The valley

It’s not bad, but the further away from the Hollywood Hills you are, the more bland it becomes with strip malls and lower working-class people.

It’s also cut off from ocean breezes and becomes hot as fuck in the summer.

Perfect description R1.

I actually like the Valley. My sister raised her two boys in Sherman Oaks and it really grew on my.

So, yeah. I actually like the Valley. I admit it.

Not the Valley, no, the SIMI VALLEY yes

The Valley was where droves of middle-class Whites fled, panically abandoning some of the nicer areas of the West L.A. hills, after a few Black lawyers and doctors moved in.

Sixty years later, the grandchildren of those who fled, eager to escape the Valley’s boredom and relentless heat, are using familial loans and inheritances for down payments on the now million+ dollar homes in the integrated neighborhoods their grandparents abandoned.

It's a long day, living in Reseda; there's a freeway, running through the yard.

[quote] You always hear people talk about it like it’s the new jersey of the west coast

This is interesting you say this because on my first visit to Los Angeles, on the drive from LAX downtown, I couldn’t get over how much Los Angeles looked like New Jersey with palm trees. I think much of the derision of the Valley comes from projection of Los Angeles’s insecurities.

That being said, the Valley gained a reputation for seediness partly through the birth of the pornographic video industry there. I don’t think a pornographic industry really exists anymore in that sense because the internet has fractured it so much, but in the 70s and 80s Boogie Nights era, the Valley was indeed the Hollywood of porn.

Further derision of the Valley comes from its trapped heat and air pollution.

I would like to add that derision of the Valley comes from an era when the LA basin was not an ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE ZOMBIE DYSTOPIA APOCALYPSE. Even the wealthiest celebrities ensconced in Brentwood and Bel Air regularly post on social media about the horror of contemporary Los Angeles living. Being in “the good side” of Los Angeles is no longer relevant.

[quote] The Valley was where droves of middle-class Whites fled, panically abandoning some of the nicer areas of the West L.A. hills, after a few Black lawyers and doctors moved in.

I always wonder if some people here post from another planet.

Middle class whites abandoned South Los Angeles and moved to the Valley because they did not want live next to working class blacks. The friction between whites and segregated blacks in South LA was the cause of the Watts riots.

“…most of these suburbs (in the Valley) barred black people, using a variety of methods. White middle-class people in neighborhoods bordering black districts (in South LA) moved en masse to the suburbs, where newer housing was available. ”

BEST representation of "The Valley" from the series "It's Like, You Know."

R1 when describing physical distance, correct word is "farther." Easy to remember, begins with "far."

R8: White flight happened long before the Watts riots.

Don't forget "the other valley", the San Gabriel, which also looks like NJ with palm trees and is miserable in the summer.It's East of downtown. It's now mostly Asian, but was mostly white and middle income--those people went to the Inland Empire (even duller and hotter) or to places like NV and AZ.

Did I say White Flight happened after the Watts riots only? Dumbass.

Almost all white flight happened starting after World War 2.

“In the United States during the 1940s, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, low-cost mortgages through the G.I. Bill, and residential redlining enabled white families to abandon inner cities in favor of suburban living and prevent ethnic minorities from doing the same.”

Additionally, alongside the race riots, sensational crimes like Tate-La Bianca (Benedict Canyon and Los Feliz) instigated white middle class families to leave central Los Angeles for the safety of the Valley.

The valley was mostly developed in the 50s. well before the riots. "dumbass"

And I said, “Almost all white flight happened starting after World War 2.”

When were you diagnosed with your learning disorder?

OMG, working class people! Run!

People are writing as if the Valley was populated solely due to whites fleeing LA, when in fact, after WWII the so-called Great Migration began and people moved there from all over the country, which continued unabated until the '70s and beyond. Half a million people. Farms slowly were replaced by housing developments, and industry moved in.

(Both valleys and the whole LA suburban area.)

[quote]Don't forget "the other valley", the San Gabriel, which also looks like NJ with palm trees and is miserable in the summer.It's East of downtown. It's now mostly Asian, but was mostly white and middle income--those people went to the Inland Empire (even duller and hotter) or to places like NV and AZ.

I live in the SGV and it's certainlly not "mostly Asian," although a few cities have Asian majorities.

As a child of the late 50’s, I lived in the (then overwhelmingly White) Hills of West LA (View Park). For sale signs popped up like mushrooms the month after two Black families (one headed by a doctor the other a school vice-principal) moved in.

[quote]Almost all white flight happened starting after World War 2.

Mildred Pierce lived in Glendale.

