There is a city in southern California by this name. It is in The Inland Empire portion of Los Angeles County. It has a population of 33,517 people according to a 1998 study by its department of finance.
The historic Route 66 passed through this city.
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians owned a house in downtown La Verne where David's wives and children all lived, before they moved to Waco, Texas.
The high school's rival school is San Dimas High School in neighboring San Dimas. Each year the two schools compete in a football game for retention of a smudge pot trophy that symbolizes athletic superiority.
The movie The Graduate was filmed here, and the orange groves driven through in that movie are part of why La Verne exists. Which also explains the use of a smudge pot as a trophy (since smudge pots are used to keep frost off orange trees on cold nights).
In the movie Wayne's World 2, the church where Cassandra was being wed was across the street from Bonita High School in La Verne. And the gas station where Charleton Heston gave a speech to Wayne doesn't really exist; a fake one was built in an empty lot also across the street from Bonita High School. You can almost read "Home of the Bearcats" over Wayne's shoulder in some scenes. The bearcat being the high school's mascot.