Where should i live in the San Fernando Valley? (Oxnard: apartments, houses)

[renita jones]

Hello, well i asked in another thread about the valley village/north Hollywood area and i haven't got an answer. i tried to edit my question but i couldn't so ill just ask about the valley in general. i looked at the maps and found a few places i might be interested in. can someone here you lives in the valley please help me. this is my first home and im nervous.

Here are the areas. which ones are a yes and no?
.Burbank
.North Hollywood
.valley village
.taluca lake
.valley glen
.studio city
.panorama city
.Sherman oaks
.van nuys
.north hills


looking at the map i wanna stay no further than these areas because i dont want to live to far off from my mother who lives in west culver city. thank you.

[LABornandRaised]

.Burbank - Yes - Not apart of the City of LA. Has own school district, city council, budget, etc. More expensive than NoHo.
.North Hollywood - Yes - start at Oxnard St and go south. This is a very large neighborhood. Your dollar will go far here.
.valley village - Yes - division of North Hollywood with one of the highest rated elementary schools and with that you get high home prices.
.toluca lake - Yes - division of North Hollywood with very expensive homes, many with lots of character/charm (spanish revival, tudor, colonial, cape cod, etc).
.valley glen - Yes - more affordable than Valley Village
.studio city - Yes - very expensive. Dollar doesn't go as far and a bit more congested.
.panorama city - No- very dirty and not very safe. I know having lived here for much of my life.
.Sherman oaks - Yes, similar to Studio City.
.van nuys - maybe - some parts are ok, but it varies by street. Stay as far south as possible here.
.north hills - No, see notes on Panorama City

[rob3gdd]

Burbank -Yes. one of the cleanest citys youll ever encounter. lots of shops and places to eat at the Burbank Town center. may be a but pricey though.

North Hollywood- Yes and No. like the other poster said, as long as you stay on Oxnard or south of you will be fine. beautiful community. i would even say as far as Victory because they have very nice homes by the Macy's over there and its very greenish. However if you go past Victory it immediately deteriorate. You will get the best bang for your buck in the areas i mentioned and youll be close to the NOHO Arts District.

Valley Village- Yes. very nice community as you observed. i live where you were roaming, by Chandler and Lauryn Canyon. very safe and quiet neighborhood. i stay just a little west of the senior apartments.

Toluca lake- Yes. generally in the NOHO arts district. very nice homes, but pricey.

Valley Glen- mostly a big yes. its generally a safe and clean neighborhood as you observed but i would personally advise you to stay south of Victory blvd just to be extra safe. above Victory is nice too dont get me wrong, very nice homes but there are a hand full of homes that look impoverish and you might not like that. It kind of ruin it for everyone else who have nice middle class homes.

Studio city- Yes but it is expensive and very affluent. However the shopping if good. lots of places to go relax for lunch and a drink.

Panorama City- No, there is so much to say about it i could type all day so just stay away from it period. i wouldn't even drive through it. I have to say though that the east side of it has some nice middle class homes but the negatives far out weight the positives.

Sherman Oaks- Yes. can be a bit pricey but you can find some good homes that will probably fit your pocket book. Also the shopping is fantastic. they have everything you want and you will like the Galleria.

Van nuys- Generally no. It does have its nice patches but thats it, the best parts of Van Nuys split off to Sherman Oaks. The most recent being the area south of Oxnard. I drove through that community and i completely understand why. Van Nuys blvd looks horrible with lots of knock off Latino shops and has allot of poverty. again if you do find a place there, you want to stay south of Victory until you hit the Sherman Oaks border at Oxnard.

North Hills- No, don't let the fancy name fool you. There is nothing fancy about it.

follow mine and the other posters advice and you should be good. Happy home hunting!

[Jean Jeunet]

Couldn't have said it better myself from the 2 posters above. For North Hollywood, I will agree with rob, that you can venture up to Victory Blvd near the Macy's area (east of the 170FWY). This used to be the downtown area for North Hollywood, so there are some very cute character homes, ie spanish revival, etc. and tree lined streets. The area is waiting (for several years now) for the redevelopment of Valley Plaza/Laurel Plaza. Right now the houses surrounding this area are VERY cheap. It's a bit of a gamble since developers keep saying they will redevelop this site, but have yet to begin. If the area gets developed, your house value will jump significantly. The one redeeming factor about this area around Victory Blvd (even though it's run down) is the recently opened second run theater ($3 movies) and a very uncrowded Macy's, Sears, Anna's Linens.

[renita jones]

Thank you all so much for the information. i think it sounds like the north hollywood area described to me will be my best bet. yes im looking for a nice kept up community that i can call home. i will look at some of those areas mentioned in north hollywood, south of victory. i also want to also explore the valley glen community and the part of valley village i roamed through. the other places sound to expensive or just bad areas. my budget i say to the max is about $475,000 and that's stretching it a bit but i can probably manage. guidance would be great.

[jw2]

Originally Posted by renita jones

Thank you all so much for the information. i think it sounds like the north hollywood area described to me will be my best bet. yes im looking for a nice kept up community that i can call home. i will look at some of those areas mentioned in north hollywood, south of victory. i also want to also explore the valley glen community and the part of valley village i roamed through. the other places sound to expensive or just bad areas. my budget i say to the max is about $475,000 and that's stretching it a bit but i can probably manage. guidance would be great.

If you can get close to the Redline (subway) you will find it very easy to get to Hollywood or downtown LA

[elgatoloco]

I'm going to step in and defend North Hills just a bit. It will definitely be a better value than the other cities listed but there is a big divide along the 405. Along Nordhoff and east of the 405, North Hills is dirty and gang infested but west of the 405 and north of Plummer, it's actually very clean and safe, not very different from the neighboring communities of Granada Hills and Northridge. It still has the same Moderator cut: expletive schools as most of the other LA districts.

[rob3gd]

Originally Posted by elgatoloco

I'm going to step in and defend North Hills just a bit. It will definitely be a better value than the other cities listed but there is a big divide along the 405. Along Nordhoff and east of the 405, North Hills is dirty and gang infested but west of the 405 and north of Plummer, it's actually very clean and safe, not very different from the neighboring communities of Granada Hills and Northridge. It still has the same Moderator cut: expletive schools as most of the other LA districts.

The reason why i didn't mention that area for the most part is because she is looking for an area east of the 405.