The San Fernando Valley (movies, smog, state)

[fatmancomics]

Oh, the ignorance on these boards astounds me.
My family and I immigrated from El Salvador (legally for those of you who are worried about it) in '84 into the part of North Hollywood that is now known as "NoHo". THAT part of the valley has definitely changed for the better and, though the streets that surrounded the one we used to live in are still rather rough, it is much calmer than it was when we lived there.
Yes, Pacoima has gone downhill, yes Panorama City has gone downhill, yes parts of North Hollywood have gotten worse, yes Reseda went downhill and is kind of up in the air right now but there are still parts of the SFV that never changed and either stayed expensive, uncongested and clean or they stayed dirty, congested and "ghettoish".

Everyone loves to blame the hispanics for the downfall of any part of the county but what about Phillipinos, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Hawaiians, Blacks, etc. All of these cultures tend to live in "ghettoes" and tend to suffer from lack of motivation as much as hispanics do. They live in areas where the crime rate is high and the housing is low and they live in areas where this happened because of "white flight" the moment that a brown skinned family moved into the neighborhood.

I consider myself lucky to live in a street where it's clean, free of graffitti, the neighbors are diverse, there are good schools nearby and we're still close enough to the "ghetto" to have good food. And, yes, it's in the valley.

I'm not going to sugarcoat anything and make excuses for hispanics simply because I am one but the posts in this place are ridiculous sometimes. Wanna complain about crime that is brought in by a wave of immigrants? Fine, complain about it. Wanna complain about being offended by signs that are not in English in neighborhoods where you live? Fine, complain about it. Wanna complain about not being able to talk to your neighbors? Fine, complain about it. Wanna complain about illegal immigration because it breaks laws? Fine complain about it. Just STOP AIMING YOUR BITCHING AT ONE GROUP. It cracks me up that the majority of posts complaining about immigrants, even when they're not complaining about illegal immigrants, are about hispanincs. Nobody complains about Koreatown and how congested it is there or how they can't understand the signs or how it's exclusive of anyone who is not Korean.
Nobody complains about Glendale having been taken over by Armenians and their obnoxious culture or how they're taking over the valley as well.

I guess my point is stop being so damned discriminative and just hate everyone the same.

[osuzana]

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by will_I_am29

when did that happend?

The "white flight" took place in the very late 70's through the 80's. I believe this is the info you were looking for?

[John23]

I think the truth is, koreatown doesn't look as bad as the valley (at least parts of the valley). And Armenians in glendale, glendale doesnt look as bad as parts of the valley (ghetto parts).

I think LA is *incredibly* tolerant of immigrants. Do you ever hear anyone complaining about persians/iranians in century city or beverly hills? Do you ever hear people complain about koreans in korea town? Or Indians, Greeks, or any number of other immigrants that live here. If immigrants come here, and keep the area the same or better than it was before, I dont think many complain.

I think its pretty amazing how well different groups interact in different parts of LA. Its nothing like the east coast or south, in terms of segregation, or strict community lines.

Look at venice beach. Would you ever see that many different kinds of people at a beach in other states, or in other parts of the country? Just about everybody is accepted in LA *if* they maintain the current standard of living, or community standards.

The valley really did look like the karate kid or ET. Or Chips, Mask (the movie). Alot of movie and tv shows set in the 80's, it was pretty much the truth.

[fatmancomics]

Originally Posted by John23

I think the truth is, koreatown doesn't look as bad as the valley (at least parts of the valley). And Armenians in glendale, glendale doesnt look as bad as parts of the valley (ghetto parts).

I think LA is *incredibly* tolerant of immigrants. Do you ever hear anyone complaining about persians/iranians in century city or beverly hills? Do you ever hear people complain about koreans in korea town? Or Indians, Greeks, or any number of other immigrants that live here. If immigrants come here, and keep the area the same or better than it was before, I dont think many complain.

