Where did all the Valley Girls/White people go? (Los Angeles: middle-class, home)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Charles

There might not be less "Valley Girls"; there just might be more of everyone else.

"In the 1980s, 75 percent of the Valley's population classified themselves as white. Now, the area boasts the most diversity within Los Angeles.
With a population of 1.8 million, the Valley is 42 percent white, 42 ercent Latino, 10 percent Asian and nearly 4 percent African-American, according to the most recent data."


from




'Valley Girl' at 25: Big hair is gone, but spirit lingers, fer sure - LA Daily News - October 10, 2010

LA's Changing Demographics

Based on my ex-girlfriend's relatives, the Valley Girl is still alive and well in the Valley. She's Latina nowadays but otherwise not that different.

[JustPassinThru]

Miss Pip;18872730]Apparently in the film Valley Girl, the yuppy house party was filmed in Canoga Park but I hear that's a really rough/gang related area now.

The "party house" on Posey Lane is located in West Hills, a very nice area of the SFV, about three miles away from areas with gang activity. The area was in the CP community when the movie was filmed, but residents (and realtors) pushed for a name change, which took effect in 1987.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Bideshi

I'm so old I remember when "dude" referred to someone who couldn't ride a horse...

Originally Posted by Bideshi

And when "gay" meant happy...

Remember them both and a dude might be a gay cowboy working on a "Dude" Ranch who still couldn't ride a horse!

[Twinkle Toes]

Here's something totally tubular and awesome and rad for all you Vals!

Dailymotion - Moon Unit Zappa Valley Girl - a Music video

[yamota]

Mmmm, those Solid Gold dancers helped me make it through puberty, that's fer sure

[whoisjongalt]

Gag me with a spoon! Sorry I had to say that....I remember that as a very fun time. I suspect a lot of those "valley girls" moved away even further to places like Oregon and Colorado. LA is really nothing like it was in the '80's. I thing the documentary is a great idea!

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by whoisjongalt

Gag me with a spoon! Sorry I had to say that....I remember that as a very fun time. I suspect a lot of those "valley girls" moved away even further to places like Oregon and Colorado. LA is really nothing like it was in the '80's. I thing the documentary is a great idea!

I think they all moved to OC, SD and further up north like Agoura Hills. I would love to see a documentary on this. I'm going to see if there are any around.

[John23]

I would add, not just "valley girls", but more like a Karate Kid culture. I think that was filmed in....1984? What happened to girls like Elisabeth Shue in that?

It's funny how different pop culture is from what LA is really like. Another good example is "Clueless". Maybe these movies exaggerated LA to make things more appealing? I think in real life, Alicia Silverstone is more likely to be a different ethnicity, roaming the mall in Century City or Glendale or somewhere.

LA sure must be confusing for a non Californian. A show like 90210 or Melrose Place from the 90's was pretty accurate. There are rich white people in Beverly Hills. Or Laguna Beach on MTV.

But the valley girl stereotype has completely disappeared. "Fer shure" didn't last very long did, it?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by John23

I would add, not just "valley girls", but more like a Karate Kid culture.

The old Valley white working class culture is gone. The Valley in the old days was based on high paying blue collar jobs (as was L.A. in general). When those went, said culture went with it, except for a few aging holdouts here and there. The most debased Valley white group - the Valley branch of L.A.'s old white criminal class - still can be found here and there. The ex-cons and addicts who make up most of Van Nuys' non-Latino and non-Armenian white population are part of it. They didn't get into the gang culture because they were more about making money from selling drugs without any turf BS.

But the valley girl stereotype has completely disappeared. "Fer shure" didn't last very long did, it?

As I said earlier in the thread, it hasn't completely disappeared or at least existed until recently. My ex-girlfriend's nieces (and this was in 2006) were Valley Girls through and through. They just happened to be Latinas or half-Latinas, but definitely conformed to the stereotype. I suspect even in the Valley Girl's heyday there were a few "brown" Valley Girls.

[pwright1]

Kids today seem to talk the same all over suburban america . They all end a sentence on a high note, and they constantly use 'like', 'it's like', and 'I mean'.
Also I remember living in the valley in the eighties. I moved to LA a few months ago from Seattle. Just a few days ago I ventured back to the valley to see my old stomping grounds. What on earth happen to Sherman Oaks Galleria? It use to be a shopping mall! I kept walking around looking for the mall but all I could see were chain restaurants and a movie complex. We use to hang out at Northridge Fashion Center too. That mall seems to have gone through many changes. Now that I'm older I like living on the other side of Los Angeles near Santa Monica Blvd.