Guide to Beverly Hills, California

There's got to be something special about a place that has its own coat of arms and whose name often serves in the title of a popular motion picture. Arguably though, no other city in the world has the reputation that comes with the words "Beverly Hills." With a population of 32,000 residing in 5.7 square miles of prime real estate, Beverly Hills is one of the safest cities in California and enjoys one of the highest standards of living in all the world. Moreover, local residents have access to the finest public schools, libraries, health care and recreation facilities in the entire United States.

No doubt people from every corner of the globe at some time in their lives have seen images of the expensive homes, fancy cars, exquisite restaurants, famous movie stars and year-round sunny weather ridiculously on display throughout this exclusive Los Angeles County community.

But the images are real and the reputation is well-earned as any economically-challenged tourist or wide-eyed film viewer knows who has experienced the city up close and personal or vicariously via the media of popular culture. And as gaudy as these images sometimes are, Beverly Hills today remains a community rich and diverse in culture, viable business interests, professional opportunities and affluent living, and cherished by those who live and work there.

A COLORFUL HISTORY:

Real or imagined, Beverly Hills personifies the Southern California fun-and-sun, laid-back lifestyle and expensive wining, dining, celebrity-watching activities for which it is so famous. But this was not always the case.

Prior to the 17th Century, Beverly Hills like much of Southern California, was a quiet, wilderness countryside populated by Native Americans until it was invaded and migrated by Spanish explorers. When California became a state in 1850, so did Beverly Hills along with its Los Angeles neighbors, begin to be settled and experience incredible growth in business and trade. In 1914 the city was incorporated and became part of Los Angeles County.