FUN FACT: Sharon Gless’s maternal grandparents owned more than 42,000 acres of land in the San Fernando Valley and sold it off for development during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

R19: Arcadia, Rosemead, Covina, West Covina, Alhambra, San Gabriel, San Marino. Are you counting Pasadena--which is very diverse? May be El Monte (mostly Hispanic). Not a lot of white majority towns.

The porn industry was pretty much restricted to Chatsworth which is the Centra/North Valley.

R23 Sierra Madre is.

R7

The drive from LAX to Downtown doesn’t get near the Valley but it seems as if you are saying it does. I’ve been in NJ plenty of times but never thought it looked like the LA basin (Beverly Hills, Westwood, Hollywood, etc.).

R21, Kabobdale?

[quote] The drive from LAX to Downtown doesn’t get near the Valley but it seems as if you are saying it does.

Because you have reading comprehension issues.

I think it's the areas South of downtown LA that feel like NJ. The Valley has its own phisonomy and character, and I don't think it can be compared to any place, especially any place on the East Coast.

The drive up the 110 looks exactly like New Jersey with palm trees

As others have noted, there are 2 valleys in LA- San Fernando and San Gabriel. "THE" Valley is San Fernando and is north (over) the Sepulveda pass. Because of its landlocked nature, the valley is hotter, smoggier and junkier. There is great Mexican and Latin food in the valley because of the larger ethnic groups there. It's flat, concrete, strip malls everywhere, and can be depressing. There are bad areas as linked, on the map.

I don't really consider Burbank/Universal City/N Hollywood/Glendale/Atwater Village the valley. That's kind of an extension of both Hollywood and the Foothills.

San Gabriel Valley (SGV) is a whole different animal and is already discussed above. ASIAN. Also hot. Pasadena, South Pas, La Canada Flintridge, and Arcadia are the best cities/towns.

I’ve never heard anybody say they don’t consider Burbank or Glendale to be the Valley.

I lived in Eagle Rock/Pasadena/Altadena for years and love it. If I can afford to retire there, I'm heading back. Winter and snow sucks.

Oh honey have you been back to those areas recently? The guy who won the billion dollar lottery was from Altadena and he got the hell out of there.

Burbank is the edge of the Valley, Glendale is definitely not the Valley.

I saw that he bought a big house in the hills which I guess is the flex people make when they have the means. I still love those Craftsman bungalows, sue me.

It literally begins “ Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley”

But it isn't.

My grandparents worked in downtown Los Angeles during the Watts riots, but lived in Temple City (in the "other valley" R11 is referring to) at the time. I know my grandpa had some stories from that time. After the Manson murders, he threw in the towel and said "fuck this, we're going back to Oregon," where they were both from. He was insistent on not raising my dad and aunt in LA after that, and dragged them along with my poor grandmother (who loved Los Angeles) back to her podunk hometown of 2,000 in eastern Oregon. Needless to say, I think my father and aunt experienced significant culture shock.

A more recent valley gift to the world

Great firsthand anecdote, thanks r39

“With seven people dead and the lone suspect cleared, fear consumed Los Angeles. A Beverly Hills sporting goods store sold 200 firearms in two days. The price of guard dogs rose from $500 to $1,500.

WARREN BEATTY, actor and director. He helped fund a $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the Tate killers. He is 72. This hit the movie community very deeply. On a 10-point scale it disturbed me at around a 27. Jay Sebring, Sharon, Abigail, and Voytek were friends of mine. It was something that happened, and no one knew why. Everybody was trying to come up with a reason. The collective response to these killings was what you might expect if a small nuclear device had gone off.“

We are The valley.

I would classify Glendale as one of the east entrances to the Valley coming from the I-5 (Golden State Freeway). The other east entrance is over Cahuenga Pass from DTLA, on the 101 (Hollywood Freeway), I e Studio City, Toluca Lake.

The western entrance is Sepulveda Pass (I-405, aka the San Diego Freeway) leads to Sherman Oaks, Encino.

I knew a slut from there once.

[quote] Even the wealthiest celebrities ensconced in Brentwood and Bel Air regularly post on social media about the horror of contemporary Los Angeles living. Being in “the good side” of Los Angeles is no longer relevant.

People in L.A. love to complain. Yes, the homeless situation is out of control but i've little sympathy for the complainers. It's no one's fault that you cannot part with your 2bd/2ba bungalow in Palms even though it's worth $1.5 million -- Idaho is calling! Even when reactionary has-beens like Scott Baio and Antonia Sabato Jr. make a big MAGA song-and-dance out of leaving LA you know they're leaving begrudgingly and with deep regret.

