Tarzana is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, about 25 miles northwest of downtown and just south of the 101 Freeway. Its name is a literary artifact: the land was the ranch of Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan stories, who lived and wrote here. In 1923 Burroughs subdivided part of his property as the Tarzana Tract, and when residents of the then-rural area—called Runnymede II—sought a post office in 1927, they adopted the name Tarzana in tribute to the famous character. Today the neighborhood is a mostly residential mix of single-family homes, hillside streets, and mid-rise apartments. Roughly 35,000 residents live here, spread from the flat Valley floor north of Ventura Boulevard into the southern hills that climb toward Mulholland Drive and the Santa Monica Mountains. Ventura Boulevard and the Reseda Boulevard corridor form the commercial spine, lined with restaurants, markets, and services. Tarzana's identity is suburban and family-oriented, with quiet tree-lined streets and a strong sense of neighborhood. The community is known for its diversity and for a range of cultural and religious institutions that anchor long-established populations. The neighborhood is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, with Tarzana Elementary School at its center and several charter and traditional high school options across the western Valley. Recreation runs from the Tarzana Recreation Center and local parks to the trailheads of the Santa Monica Mountains at the south end of Reseda Boulevard, where the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park opens onto the Topanga State Park trail system. Commuters reach the rest of the Valley and the Westside via the 101 Freeway, Reseda Boulevard, and the Metro Orange Line busway, keeping the neighborhood connected while preserving its largely residential pace.