It’s true in real estate that good location is everything. But who determines when a location is good?
Van Nuys Boulevard seems to me to be an excellently sited place both geographically and logistically. It is smack in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, equidistant to Burbank and Woodland Hills. It adjoins Sherman Oaks, one of the richest sections of Los Angeles.
Van Nuys Boulevard is a wide street, easy to walk or drive down, much easier in fact than Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA or ugly Lincoln Boulevard in Venice. Commuting to studios like Universal, Warner Brothers or Disney is easy.
There is a coherent and historic core of Van Nuys around the municipal building with older homes, a library, courthouse, police and fire stations, child care, parking, banks, restaurants, barbers, lawyers, etc. Everything one needs is in a two-block area.
The Busway now comes right into the center of Van Nuys, and if someone didn’t want to use a car, but chose to live in Van Nuys, they could get downtown in 30 minutes without sitting in traffic merely by riding the bus and subway.
I saw Brad Pitt on the “Today” show yesterday. He is in New Orleans where he is laudably working on the post-Katrina housing situation. He is lending his celebrity to help revive a shattered city.
I wonder why Los Angeles, which gave so many celebrities their start on the road to fame and fortune, cannot use them to give places like Van Nuys a shot in the arm. The day that Brad Pitt comes to Van Nuys, it will be like Jesus appearing before his disciples.