Everybody loves the sunshine...

R33 Have you looked at the housing prices?

I live in the Valley and I love it. Every time I have to drive "over the hill" into Hollywood or worse, Santa Monica, I dread it. The valley isn't perfect but it's far less crowded than those areas and cheaper to live here but not by much.

Burbank and Glendale are the only parts of that area that aren't in the City of Los Angeles (other than San Fernando itself and Universal City.) All of those other Valley towns (Sherman Oaks, Reseda, Valley Village, Woodland Hills, North Hollywood, Encino, Van Nuys, Pacoima, Studio City, Northridge, etc.) are actually Los Angeles.

R48: You are splitting legal/civic hairs. Geographically (and culturally) they are ALL "The Valley".

"The Valley" -- Duran Duran

In the mid-'70s...

Bob's Big Boy, Burbank, 1954:

La Canada-Flintridge always gets left out

It's where that slut Brooke Logan is from. .. What more proof do you need?

New Jersey is not the New Jersey of the east coast.

It's awful. It's blocked off from the ocean breezes, so it's always hotter than hell.

It's one big paved over plain of track homes.

Yeah, there's some wealth there. So?

I'm fine living by the beach and checking out Hollywood when I wanna club.

The Los Angeles Times did an extensive neighborhood mapping project several years back, and this is the San Fernando Valley:

Glendale is part of what's called "The Verdugos."

The valley as the New Jersey of Los Angeles.

Hahhahhahahhahahhaha

L.A. Times column from last year during the mayor's race on how The Valley has changed.

Used to be - the valley was where you could find cheap rent Vs "Over the Hill" Not so sure nowadays. My first apartment in Van Nuys was...$230 in Van Nuys - which was typical for that area. In Hollywood it would be twice that

When and how many rooms R61?

late 70s early 80s 1 BR and FURNISHED

[quote]My first apartment in Van Nuys was...$230 in Van Nuys

Could be worse. Could be Reseda.

I live in Burbank and I love it. It's expensive, but having gone to UCLA, I had my fair share of shit "over the hill." I would rather live here than in Santa Monica or Hollywood or Palms.

I find it's cooler here in the summer than most places in the Valley. Woodland hills is often 20 degrees hotter than here in Burbank. And I often have thoughts of leaving CA altogether but the truth is, this is home and the weather is just gorgeous.

[quote] Could be worse. Could be Reseda.

Could be worse. Could be Panorama City.

LOTS and LOTS of strip malls

OP - If you've been to any densely populated Post-War American suburb on a 70 degree day, you've essentially been to The Valley.

Could be worse...could be PACOIMA!!!!

[quote]It's one big paved over plain of track homes.

R56? The word you're looking for is "tract," as in "tract homes."

Please make a note of it.

R62 When and how many glory holes were adjacent to the motel for rent.

It's interesting how much things change when you drive from say North Hollywood and cross the border into Burbank. Everything seems better once you get outside of the LA limits. Cleaner, better zoning, better infrastructure, etc.

The no-tel motels and hookers were famously along Sepulveda Blvd. pretty much in the middle of The Valley. .. So well-known that the corresponding neighborhood with the designated name "Sepulveda" didn't like that association, so they voted to become "North Hills" -- despite the fact that there are absolutely no hills in the vicinity. .. Even funnier, more than three decades later, the cheap motels and hookers are still there.

[quote]Could be worse. Could be Reseda.

[quote]Could be worse. Could be Panorama City.

[quote]Could be worse...could be PACOIMA!!!!

At least it's not Sylmar.

At least it's not Lancaster.

Or Upland.

Or Ontario.

Or Monrovia.

Or Duarte.

r72, you got that right! I lived in North Hollywood for 20 years. I moved to Burbank 2 years ago and it's SO much nicer than No Ho. Although there are still homeless people here MOST of them live in their cars in the library parking lot. In NO HO it was RV's lining the streets and homeless camps under the off ramps.

I will say though, in my 20 years in No Ho, I had to park on the street and the only thing that ever got stolen from me was my spare tire on the back of my jeep. I've been here in Burbank 2 years now and I've had my bike lights stolen off my bike when it's been locked up inside my parking garage for my apartment TWICE already. I suspect some of the homeless folks wander into the garage and take them but it could be another resident for all I know.

that song always baffles me r6. There actually isn't a freeway running thru Reseda. (Tarzana, Encino, Van Nuys yes but not Reseda.)

Madonna lives in the valley.

