Culver City

Harry Culver founded the city in 1917 and attracted the film studios that made it “the heart of screenland”: the Thomas Ince and later MGM lot that is now Sony Pictures, and the Culver Studios where Gone with the Wind was filmed. The city kept its own government and services as Los Angeles grew around it.

Culver City is irregular in shape, with several distinct areas: the downtown and Sony district along Culver and Washington boulevards; the older residential streets of the Carlson Park and Sunkist Park sections; the hillside neighborhoods of Culver Crest and Blair Hills to the south-east; and the Fox Hills and Ballona Creek areas near the 405. The Hayden Tract and the streets near the Expo Line have become a major office and creative district.

The older flats near downtown and in Carlson Park have bungalows and traditional houses on small lots, many updated, and prices are supported by the city’s schools and the walkable downtown. Culver Crest and Blair Hills in the hills carry larger ranch and view homes at the top of the city’s market.

Townhomes and condos are concentrated near downtown, along Washington and Jefferson and in the Fox Hills area, with new apartment and condo projects near the Expo Line stations. Culver City has a rent control ordinance that applies to most older apartment buildings.

The Culver City Unified School District serves the city with one high school, one middle school and neighborhood elementary schools. Some addresses with Culver City mailing addresses are outside the city limits and in the Los Angeles Unified School District, so check a specific address with the district.

The 405 and 10 both pass through the city, and the Expo Line has stations at Culver City downtown and La Cienega/Jefferson, with direct service to Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Downtown Culver City, the studios and the Platform and Ivy Station developments are walkable from the central neighborhoods, and the Ballona Creek bike path runs to the beach.