Sylmar,CA is changing for the good. (Glendale, Santa Clarita: 2015, foreclosed)

[LeadFarmer]

Originally Posted by UB50

I've heard Tujunga is starting to gentrify too. These areas make a good investment for the future since people are getting tired of living way outside of town. They are closer into the downtown core of LA.

Tujunga has more long term white families in the area, though it has always been a hotbed of tweaker/metheads. It is better, but like trading one evil for another tweakers/criminals versus illegals./criminals. I remember how both areas "used to be" and there are pros and cons, though Tujunga is a step or two above.

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by danielzavalahill

The Rancho Cascades area of Sylmar as well is probably the prettiest and most impressive area of Sylmar.

Is there any more open land to build more of that? The Valley needs to do something to clear out rundown areas and create opportunity to build newer and nicer stuff. But it seems Los Angeles cares too much about keeping its massive poor population to do much about it. The city of Houston used its eminent domain powers to take over several apartment complexes that were super hotbeds of crime and tore them down. The people go elsewhere in the city, of course, but it made apartment owners a little more leery of turning a blind eye to what was going on in their complexes.

[LeadFarmer]

Does anyone know when and why the "White Flight" happened in Sylmar? I grew up here in the early to late 70s and the demographic seemed a lot different than today. I've seen neighborhoods continue to deteriorate with no help from the City of LA. Is there a limit on the number of people who can inhabit a household?

[V8 Vega]

Where is the Rancho Cascades area?
I've lived in Sylmar for 25 years and I live in one of the small old houses area. My general rule of thumb is if there is grass between the sidewalk and the street its a OK area, dirt not so much.
One block over from me every house has a Pit Bull.
For a long time now development companies have been buying run down or forclosed on houses and fixing them up for resale and often they make them really nice. A few years ago there were a lot of forclosed on houses, none now.
I read in the paper awhile ago that Sylmar has a very high rate of home ownership, there arent a lot of apartments, none around me.
Sylmar is the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley and 25 years ago there were vacant lots and open areas, they all gone now with new houses built on them, poor people don't buy new houses but there are a lot of poor in the small old houses.

[LeadFarmer]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

Where is the Rancho Cascades area?
I've lived in Sylmar for 25 years and I live in one of the small old houses area. My general rule of thumb is if there is grass between the sidewalk and the street its a OK area, dirt not so much.
One block over from me every house has a Pit Bull.
For a long time now development companies have been buying run down or forclosed on houses and fixing them up for resale and often they make them really nice. A few years ago there were a lot of forclosed on houses, none now.
I read in the paper awhile ago that Sylmar has a very high rate of home ownership, there arent a lot of apartments, none around me.
Sylmar is the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley and 25 years ago there were vacant lots and open areas, they all gone now with new houses built on them, poor people don't buy new houses but there are a lot of poor in the small old houses.

Originally (IMHO) Rancho Cascades was the development right next to the Cascades (where the water comes down the hill at Foothill and Balboa) with a golf course. Developers knew that they couldn't sell new homes to upscale buyers in Sylmar so they marketed the area as Rancho Cascades. Looks good on the billboard and brochures, and separate from Sylmar in name. This is similar to Lake Balboa not wanting to be associated with Van Nuys or Palmdale people saying they live in Rancho Vista, not Palmdale. It seems like the adjacent neighbors wanting higher property values started stretching the boundaries and calling themselves Rancho Cascades, though it still is Sylmar, just a cleaner version of Sylmar, much like before the White Flight and large influx of illegals, low income, apartment dwellers, etc. The grass between street and curb is not a good indicator though. Many older horse property lacks grass and there are beautiful homes. Where I live, there is a parkway, but the homes have garage conversions, no parking, too many families in homes designed for a single family. Poor people are buying the homes, but filling then with unwed mothers, adults who never leave home, dog breeders, and as many people as they can to pay the rent or make the payment. Sadly, it seems as you can't tell the difference between Pacoima and Sylmar anymore.

[V8 Vega]

Sylmar has a new big Food for Less, where Ralphs was, a new Smart and Final where the old Food for Less was and a new Walgreens. A new Rite Aid and a new 99 Cents store where the old Rite Aid was.
I heard Ralphs union contract paid their employees more than Food For Less so getting rid of Ralphs was a obvious union busting. The new Food for Less is always crowded so doing very well, the new Smart and Final too.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by majoun

A Mexican or South American steakhouse?

I would specifically go to Sylmar or a place like it for a good churascuria.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by LeadFarmer

Does anyone know when and why the "White Flight" happened in Sylmar?

It just did. It started about the mid 1980s and a accelerated in the 90s.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

I heard Ralphs union contract paid their employees more than Food For Less so getting rid of Ralphs was a obvious union busting.

Union busting had nothing to do with it. Ralphs closed about 15 store in the state because they were underperforming.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by CamaroGuy

It just did. It started about the mid 1980s and a accelerated in the 90s.

Same time as it occurred in most of the Valley. The factories such as GM and Lockheed closed and then the quake happened....