Brookside's Brook (& other community naming issues)

Yes, there is a brook in Brookside, unlike LAist leads their readers to believe. The "believed to exist" part comes from where its source is. That stream is there: it runs between the homes and is slightly visible from the street/bridge in the middle of the neighborhood.

And yes, there is a lake in Toluca Lake and a spring that runs underground and behind the houses on Valley Spring Lane. There are canals in our Venice and a hill in Melrose Hill. There is a view of the "lake" at Hansen Dam from Lake View Terrace, and Eagle Rock actually has the Eagle Rock.

Also, it is notable that Brookside is one of the first communities to be officially adopted with actual boundaries as a neighborhood. On February 7, 2007 the same day the city Council approved the boundaries and name of Brookside, they also approved "Arroyo View Estates" in the northeastern most part of the City near Highland Park/Garvanza (the area northeast of the intersection of Avenue 66 and Easy Street). So, these two are the only communities in Los Angeles officially adopted with boundaries... sort of.

Now some will recall that in 2005 Tom LaBonge had made Hancock defined by the boundaries of Highland, Rossmore, Melrose, and Wilshire - but that was done without the new process by which the most recent two names/boundaries were adopted. And even before that, his predecessor, John Ferraro, designated St. Andrews Square as the area bounded by Beverly, Western, Wilton Pl, and Third Street. So, there are some communities that have defined & officially adopted boundaries. What we really need as a City is an officially designated map. (I've got the info if someone's got the skills to do it!)

For a complete list of Los Angeles's official community names (including the two new ones),visit the LA City Nerd community name post.