I think its pretty amazing how well different groups interact in different parts of LA. Its nothing like the east coast or south, in terms of segregation, or strict community lines.

Look at venice beach. Would you ever see that many different kinds of people at a beach in other states, or in other parts of the country? Just about everybody is accepted in LA *if* they maintain the current standard of living, or community standards.

The valley really did look like the karate kid or ET. Or Chips, Mask (the movie). Alot of movie and tv shows set in the 80's, it was pretty much the truth.

The dojo scenes in The Karate Kid were filmed behind the elementary that I went to in North Hollywood but he was supposed to live in Reseda. Trust me, that's a world away from North Hollywood to a teenager who doesn't drive yet and that area (Lankershim Blvd) is pretty much the border between North Hollywood and "Valley Village". The people in those two areas differ greatly when it comes to income. I can tell you from experience that Lankershim Blvd has been changed for the better since that movie was filmed there. Back then, there was nothing but thrift stores up and down that boulevard, the streets were very dirty and there was graffitti on the walls. The El Portal theater was known for being dirty, smelling like p-ss and showing American movies with Spanish subtitles. Now the place is clean, has Melrose type shops, restaurants for hipsters and small theaters which put on plays that include the El Portal.

But back then, Panorama city was somewhat fancy and the Panorama mall was the favorite spot for any teenager wanting to hang out while parents showed off by buying goods at The Broadway accross the street from the mall and eating at Black Angus. Now Panorama city is a warzone and that mall is a graveyard that has claimed several lives. It's safer to go to the indoor swapmeet accross the street and the Black Angus got demolished a couple of years back (it was the last business from the old regime that stayed). That doesn't mean that it won't change for the better again. That's how these things seem to go. An area gets depreceated to the point where it becomes attractive to small, specialized (for minorities or immigrants that live there), "mom and pop" businesses and keeps depreceating until the land gets so cheap that major developers come in to gentrify it, attracting larger businesses. It's happening in Westlake Village (where I also lived when it was worse than it is now) and has been happening forever in Downtown L.A. The people who live there because it's the only thing they can afford end up having to leave since the newer, younger, mostly white, implant crowd who only cares about being able to say that they live in a hip, "diverse" area come in and pay outrageous (to the prior group) prices for dumps that have been prettied up with some paint and new fixtures.

My point is (other than don't believe what you seen in movies) that it's a cycle that never ends but people who live in certain areas during a "good" part of the cycle complain about the people who live in it during a "bad" cycle and blame them for it.

[fatmancomics]

Originally Posted by John23

I think the truth is, koreatown doesn't look as bad as the valley (at least parts of the valley). And Armenians in glendale, glendale doesnt look as bad as parts of the valley (ghetto parts).

I think LA is *incredibly* tolerant of immigrants. Do you ever hear anyone complaining about persians/iranians in century city or beverly hills? Do you ever hear people complain about koreans in korea town? Or Indians, Greeks, or any number of other immigrants that live here. If immigrants come here, and keep the area the same or better than it was before, I dont think many complain.

I think its pretty amazing how well different groups interact in different parts of LA. Its nothing like the east coast or south, in terms of segregation, or strict community lines.

Look at venice beach. Would you ever see that many different kinds of people at a beach in other states, or in other parts of the country? Just about everybody is accepted in LA *if* they maintain the current standard of living, or community standards.

The valley really did look like the karate kid or ET. Or Chips, Mask (the movie). Alot of movie and tv shows set in the 80's, it was pretty much the truth.

And you're proving my point. Nobody complains about Cambodians, Thai people, Vietnamese, Samoans, Hawaiians or Phillipinos on these boards and those cultures also live in dirty communities and "ghettoes".

I've said it before and I'll say it again; it's a matter of education. You have the lowest of the classes ("give me your poor...") from other countries, who are used to living in the worst of conditions and they come here to what we consider depressed areas but they consider a paradise. They're not used to cleaning up after themselves, let alone cleaning up after someone else so they just sit idly by as their community gets dirtier and dirtier. They bring their bad habits here instead of learning the habits of this culture and don't bother to better themselves because their situation is better the moment they step off the boat, the plane or over the border so they sit in contented filth.

