L.A. AREA POPULATION GROWTH : Sylmar Leads City’s Decade of Expansion

Sylmar, long viewed as the quiet, rural outback of Los Angeles, has emerged from the 1980s as the fastest-growing community in the city with a 30.7% population increase and an almost equal growth rate in housing construction, according to city figures released Wednesday.

The community has topped the city’s population growth chart every year since 1982. During the last decade the population of Sylmar surged to 54,779 in 1989 from 41,922 in 1980, city planners said.

The figures were released by the Planning Department. The population estimates are based on information that includes census data, statistics from the city’s Building and Safety Department and utility bills.

San Pedro, which experienced a development boom in private and military housing in the mid-1980s, was the second-fastest-growing area in Los Angeles over the last decade, with a 22.7% population increase. Arleta, which is next to Sylmar, ranked third with an 18.7% growth rate, city planning statistics showed.

The population of the San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles grew 12.2% to 1,142,447 people from October, 1980, to October, 1989.

The overall population of Los Angeles grew 11.6% between 1980 and 1989 to more than 3.3 million people.

L.A. AREA POPULATION GROWTH April 1, 1980 to October 1, 1989 SYLMAR: 30.7 SAN PEDRO: 21.7 ARLETA: 18.7 HBR GATEWAY: 17.7 SUNLAND: 17.3 NORTHEAST LA: 16.2 CHATSWORTH: 16.2 WESTWOOD: 15.9 N&E; CENTRAL: 14.3 SILVERLAKE: 13.9 HOLLYWOOD: 13.6 WILMINGTON: 13.5 WILSHIRE: 12.7 MISSION HILLS: 12.7 NORTHRIDGE: 12.2 CANOGA PARK: 11.9 NO HOLLYWOOD: 11.9 SHERMAN OAKS: 11.3 VAN NUYS: 11.1 WESTCHESTER: 11.0 SOUTHEAST LA: 10.5 BOYLE HEIGHTS: 9.9 SUN VALLEY: 9.1 WEST LA: 8.3 WEST ADAMS: 8.3 WESTLAKE: 7.8 SO CENTRAL LA: 7.8 BEL AIR: 7.5 VENICE: 7.4 PALMS: 6.7 RESEDA: 6.3 GRANADA HILLS: 6.0 ENCINO: 5.3 BRENTWOOD: 4.8 CENTRAL CITY: 1.7