 Much like in the San Fernando Valley (Van Nuys and Canoga Park his "creations"), Whitley "leveraged" his holdings with the support of important Los Angeles businessmen.Whitley first intended the town be named "Otis", after Harrison Gray Otis of the "Los Angeles Times", and streets as Otis, Sherman, Letts (the Broadway store) and Ross (after his son, Ross Whitley) show the connections.Whitley, it is claimed, purchased and platted some 150 towns over the American West—and Corcoran is one of his last.