Is Valley Village a good community for a Ukrainian family? (Los Angeles: apartments, rentals)

[g1nzo]

We come from the Ukraine, lived in Haifa Israel as youth and now are residing in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn NY. We are moving the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. I will work in the Chatsworth neighborhood and my wife will be looking for work teaching Russian, French, Hebrew and Arabic. We have also found a day school that was recommended by a friend who lives in CA.

We know that Sherman's Oak are the best areas of the San Fernando Valley but we can't afford there. Have read that Valley Village had a Jewish and Former Soviet Union communuty, is this true?


Is this a good and safe area for a family? It is very reasonable in price and convenient for me to get to work. Also Hollywood North Subway is close.


Thank you

[socal88]

I'm not sure about a Ukrainian population but Valley Village has a decent sized Jewish population. As far as individuals from other former Soviet Union countries, there are some Armenians in the area. While it is not as desirable as areas south of the 101 freeway such as Sherman Oaks or Encino, it is still a pretty good area that has generally lower crime than other parts of the San Fernando Valley. It is one of the better areas north of the 101.

[Encino.Man]

Hi there. I grew up in that area on Magnola right across from North Hollywood Senior High. It's a very nice area still and while there isn't many Russians or Ukrainians the area is probably 1/3 Jewish. It's getting more Orthodox actually because the other Jewish areas in the Valley like Tarzans, Sherman Oaks have gotten insanely expensive so the Orthodox families who need space for their 15 kids have been buying homes there.


Valley Village is the official name but it's just North Hollywood in reality, all of North Hollywood used to be middle/working class white with lots of Jews. It was inexpensive and a lot of rentals in most of North Hollywood so after Reagan did the amnesty and the flood of illegals really started coming in through the 90s a lot of them moved to North Hollywood for the cheap rentals, Valley Village was the nicer part of North Hollywood and was a bit more middle class and owner occupied with less apartments so it never went through white flight and became ghetto like the other parts of "noho" as they call it now. As for schools, the middle schools and high schools have really gone down hill since I graduated NHHS in 1994 and I would either try to get into a charter like Pali or El Camino or pay for private school, that's because those schools serve all of North Hollywood including the bad areas but Colfax Elementary just serves the immediate Valley Village area and is a great school, my oldest son went there (he is 13) and if we hadn't moved to another part of the valley I wouldn't have hesitated to send my younger 2 boys there at all!

If you want Russian food or anything like that or just to hang out with other people from the old USSR there are lots of people and amenities in Tarzana and Encino which is a shift drive away. There also used to be lots of Russians in the Eastern part of West Hollywood but I haven't been down the hill to that area in a long time so I will let another person confirm if that community still exists.

If you want to know anything about the area ask away! Welcome to LA!

[BRinSM]

I would look into tarzana, north of the 101 freeway. There are plenty of Israelis and Russian speakers in this area. It's also much closer to chatsworth than valley village.

[Encino.Man]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

I would look into tarzana, north of the 101 freeway. There are plenty of Israelis and Russian speakers in this area. It's also much closer to chatsworth than valley village.

I agree that there are lots of Russkies and Israelis in Tarzans but the northern border of Tarzana IS the 101. If you're in Tarzana and cross north of the 101 you're in Reseda. The part of Reseda between the 101 and Topham Street (west of Reseda Blvd) or Oxnard (east of Reseda Blvd) is still very nice and hasn't turned into a complete dump in the last 15 years like the rest of Reseda and I am sure people who live there will call it Tarzana because of the bad reputation of Reseda but it's still Reseda. Had to correct you on that one lol.


OP, Tarzana, and Encino are the center of the Israeli/Foreign Jewish part of the Valley and Sherman Oaks is Jewish too but more "American" I guess would be the word but the thing about these areas is that nowadays if you want a single family home in these areas you need a million bucks. You could likely find a good deal in the area of Reseda adjacent to Tarzana that was mentioned but be aware that it will probably appreciate less and be a bit harder on resale because of the fact that it's technically Reseda. Valley Village prices will definitely appreciate for the fact that: 1. The orthodox are buying up homes in the area (including my old home) and 2. the fact that North Hollywood proper is only getting better and has a subway stop.

[BRinSM]

I live in the area and the northern border for both encino and tarzana is currently victory blvd.

[Encino.Man]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

I live in the area and the northern border for both encino and tarzana is currently victory blvd.

Is that official? I live in Encino just south of Ventura and only a few blocks west of the 405 and I have always thought of myself as in the Northeastern most corner of the area. I am a SFV native and I have always thought of Ventura Blvd or the 101 as the border between areas.

The area around Reseda boulevard and Victory is absolutely NOTHING like Wells Dr and Victory, the layout of the area is different, the economic status is different, the ethnicity/religion is different...everything is different how can those both be in the same area.


In the S/SW Valley I think that the only area where the area doesn't change immediately on the other side of the freeway would be the western half of Woodland Hills which maybe extents to Hatteras but no further. Whether it's "official" or not a quick drove up any on the major north/south streets like Reseda, Topanga Canyon, Canoga, Winnetka will plainly demonstrate that things change (negatively) rather very quickly once you're north of Ventura Blvd or the 101

[bruhms]

Tarzana's northern border is Victory Blvd.

[Echo916]

Valley Village is, indeed, a safe area with a heavy Russian, Jewish and Armenian population. Jon's Market on Laurel Cyn/Magnolia also caters to those cultures, as well as any number of smaller markets around the area. However, it is not a terribly inexpensive area, nor is it terribly close to Chatsworth. You could actually even look at Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks if you will be commuting into Chatsworth. Woodland Hills or Stevenson Ranch would also be very close to Chatsworth. Chatsworth, itself, has become more popular in recent years, with rents skyrocketing in the areas closer to the studios in the east valley. Why not check out that area, as well? Or West Hills? Northridge? Agoura Hills?

A rule of thumb is that the closer to Ventura Blvd., the nicer and safer the area. You can go several major streets north before the neighborhoods turn on you, other than the areas listed above.