My aunt and I were laughing a few months back because she reminded me of the signs that were stenciled on the buses back in El Salvador which read, "Don't be a pig, throw your trash out of the window". We were laughing at the ridiculousness of keeping the buses clean at the expense of filthy streets as well as the fact that now, in El Salvador, the cities have started to supply public trashcans (like here) while the unneducated people who came here from El Salvador before that happened will still drop their wrappers on the sidewalk instead of carrying them a few feet to a trashcan.

In the end, yes, I agree that immigrants have to assimilate when they come to this country but my point is that ALL immigrants have to do so. It's not just the hispanics that have this problem in Los Angeles despite what some members of this board will have you believe.

*Edit*: Whoops, I just noticed I double quoted you. Oh well, feel flattered that your post was so poignant that I had to discuss two points in it.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by fatmancomics

The dojo scenes in The Karate Kid were filmed behind the elementary that I went to in North Hollywood but he was supposed to live in Reseda. Trust me, that's a world away from North Hollywood to a teenager who doesn't drive yet and that area (Lankershim Blvd) is pretty much the border between North Hollywood and "Valley Village". The people in those two areas differ greatly when it comes to income. I can tell you from experience that Lankershim Blvd has been changed for the better since that movie was filmed there. Back then, there was nothing but thrift stores up and down that boulevard, the streets were very dirty and there was graffitti on the walls. The El Portal theater was known for being dirty, smelling like p-ss and showing American movies with Spanish subtitles. Now the place is clean, has Melrose type shops, restaurants for hipsters and small theaters which put on plays that include the El Portal.

But back then, Panorama city was somewhat fancy and the Panorama mall was the favorite spot for any teenager wanting to hang out while parents showed off by buying goods at The Broadway accross the street from the mall and eating at Black Angus. Now Panorama city is a warzone and that mall is a graveyard that has claimed several lives. It's safer to go to the indoor swapmeet accross the street and the Black Angus got demolished a couple of years back (it was the last business from the old regime that stayed). That doesn't mean that it won't change for the better again. That's how these things seem to go. An area gets depreceated to the point where it becomes attractive to small, specialized (for minorities or immigrants that live there), "mom and pop" businesses and keeps depreceating until the land gets so cheap that major developers come in to gentrify it, attracting larger businesses. It's happening in Westlake Village (where I also lived when it was worse than it is now) and has been happening forever in Downtown L.A. The people who live there because it's the only thing they can afford end up having to leave since the newer, younger, mostly white, implant crowd who only cares about being able to say that they live in a hip, "diverse" area come in and pay outrageous (to the prior group) prices for dumps that have been prettied up with some paint and new fixtures.

My point is (other than don't believe what you seen in movies) that it's a cycle that never ends but people who live in certain areas during a "good" part of the cycle complain about the people who live in it during a "bad" cycle and blame them for it.

I can remember growing up when Panorama City was considered an afluent area of the valley.

[BRinSM]

fatmancomics, people who hate, hate equally, it's just that their hate for hispanics comes out more because they are the largest immigrant group in LA and are now the largest racial group in LA I believe. there certainly a lot of armenians, persians, and asians of all backgrounds in LA, but their combined numbers are still nowhere near the amount of hispanics in the region.

as a side note, i'm just a normal white guy who may be a bit bothered by the habits of certain immigrant groups, but really doesn't hate anyone.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by will_I_am29

when and where did you graduate before that time?

Graduated from Jr. High School in 1976 (Nobel, in Northridge)... the busing began at that school soon after I left. Graduated from Granada Hills High School in Granada Hills in 1979. I don't know if and when that school went to busing.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Graduated from Granada Hills High School in Granada Hills in 1979. I don't know if and when that school went to busing.

We should ask John Elway if he was bused.