R78 If you're talking about that place of Madonna's in Hidden Hills, she had it on the market for more than a year, and she was finally able to off-load it this past June. Hidden Hills is a private little enclave that occupies a corner of the Santa Monica Mountain communities, which aren't considered part of The Valley.

Hidden Hills is right in the middle of Woodland Hills.

Isn't that the valley?

Hidden Hills is the most western edge of the SFV....just west of Woodland Hills, north of the 101 & Calabasas.... as one enters into the Conejo Pass to Agoura Hills/Agoura/Thousand Oaks. It's technically the Valley...but they won't admit it. They think of it as Malibu North...because it's gated.

I meant to say, it's *basically* the Valley, not technically -- because the LA times says it isn't "technically" the Valley. It's splitting hairs/falls into a gray area. (that is brown, ha)

Geographically, HIdden Hills is in what's called the Simi Hills, just like Bell Canyon to the north. You can see this more clearly on topographic maps.

Aren’t there a bunch of horsies in Hidden Hills?

Very private and gated Hidden Hills became it's only little city back in 1961. Only about 2000 people live there. And yeah, there might be just as many horses.

Lived in the Valley for 30 years. Studio City and Valley Village. When I had to start stepping over homeless to walk the dog or go to Gelson's I knew it was time to bail. It was nice while it lasted.

The Valley is to LA what Long Island is to NYC. Orange County is to LA what New Jersey is to NYC.

Actually r87 I'd reverse that. Long Island like Orange County is more repug than Jersey.

These days, there might be more more of New Jersey in San Bernardino County.

Hidden Hills, a REAL city, not just a community. The original lots were one acre or more. Very homey. Very quiet. Very family oriented. The big lots meant stables, horses, riding rings, etc. Pot luck dinners. Very Mayberry feeling. And then the tear downs started followed by the McMansions. Tennis courts. Huge pools. Vineyards (!). And then the Kardashians started and the rest is history. Due to private roads and gates the privacy is still mostly there but the homes and cozy feeling is long gone.

I was last in Hidden Hills about five years ago. It’s such a cool little area. Too bad about the teardowns. You would think they would have strict rules for the community.

What constitutes North Hollywood?

[quote]What constitutes North Hollywood?

North Hollywood is bordered on the north by Sun Valley and on the northeast and east by Burbank. It's bordered by Toluca Lake and Studio City on the south and Valley Village and Valley Glen on the west..

Los Angeles geography is so confusing, I’m wondering, is it really true (as I’ve heard) that even many people who live there find it as confusing as other people do?

It's not very confusing, outside of the mountains, most of it is laid out as a grid. It's just sprawling.

I don’t find Boston, New York, or San Francisco confusing at all but I find LA very confusing. The canyons, the hills, the passes, the various valleys. How close or distant things are to each other.

(And the seemingly hundreds of neighborhoods)

Toluca Lake is actually part of North Hollywood.

I think it's "North Hollywood" that is so confusing to many people -- outsiders, especially. People expect it to be immediately adjacent to Hollywood (like West Hollywood) which, of course, it isn't. (the Santa Monica Mountains separate them). That part of the San Fernando Valley was known first as "Toluca", and then as "Lankershim" (after real estate developer, JB Lankershim). In the mid-late 1920s, the name was changed to "North Hollywood", in order to capitalize on the glitz & glamour of Hollywood, and make it more appealing to people moving here from elsewhere in the country.

r92, North Hollywood starts just east of the 170 from Victory BLVD down to the 101 freeway. It ends around Hollywood Way where it transitions into Burbank.

[quote]Toluca Lake is actually part of North Hollywood.

Isn't part of Toluca Lake in Burbank?

R101 Burbank is an incorporated city with its own police department, while Toluca Lake and North Hollywood are both under LAPD jurisdiction, and are served by the same LAPD division.

[quote]The Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce website states that the district is not only a neighborhood in Los Angeles but that it "spills over into Burbank" and "Political entities and others, such as the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council each draw their own boundaries to suit specific needs. For example, the Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce serves the entire community in Burbank and Los Angeles, while the City of Los Angeles considers its neighborhood called Toluca Lake to be entirely within its city boundaries"

“Spills over?” I remember there being a distinct border between Burbank and Toluca Lake. Basically, Toluca Lake is where the potholes start.

[quote] The word you're looking for is "tract," as in "tract homes."

r70 Yes Virginia, I caught the typo. We need an edit option. Or maybe I was talking about railroad tracks.

Linda Granger’s second husband was arrested for performing oral sex on a baggage handler in Burbank Airport.

R98 North Hollywood and Toluca Lake are two different neighborhoods that just border each other. Click on each neighborhood to see its borders.

