Elen Asatryan (Mayor)
• Dan Brotman
• Vartan Gharpetian
• Ardy Kassakhian
• Ara Najarian

The current City Clerk is Suzie Abajian.^[128]

The current Glendale Unified School District Board of Education members are:^[129]

• Shant Sahakian (President)
• Ingrid Gunnell (Vice President)
• Kathleen Cross (Clerk)
• Neda Farid
• Telly Tse

The current Glendale Community College District Board of Trustees are:^[130]

• Desirée Portillo Rabinov (President)
• Yvette Vartanian Davis (Vice President)
• Armine Hacopian (Clerk)
• Sevan Benlian
• Ann Ransford

Glendale has numerous boards and commissions, subject to the Brown Act, to support the City Council:^[131]

• Arts & Culture Commission
• Audit Committee
• Building & Fire Board of Appeals
• Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Airport Authority
• Charter Review Committee
• Civil Service Commission
• Commission on the Status of Women
• Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee
• Design Review Board
• Glendale Housing Authority
• Glendale Water & Power Commission
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Metropolitan Water District
• Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission
• Planning Commission
• Sustainability Commission
• Transportation and Parking Commission
• Vector Control District

In addition, Glendale also has committees, not subject to the Brown Act, including:

• Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event Committee
• Human Relations Committee

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Glendale Health Center in Glendale.^[132]

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services operates the Glendale DPSS welfare office on San Fernando Road.

The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation operates Crescenta Valley park in North Glendale

The Los Angeles County Department of Aging and Disabilities operates an undisclosed Adult Protective Services office in Glendale

In the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Glendale is in the Fifth District, represented by Kathryn Barger.^[133]

In the United States House of Representatives, Glendale is in California's 30th congressional district, represented by Democrat Adam Schiff.^[134]

In the California State Legislature, Glendale is in the 25th Senate District, represented by Democrat Anthony Portantino, and in both the 44th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Laura Friedman, and the 52nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Wendy Carrillo.^[135]

In 1977 and 1978, 10 murdered women were found in and around Glendale in what became known as the case of the Hillside Strangler. The murders were the work of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, the latter of whom resided at 703 East Colorado Street, where most of the murders took place.^[136]

In 2014, Glendale was named the ninth-safest city in America in a report published by 24/7 Wall Street based on violent crime rates in cities with more than 100,000 people.^[137] Also in 2014, real estate company Movoto used FBI data crime data from 2013 to conduct a study of 100 U.S. cities with populations between 126,047 and 210,309 residents and concluded that Glendale was the safest mid-sized city in America.^[138]

The Glendale Unified School District operates the public schools in Glendale.^[139] The GUSD high schools include Glendale High School, Herbert Hoover High School, Clark Magnet High School, Crescenta Valley High School located in La Crescenta and Allan F. Daily High School. A number of private schools also operate in Glendale, including Chamlian Armenian School,^[140] Holy Family High School, Salem Lutheran School, and Glendale Adventist Academy. Glendale is also home to Glendale Community College. Middle schools are Roosevelt Middle School, Toll Middle School, Rosemont Middle School, and Wilson Middle School.

Glendale community news is covered by the Glendale News-Press, which was founded in 1905. The Crescenta Valley Weekly covers local news, community events, and sports in Glendale and the Crescenta Valley.

KABC-TV, an ABC owned-and-operated television station serving the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the rest of the Greater Los Angeles area, has maintained its studios and offices in Glendale since December 2000.

The Glendale Fire Department responds to about 17,000 calls for service annually.^[141] The department has nine stations, with mutual aid provided other local departments.^[142] The Verdugo Fire Communications Center in Glendale was established in 1979 to consolidate fire dispatching and telecommunications between 13 local fire departments.^[143]

LADOT, Metro Local, Metro Rapid, and Glendale Beeline all have buses that run in the city. Glendale Transportation Center provides connections to Greyhound buses.^[144]

The North Hollywood to Pasadena Transit Corridor is a proposed 18-mile (29 km) bus rapid transit line. It is planned to operate between Pasadena City College and the North Hollywood station, where it will connect with the Metro B Line and the Metro G Line. The line is planned to connect downtown Burbank to Glendale via Glenoaks Boulevard before heading south on Central Avenue and then continuing east on Broadway. The line is expected to open in 2027.^[145] The project is part of Metro's Twenty-eight by '28 initiative.^[146]

A 2021 Metro staff report for the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee has recommended corridors where the transportation agency could pursue new bus rapid transit lines, including one between downtown Glendale and East Los Angeles College, a 13.64-mile (21.95 km) corridor passing through Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park.^[147]

Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line and Ventura County Line stop at the Glendale Transportation Center. Also, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner stops at Glendale Transportation Center. ^[148]

Since 2016, Metro and Eco-Rapid Transit have been studying the feasibility of adding more frequent service and infill stations along the corridor. Also studied has been the creation of a light rail line along the Burbank-Glendale-Union Station corridor, potentially allowing trains to leave the existing right-of-way to travel through the commercial core of Glendale.^[149]

Using a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments, the City of Glendale is now in the midst of a feasibility study for a streetcar project. The city is considering two alignments for the proposed system, both of which would feature 16 stops running approximately 2.88 miles (4.63 km) between Stocker Street in the north and the Glendale Transportation Center in the south, where it would connect with Metrolink and Amtrak trains.^[150]

The closest airport that serves Glendale is the Hollywood Burbank Airport. The airport is owned by the Burbank–Glendale–Pasadena Airport Authority, a joint powers agreement between the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena.^[151]

Glendale is served by four freeways: the Glendale Freeway (State Route 2), the Ventura Freeway (State Route 134), the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) and the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5)

Major surface streets in the city include: Brand Boulevard, Broadway, Canada Boulevard, Central Avenue, Chevy Chase Drive, Colorado Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard, Glendale Avenue, Glenoaks Boulevard, Grandview Avenue, La Crescenta Avenue, Honolulu Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Riverside Drive, Victory Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, Sonora Avenue, Western Avenue, San Fernando Road, Verdugo Road/Boulevard, Mountain Street, and Ocean View Boulevard.

Glendale's sister cities are:^[162]

• List of cities in California
• Largest cities in Southern California
• M.V. Hartranft, early 20th-century land developer in Glendale
• Casa Adobe De San Rafael California Historic Landmark in Glendale
• List of sundown towns in the United States

• Official website
• Glendale Chamber of Commerce