Editing Burbank, California (section)

====Rancho Equestrian area====
Perhaps the most famous collection of neighborhoods in Burbank is the Rancho Equestrian District, flanked roughly by Griffith Park to the south, Victory Boulevard to the east, Olive Avenue to the west and Alameda Avenue to the north. Part of the Rancho community extends into neighboring Glendale.

The neighborhood zoning allows residents to keep horses on their property. Single-family homes far outnumber multifamily units in the Rancho, and many of the homes have stables and horse stalls. There are about 785 single-family homes, 180 condos and townhomes, and [https://outlooknewspapers.com/burbankleader/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-rancho-leaders-pushing-false-narrative/article_faf4a63e-0048-11f0-9461-7f79bbddfa50.html 25 horses].

The Rancho has traditionally been represented by the Burbank Rancho Homeowners, which was formed in 1963 by Floran Frank and other equestrian enthusiasts and is the oldest neighborhood group in the city.

Rancho real estate sells at a premium due to its equestrian zoning, numerous parks, connection to riding trails in Griffith Park and its adjacency to Warner Bros. and Disney Studios. Riverside Drive, its main thoroughfare, is lined with [[sycamore]] and [[oak]] trees, some more than 70 years old. It is quite common to see people on [[horseback riding]] along Riverside Drive's designated horse lanes. Of historical note, the Rancho was the home to TV star Mister Ed, the talking horse of [[Mister Ed|the show of the same name]]. Other notable former Rancho residents included [[Ava Gardner]] and [[Tab Hunter]], as well as [[Bette Davis]] in the adjoining Glendale Rancho area.

The rancho is especially known for its parks and open space. This includes centrally located Mountain View Park, Johnny Carson Park, Los Angeles' Griffith Park and Equestrian Center, Bette Davis Park (in the adjoining Glendale Rancho) and the neighborhood's beloved Polliwog, extending along Disney's animation building and used by local residents to exercise their horses.

In the 1960s, [[General Motors Corporation]] opened training facilities on Riverside Drive in the Rancho area, but in 1999 decided to contract out dealer-technician training to [[Raytheon Company]] and dismissed a dozen employees. In 2006, GM confiscated [[EV1]] electric-powered cars from drivers who had leased them and moved them to the GM facility in Burbank. When environmentalists determined the location of the cars, they began a month-long vigil at the facility.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_news050218_ev1vigil/index.html | title = EV1 Vigil At GM Burbank Facility Enters Day Three | date = February 18, 2005 | work = [[Motor Trend]] | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090108031931/http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_news050218_ev1vigil/index.html | archive-date = January 8, 2009 | url-status = live }}</ref> To challenge the company's line that they were unwanted, they found buyers for all of them, offering a total of $1.9 million.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=7766 | title = EV1 Vigilers Pledge to Pay GM $1.9 Million for 'Incarcerated' Electric Cars | first = Bill | last = Moore | date = February 27, 2005 | work = EV World | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110710211358/http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=7766 | archive-date = July 10, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The vehicles were loaded on trucks and removed, and several activists who tried to intervene were arrested. The property was sold in 2012 to Lycée International de Los Angeles (LILA), a dual French-English language school, which opened a private high school in August 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.burbankleader.com/2012-03-23/news/tn-blr-0324-rancho-residents-says-oui-to-french-prep-school_1_rancho-residents-gm-site-school|title=Rancho residents say 'oui' to French prep school|work=tribunedigital-burbankleader|access-date=October 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017195212/http://articles.burbankleader.com/2012-03-23/news/tn-blr-0324-rancho-residents-says-oui-to-french-prep-school_1_rancho-residents-gm-site-school|archive-date=October 17, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The new school includes 23 classrooms, four labs, an auditorium, an art room, an indoor sports rooms, two outdoor volleyball courts and basketball courts, according to the school's website.