Have you ever heard that Whittier, California is in the San Gabriel Valley? After all, The Whittier Daily News is also published as the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, which I read as a teenager when I lived in Covina, the center of the San Gabriel Valley. It is unfortunate that the owners of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune also print the Whittier Daily News as essentially the same newspaper, adding to the misperception that Whittier is part of the San Gabriel Valley.
Well, Whittier is NOT in the San Gabriel Valley!
I spent my junior high school and high school years in Covina, which is smack-dab in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley, so I know that the city where I was born, Whittier, is not in the San Gabriel Valley. It bothers me that Craigslist does not have an appropriate location for Whittier. Craigslist wants to place it either in Long Beach (area code 562) or the San Gabriel Valley.
The San Gabriel Valley includes only the following cities:
Altadena, Alhambra, Arcadia, Avocado Heights, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bassett, Bradbury, Charter Oak, Citrus, City of Industry, Claremont, Covina, Diamond Bar, Duarte, East Pasadena, El Monte, Glendora, Hacienda Heights, Irwindale, La Cañada-Flintridge, La Puente, La Verne, Mayflower Village, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, North El Monte, Pasadena, Rosemead, Rowland Heights, San Dimas, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South El Monte, South Pasadena, South San Gabriel, South San Jose Hills, Temple City, Valinda, Vincent, Walnut, West Covina, West Puente Valley. Note that Whittier is not present in this list of San Gabriel Valley cities.
Addiing to the confusion is the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, which is clearly in the San Gabriel Valley, but is not a part of Whittier. The Narrows does not even abut Whittier.
So, if Whittier is not in the San Gabrriel Valley, where is it?
Only a portion of Whittier could possibly be considered in the San Gabriel Valley, and that is the most western and northern areas of the city, where it does abut the San Gabriel Freeway to the West and Rose Hills and Industry to the North.
Since Rio Hondo College is in Whittier, I have wondered if Whittier is in the Rio Hondo Valley. So, I did some research on it. According to wikipedia, the Rio Hondo River starts in Azusa and runs through South Gate, and the Whittier Narrows. It does not reach Whittier. So, Whittier is not in the Rio Hondo Valley.
There is no way that the majority of Whittier, say, east of Norwalk Boulevard, could possibly be considered in the San Gabriel Valley. The rest of Whittier, and the surrounding areas of La Habra, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, La Habra and La Habra Heights must be in their own unique geographical area.
The Eastern San Gabriel Valley is separated from Whittier by the Whittier Hills and the Puente Hills, putting Whittier in a completely separate valley that is bordered on the north by these hills.
Hacienda Heights, directly over the Whittier Hills via Colima Avenue, is definitely in the San Gabriel Valley. But those hills separate Whittier.
It really appears as if Whittier is in a valley of its own, along with La Habra, La Habra Heights, Santa Fe Springs and La Mirada. Maybe it should be called the "Whittier Valley". I'm all for it. What do you think?
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My dad was a merchant in Covina.
I was born in Covina and when I was two, we moved to West Covina where I grew up, near the south end of Citrus Ave. We got the daily SGV Tribune. I often hiked into the hills as a kid (via South Hills CC), when the hills were substantially undeveloped. There was a lot of wildlife. When going to Mt. SAC, I even ran to school and back across the hills a few times as my "commute," in the day when I was enthusiastic and fit, carrying my books and a change of clothes in my trusty Jansport daypack.
Anyway, with the view of the San Gabriel Range to the north and the San Jose Hills at our back, I always got a strong sense of place, a sort of parochial pride. Even though the Thorntons (neighbors and a large family) were from Massachusettes and drove back every summer, and poked fun at our Valley, and W Covina's motto ("Headquarters City").
We thought of Orange County as an amorphous metropolis (in truth no more so than the SGV), and called it "Maranatha Nation," for its conservative and evangelical boisterousness. We had to pass thru it to get to the beach and the theme parks, but otherwise avoided it, as though it was TJ (only snobbier).
I didn't really learn about Whittier until I met my future wife in college, and I mistakenly referred to the town as being in Orange County. I was taught otherwise, but my perception, based on topography and compass, persisted. Since she had some hometown pride, this error was not amusing to her. Over the years I discovered the town's charms. One of my favorites is the southerly aspect of its fetile hills and their excellent avocadoes.
I did not really think of Whittier as being in its own valley, but I can see now that it's quite likely. Urbania tends to mask the native landscape. Last time I was down (from Merced, where we live), I went for a run with my son, down thru the creek park to Biola. He is 13 and asked where this creek feature came from. As I described it to him, reverting to my college days of taking watershed, geology etc., it was only then that I recognized some of the former beauty that motor graders and concrete mixers have hidden.