A heritage in common
Family ties, church and school are the pillars of Glendale’s expanding and tight-knit Armenian American community. Armenians have settled in Glendale for more than half a century, bringing with them traditions from Armenia, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and the former Soviet Union.
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What it’s about
There’s a reason cavernous banquet halls dot the Glendale landscape: Armenian Americans gather often to celebrate life milestones and religious events with 200 of their closest friends and family. That home-away-from-distant-home sensibility always has been the lure to this San Fernando Valley city, said Re-Max Tri-City Realty agent Razmik Boghossian, an Iranian Armenian who immigrated to Glendale 25 years ago. The city also has large Korean, Filipino and Latino communities.
Armenian social-service and religious organizations help immigrants find housing and jobs; professionals within that community provide legal, medical and other services to new and longtime residents, who make up about 40% of the city’s population of 210,000.
Then there’s the food: A host of restaurants on Glendale and Central avenues serve lamb kebabs, stews, baklava and other delicacies. Scores of specialty markets sell hummus, tabbouleh, and Shahrzad and Alghazaleen teas, essential to Armenian family meals.
“It’s a lot easier to start over again in a foreign country when you can find work, learn English and grow among people you know,” said Edmond Hartounian, an Iranian-born grocer of Armenian descent.
In 2005, Glendale’s Armenian American community took pride in a political milestone: capturing a majority of Glendale City Council seats (three out of five).
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Insider’s view
The grocer Hartounian’s story is typical within Glendale’s Armenian American community. Born and raised in Iran, Hartounian earned his electrical-engineering degree in Germany, then returned to his native country to work. He immigrated to the U.S. with his wife and baby in 1982, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and landed in Glendale, where his wife’s relatives had settled earlier.
Hartounian co-owned a Glendale construction company for 17 years. Now 60, he owns the popular Glendale Ranch Market on Central Avenue.
When he bought his hillside home in Glendale in 1985, he was the first Armenian American on his block; 18 Armenian families now own homes there. On a recent evening, he met up with 10 friends from his youth -- as he has every Thursday night for 20 years -- at a local restaurant for dinner and camaraderie.
“We found each other again here in Glendale,” Hartounian said. “Our kids are friends too.”
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Good news, bad news
Many second- and third-generation Armenian Americans have prospered in Glendale, but some recent immigrants have found it difficult to find higher-paying jobs. Some work extra jobs to make ends meet and still can’t achieve the good life they had envisioned.
Armenian gang activity, a significant problem a few years ago, has declined.
Design changes to older Spanish-style homes and the “mansionization” of other Glendale homes over the years have created tension between newer Armenian home buyers and longtime residents. Partly as a result of that strain, the city now requires new site plans to get the approval of the design review board.
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Housing stock
Armenians are widely dispersed throughout Glendale, where there are nearly 23,500 single-family homes. Higher-income Armenian owners tend to live in the tonier Glendale Highlands area in the hilly northwestern part of the city and the Oakmont Country Club area, the latter of which has newer homes in the $1.5-million and up range, Boghossian said. Lower-income residents -- often recent immigrants -- live in some of the city’s 33,000 apartment units.
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Report card
There are 20 elementary schools in the Glendale Unified School District. Student scores on the 2006 Academic Performance Index Growth Report ranged from 725 out of 1,000 at Cerritos Elementary School to 940 at Mountain Avenue Elementary. Of middle schools, Rosemont scored 893; Woodrow Wilson, 820; Toll, 770; and Roosevelt, 726. Of the high schools, Crescenta Valley scored 891; Anderson W. Clark Magnet, 856; Herbert Hoover, 757; Glendale, 726.
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Historical values
Single-family home resales:
Year...Median Price
1990...$330,000
1995...$249,500
2000...$342,500
2004...$605,000
2005...$728,950
2006... $768,250
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Sources: DataQuick Information Systems; api.cde.ca.gov.
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