R107 For example, zip code 91602 is both North Hollywood and Toluca Lake. It’s very confusing.

I grew up in Glendale in the ‘50s and ‘60s and always considered it “The Valley.” My grandmother lived in Pasadena, but it wasn’t considered a good area when I was a child. Glendale was much nicer. Still is.

Toluca Lake is a tiny enclave of wealthy people who don’t want to be associated with North Hollywood, although North Hollywood’s surge of vagrants and drug addicts have no doubt drifted into their posh cul-de-sacs. Their Nextdoor postings are probably very entertaining.

[quote](And the seemingly hundreds of neighborhoods)

R97, I don't think Los Angeles has more neighborhoods than New York. Have you ever looked at a map of Queens? The difference is that NY is divided up into boroughs, so the neighborhoods can be organized in your head that way. LA is much larger than the other cities you named - larger than any other American city except New York - so naturally it has more neighborhoods.

What is a little different from older cities is that LA's borders are extremely irregular because of years of annexations and expansions throughout the 20th century. Other newer cities, like Phoenix and Houston, are similar.

The other thing is that a lot of LA (some people say most of LA) is suburban. A more apt comparison than any single city would be an entire metropolitan area, including the sprawling suburbs. Unless you're familiar with the area, most suburban sprawl is confusing.

Inglewood, up to no good!

Pasadena has everything from suburban-ish slums to super rich, so it has plenty of "good areas", including the revivals of its commercial areas.

Don't forget about ME!!!

The person who posted that Pasadena didn't have "nice areas" was probably my daughter Nancy. She's hard to love, but I try, God knows, I try.

[quote] Los Angeles geography is so confusing, I’m wondering, is it really true (as I’ve heard) that even many people who live there find it as confusing as other people do?

We don't. The mountains, which are visible from every neighborhood, always let you know where you are.

R116 Agreed. Native here, and I'm never confused, but I do find the skits from The Californians on SNL where they're always inserting freeway and street directions on how to get some place around Los Angeles totally hilarious.

“The Californians” is, like, totally outdated now.

The San Fernando Valley: geographic area including the incorporated cities Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas and Hidden Hills.

The Valley: The areas of the San Fernando Valley that are not incorporated, with shitty public schools run by the LAUSD and policed by the overburdened LAPD.

No one's mentioned Canoga Falls?

How about Chino HIlls?

As a non-native I was confusing North Hollywood with what might be called the northern part of Hollywood - like Beachwood canyon. For ex. Wikipedia even says: Beachwood Canyon is a community in the Hollywood Hills, in the northern portion of Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.

Posts R99 to R104 prove my point about LA geography being confusing. Granted, not to people who live there, I guess. :/

Los Angeles County includes 88 cities, and over 400 neighborhoods.

R123: You're just stupid. Outside of the mountains (a small % of the area of greater LA), the LA area has a grid pattern of roads and freeways. It's very easy to figure things out. These small area problems suggest, you have no idea how to look at a "big picture".

Unless you have to go to LAX, just stay South of the 101 and North of the 10. And actually, it's easier to fly out of Burbank.

L.A. proved too much for the man.

If you're driving in the LA area, sooner or later you'll run into a freeway, the ocean, or a mountain.

So is he leaving?

What train is he taking?

I remember back when North Hollywood was nice clean families and kids playing in the street. Ice cream trucks and cub scouts, instead of taco trucks, if you know what I mean.

R127 Love you. Fuck me senseless.

r131, North Hollywood was always a gang central area. They cleaned it up a bit in the 90's but they are trying to hard with the "arts district." It's a shit hole.

The moniker "No Ho" is rather funny.

North Hollywood is full of burrito stands, gangs and horny fags in dumpy apartments. Drive through it and your Grindr starts to ping like crazy.

[quote]We don't. The mountains, which are visible from every neighborhood, always let you know where you are

Yessss, exactly, R116! It's the *mountains* that ground native Angelenos! I could be dropped, blindfolded, into almost any neighborhood in the city (SFV, SGV, Westside)....and just looking around at the mountains/hills (not street-signs or buildings), I'd know where I am, generally speaking.

Think of LA generally as a flat coastal plain with large mountains “dropped” around it. It’s not inherently hilly like the Bay Area. When people speak of knowing where they are by looking at mountains, they’re right on the money.

I lift mine eyes to the mountains, whence cometh my help.

Ewww, as if!

OP's first mistake was not capitalizing the letter 'V'.

R125 I guess a lot of people must be.

Creating clarity from confusuion