Neighbors United

Neighbors United Association was organized in 1981 as the Stearns Drive-Crescent Heights Block Club.  The Club included residents in the 1800 through 2000 blocks of both streets.  The original membership roster included 41 households on Stearns Drive and 26 households on Crescent Heights.

Marguerite Strain organized the Stearns Drive-Crescent Heights Block Club in 1981 after she married Bill Strain and moved to the neighborhood.  Bill and Marguerite experienced three break-ins at their home in just a few weeks’ time.  Outraged, Marguerite went door-to-door on Stearns Drive and Crescent Heights and invited neighbors to come to her home to meet with the police department and organize a block club.  Since many of our neighbors had also experienced burglaries during that time, the meeting was well attended.

As a result of that meeting, our neighbors formed a lasting bond.  However, we knew that we needed support of the neighbors on Point View to “watch our backs—or back yards.”  We invited the neighbors in the 1800-2000 blocks of Point View to join us.  With the increased memberships we were able to accomplish even more.  Also, we changed our name to Neighbors United to reflect our stronger bond.

Through the years, we realized that crime was only one of the important issues that impact our community.  We broadened our scope to include issues such as zoning consistency, relations with the surrounding business community, quality of life/environmental issues, and charity.

In 1982, Marguerite brought another idea to the club.  After all our hard work, we should also have fun and celebrate.  We started the annual block party.  Each year, the party grew and we met many new friends.  In 2001 we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our organization and had a fantastic celebration.

The broader community around us was referred to as Pico-Fairfax.  However, we were located quite a distance from that area.  Since we really didn’t have an identity we looked into the possibility of changing the name of the community,.  After researching the area’s history, we found that our neighborhood was located on an old cattle ranch—Rancho Arnaz de Bueyes.  This cattle ranch spanned from just east of Fairfax into Beverly Hills.  We actually adopted the name but never really used it.

During the early to mid 1990s, the boundaries were expanded several times to incorporate other streets until we finally reached our current boundaries—Pico Boulevard on the north; Fairfax Avenue on the East; Guthrie Avenue (the Kaiser wall) on the south; and La Cienega Boulevard on the west.  In 1998, this area was named Faircrest Heights.  We had signs posted strategically through out the area, at gateway intersections to let others know we are here.

There is strength in numbers.  We know that our future is bright and that we will continue to be very active in our community.  We face many challenges and uncertainties.  However, we are sure of one thing—our neighbors are united to succeed in all that we undertake.