The San Fernando Valley - Getting Uglier Each Year? (San Jose: middle-class, apartment)

[gypsystar]

I have only lived in L.A. for three years, but is seems like the Valley is getting uglier, dirtier and nastier each year. I do live in Van Nuys right now (which believe me, has its REALLY ugly parts) and all around the area I live is filthy. They do not have street sweepers in this area and there is junk and litter EVERYWHERE! Why don't they clean the streets in Van Nuys?? We are paying almost $1400 for a one-bedroom and I think we deserve to at least live in a semi-clean area for that price!

The sad thing is that it isn't just Van Nuys that is filthy anymore. It is hard for me to tell where Sherman Oaks even begins because there is so much gang graffiti and litter there, too. When I moved here in 2005, Sherman Oaks was a good area to live in, and Woodland Hills, too. Now I am seeing gang writing and rundown buildings everywhere I go.

What is going on here? Am I just opening my eyes to the filth now because I am thinking of moving away? Or are things really getting worse here? All over the Valley I see signs in Spanish, abandoned shopping carts filled with crap, plastic cups washed up on the side of roads and tons of illegals waiting for jobs outside of Home Depots. And we are still paying a crapload to live here. Ugh. Just had to vent!

[the one]

ya sounds like it. but signs in spanish have been around LA since inception. thats the typical gripe most people like to associate with an areas supposed decline. signs in spanish. yup watch out. once you see that, its all downhill. jajajajaja

[gypsystar]

Originally Posted by the one

ya sounds like it. but signs in spanish have been around LA since inception. thats the typical gripe most people like to associate with an areas supposed decline. signs in spanish. yup watch out. once you see that, its all downhill. jajajajaja

Believe me, the signs in Spanish are the least of my concerns. I lived in Miami for a few years and even the most beautiful of areas had that. It is the graffiti and trash here that get to me the most.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by gypsystar

Why don't they clean the streets in Van Nuys??

These should explain things.


California budget deficit up to $16B - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:


California's latest loss: middle-class wealth - Sacramento Business Journal: (http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/09/23/editorial4.html?q=%20middle%20class%20%20leaving%2 0OR%20fleeing%20taxes%20budget%20deficit%20%20cali fornia%20OR%20%20los%20angeles - broken link)

[Slauson Rosecranz]

Unfortunately, the eastern Valley is in it's decline. It's like urban blight is creeping north from Van Nuys, and at the same time creeping south from Pacoima. It'll all come together as one big ball of blight.

There's some really scuzzy parts of Panorama City too.

But everything along Ventura Blvd will *always* be wealthy.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Slauson Rosecranz

But everything along Ventura Blvd will *always* be wealthy.

You are probably right, but at one time the area around USC was the wealthiest part of town. That's where all the lawyers and bankers lived.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by the one

ya sounds like it. but signs in spanish have been around LA since inception. thats the typical gripe most people like to associate with an areas supposed decline. signs in spanish. yup watch out. once you see that, its all downhill. jajajajaja

There's a strong inverse relationship between the percentage of Spanish signs and the wealth of the neighborhood. Ask yourself who NEEDS the signs in Spanish? Its not the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation citizens. Its the fresh over the border types. The same ones that will live 4 families to an apartment and stand outside your window BSing all day long.

[SurekRZA]

I agree that half of the valley is really bad. It seems like its the middle portion though. Anything near Ventura Blvd is good and everything above Nordhoff is good as well. Quite a few communities in the Valley are trying to renovate. I read some of their news magazines and it provides with recently done and awaiting renovations. Too bad the valley is enormous so its really not noticeable, but I do hope they keep it up.

[CamaroGuy]

Well its definately not the valley I grew up in, that's for sure! The incorporated cities such as Burbank and San Fernando are being upgrated. Pacoima has always been the "slum" of the valley and that is not likely to change soon.

It seems like that valley has been going down hill since the early to mid 1990s.:-(

[greggd]

The nice thing about the valley, is that you can bulldoze easily. Let the declining sections go back to farmland and orchards. It will boost the value of the well kept areas.

Just think how nice the view from the hills of Sherman Oaks, Encino, and the surrounding hill communities would be if the basin was all lush green.