Silent suffering the norm in gang-scarred part of North Hills-Panorama City - daily news article 7-23-07 (Blythe: neighborhood, tenants)

[Desertho]

I lived there, grew up there, and frequent the Filipino food stores in that area. So I have a more nuanced view than most people here, but I won't protest too much on the conclusion that it's a dump. There are TWO Starbucks in the area so it cant be that bad! The Wal-Mart is still standing. But the most successful part is just two blocks south of Roscoe/Van Nuys, which is the former GM Plant shopping center. The single-family residential areas of P.C. are quite nice. In fact, if you read the article carefully, the crimes happen in the dense apartment areas of the PC and North Hills.

If the Valley became its own city, P.C. would be the first visible beneficiary of having government closer. It's got "good bones", i.e, the history, the Metrolink stop, and the huge commercial possibility.

[JustPassinThru]

Desertho said,
"But the most successful part is just two blocks south of Roscoe/Van Nuys, which is the former GM Plant shopping center..."

The area south of Roscoe Blvd. is outside of the area discussed in the article.

Blythe St., just across from the stores, had been the worst street in the SFV since the fifties. Has there been any improvment there?

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by Charles

I remember eating at Ron Perranoski's restaurant on Sepulveda north or Roscoe back in the early 1970s. Fedco was out there too I think. Don Drysdale had a bar on Oxnard in Van Nuys in the 1960s.

All of those places were very popular then.

The last time that I was in Don Drysdale's Dugout (in the eighties) it was owned by an elderly couple, and business wasn't very good.

[fastfilm]

The only gang injunction we in the Valley have been able to obtain has been against the Blythe Street gangsters. So no, the area is not improved: it just means it would be easier to report gang activity were the residents confident enough to do so. But few do, as there are so many illegals.

Were one looking at the small, once nice homes in this former bedroom community of a long gone manufacturing hub, one would think Panorama City and North Hills a reasonable starter area. But in Los Angeles, starter does not mean modest, nor merely lacking some amenities. It means no English spoken or understood, gang area, and dangerous. The area also is the genesis of most of the pedestrian deaths and car-racing crashes in the Valley that hit the newsmedia locally. This article illustrates what your children would be facing daily.

[LALady]

Originally Posted by Charles

I remember eating at Ron Perranoski's restaurant on Sepulveda north or Roscoe back in the early 1970s. Fedco was out there too I think. Don Drysdale had a bar on Oxnard in Van Nuys in the 1960s.

Fedco was on Raymer street, a small industrial street off of Sepulveda. It's a Target now. I love reading these memories of Van Nuys past.

[LALady]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Desertho said,
"But the most successful part is just two blocks south of Roscoe/Van Nuys, which is the former GM Plant shopping center..."

The area south of Roscoe Blvd. is outside of the area discussed in the article.

Blythe St., just across from the stores, had been the worst street in the SFV since the fifties. Has there been any improvment there?

I don't think so.

Blythe was the primary gang street in the 90s. Cops tried to improve these streets by preventing left turns or right turns off of nearby streets. This was done prevent drive by drug sales (middle class visiting these areas to purchase drugs from their cars).

[SoCalMomma]

Originally Posted by LALady

Fedco was on Raymer street, a small industrial street off of Sepulveda. It's a Target now. I love reading these memories of Van Nuys past.

We lived in the neighborhood across the railroad tracks from the old Fedco. I use to walk by there on my way to school (Fulton Jr Hi). We use to go skateboard riding in the parking structure. Didn't it become a Gemco, after Fedco left? I remember something like that, but I'm not sure what.

My brother went to Noble Elementary, and they had gang fights there. Can you believe that - at an elementary school! It was on the north side of Roscoe, in the 'trouble' area, but still.

I cant remember the name of the street, it was right next to the freeway off Roscoe. It had lots of apartments. Well, it was well known, even back then, for drug deals. I think at one point they blocked off the street to traffic.

Another memory I have is walking to Farrells after school for ice cream. It was a pretty long walk, but we didn't care. It probably is not safe to walk in Van Nuys now!

I had a friend who lived near Blythe St (a street that intersected it), we never had any trouble. We didn't bother them & they didn't bother us.

We only lived there a short time, and we escaped unscathed.. Not somewhere I want to visit anytime soon.

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by SoCalMomma

We lived in the neighborhood across the railroad tracks from the old Fedco. I use to walk by there on my way to school (Fulton Jr Hi). We use to go skateboard riding in the parking structure. Didn't it become a Gemco, after Fedco left? I remember something like that, but I'm not sure what.

My brother went to Noble Elementary, and they had gang fights there. Can you believe that - at an elementary school! It was on the north side of Roscoe, in the 'trouble' area, but still.

I cant remember the name of the street, it was right next to the freeway off Roscoe. It had lots of apartments. Well, it was well known, even back then, for drug deals. I think at one point they blocked off the street to traffic.

Another memory I have is walking to Farrells after school for ice cream. It was a pretty long walk, but we didn't care. It probably is not safe to walk in Van Nuys now!

I had a friend who lived near Blythe St (a street that intersected it), we never had any trouble. We didn't bother them & they didn't bother us.

We only lived there a short time, and we escaped unscathed.. Not somewhere I want to visit anytime soon.

Orion was a very, very, very, bad street on both sides of Nordhoff.

[James T]

Fedco was pretty cool. I got a watch, a walkman, and even a Casio keyboard there back in the 80's and 90's.

[LALady]

Originally Posted by James T

Fedco was pretty cool. I got a watch, a walkman, and even a Casio keyboard there back in the 80's and 90's.

Oh my gosh! Was the watch a black plastic Casio watch with a calculator. Remember those things? tee hee hee.