Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Van Nuys. Not only was Robert Blake acquitted, but our neighbor, a peacock, stopped by for an unannounced visit.

This street has been our home for the past five years. One neighbor describes the wide lawns, tall palm trees and noble oaks as “a piece of heaven in the midst of hell.” Certainly the world looks much different just steps away as homeless people push carts, graffitti mars every plain wall, and the fire and police engines scream their sirens day and night.

Van Nuys was once a rural outpost in the San Fernando Valley, an open oasis full of orange and walnut groves and children who rode bicycles without helmets or fear.

Here in Van Nuys we are working towards some restoration of the beauty and dignity that originally lured people to old California. Our future will be better, I believe, as Los Angeles finally accepts that it needs public transportation, multi family dense housing, pedestrians and tree lined commerical streets.