Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. The area’s “Platinum Triangle” is formed by the city of Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills. Along with the Los Angeles communities of Bel-Air and Brentwood, it is one of the “Three Bs”, a wealthy area in the Los Angeles Westside. Originally a Spanish ranch where lima beans were grown, Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914 by a group of investors who had failed to find oil, but found water instead and eventually decided to develop it into a town. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658. Sometimes referred to as “90210”, one of its primary ZIP codes, it is home to many actors and celebrities. The city includes the Rodeo Drive shopping district and the Beverly Hills Oil Field.
In spite of the city’s name, most residents live in the “flats” of Beverly Hills, which is a relatively flat land that includes all of Beverly Hills itself. The houses situated in the hillside north of Sunset Boulevard have a much higher value than the average housing price for the rest of the city. Santa Monica Boulevard divides the “flats” into two areas, locally known as “North or South of the tracks,” referring to the train tracks that were once used by the old Pacific Electric streetcar line that traversed Beverly Hills along Santa Monica Blvd.
Houses south of Wilshire Boulevard have more urban square and rectangular lots, in general smaller than those to the north. There are also more apartment buildings south of Wilshire Blvd. than anywhere else in Beverly Hills, and the average house value south of Wilshire is the lowest in Beverly Hills. Nearly all businesses and government offices in Beverly Hills are located south of Santa Monica Blvd., two notable exceptions being the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Just outside the city limits to the west lies the Los Angeles Country Club. Other locations commonly associated with Beverly Hills include the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Beverly Center, just outside the city limits to the east.
Beverly Hills has a hot and warm Mediterranean micro-climate, with an average high of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius) in August, and an average high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19.5 degrees Celsius) in January. Beverly Hills also receives an average 18 inches (460 mm) of rain per year. Summers are marked by warm to hot temperatures with very little wind, while winters are warm to moderate, to cool with occasional rain alternating with periods of Santa Ana winds. Measurable snowfall has been recorded only in 1882, 1922, 1932, 1949 and 1958.
