One of Highlands’ First Residents Talks Neighborhood’s Changes and Charm Over 40 Years

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

When it was time to move his family into a more family-friendly community over 40 years ago, Ted Tanaka had his sights set on one place.

As he and his wife Darlene arrived in the Highlands in 1972, it was nothing but sidewalks and a couple hundred plots of land.

“[There was] not a single piece of lumber,” Tanaka told the Palisadian-Post, but he could visualize it and knew it was perfect.

Visions of a house in Pacific Palisades had been in his head since long before he moved to the budding Highlands neighborhood. Tanaka had been to social gatherings in the Palisades as a student at University High School in West LA in the 1950s, and he had never forgotten the houses in the seaside community.

By the time Tanaka was working and living with his wife and young son in Woodland Hills at the beginning of his career, the new family was ready for a change, Tanaka said, adding that the San Fernando Valley had “no sense of community.”

Serendipitously, around the same time Tanaka saw a BusinessWeek magazine cover story about green space in urban areas. Featured in the article were the Santa Monica Mountains and a new development in the Palisades Highlands.

It was kismet.

After visiting the site several times and following lengthy discussions in the sales trailer, Tanaka chose to buy the cheapest lot with a great view and the biggest layout plan out of the six options. And for a $1,000 deposit, it was secured as his.

Additionally, Tanaka paid an extra $2,000 so his family’s home could have ocean views, but the house was initially laid out backward with the majority of the home’s windows facing away from the ocean. Tanaka said he had to argue with the developers to turn things around, coming out victorious with 10 of the 12 rooms in the home ultimately boasting views of the Pacific.

The total price tag of the home and lot ended up at $90,000, which was relatively high by ’70s market standards when the average California home value sat around $23,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Four decades later, the Tanakas’ home in the Highlands is now valued at over $1.8 million, according to Zillow, and the surrounding homes all hold a similar figure.

When the young Tanaka family moved into their home on Avenida De Cortez 18 months after purchasing the property in 1972, they were followed by other families each moving into the neighborhood within days or months of each other.

The Tanakas even shared their move-in date with Ted Knight—best known for his role on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

Celebrities weren’t a big part of the Palisades community in the early ’70s. However, Tanaka does remember seeing Ronald Reagan taking his dogs to the vet in the area.

The families that flocked to the new neighborhood in the hills were all seeking the same kind of family-friendly atmosphere and an escape from the city.

“You’re leaving the city and going to the country,” Tanaka said, explaining what driving up Palisades Drive feels like.

The neighbors bonded quickly over common interests they shared as new residents of the fledgling neighborhood. They found themselves facing the same issues, such as finding gardeners and contractors, each trying to make a home out of the dirt and weeds that spread over their new properties.

The earliest Highlands residents soon got to a point where they would recognize each other’s cars and know which vehicles to look suspiciously at. The weekends were full of barbeques and hordes of children invading a rotation of houses.

But the suburban bliss that was gaining traction hit a snag when the United States Supreme Court ruled that busing would be used to racially desegregate schools, and schools in the Palisades were no exception.

This particular method of desegregation was developed after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People challenged a North Carolina school district, where more than half of the district’s black students attended schools with almost an entirely black population. The case was won and Judge James B. McMillan ruled that busing would be used to combat the issue.

After an appeal, the case came before the Supreme Court, which ruled again in its favor. Many cities adopted the bus programs and soon Tanaka’s 8-year-old son was forced to leave Marquez Elementary Charter School and take a 45-minute bus ride to an inner-city school.

Tanaka, like many other parents who had fought to live in a place where their children could attend good schools close to home, was frustrated. The good schools in the Palisades were one of the reasons they had moved here, Tanaka explained.

Palisadian parents needed another option, prompting the creation of Village School, a private school in the heart of the Palisades that would be exempt from the busing mandate. The Tanakas were one of the first families in line to register their son.

While the names of the markets and gas stations in the Highlands have changed and the number of cars on Palisades Dr. has increased, Tanaka says many things have consistently stayed the same over the years.

“The inherent quality of the neighborhood has remained,” he told the Post.

The feeling of belonging, the deep friendships and being known by name in the local businesses are just some of the reasons Tanaka said he has enjoyed the 43 years he has spent in the community so far.

While many of the neighbors who moved in during the Highlands’ development phase have since grayed and their children have grown up and moved away, a new wave of families is moving in and Tanaka said the welcome sight of bicycles left on the sidewalk has returned.

And just as it was for him in 1972, the safe, friendly and clean environment of the Highlands is still a selling point to incoming neighbors, Tanaka saying, “There’s a lot of stability here.”