You can’t find a small cafe serving zuppa di pesce or even order a glass of Valpolicella in Van Nuys’ Little Italy, but you will find “Luigi’s Tailoring” next door to “Giovanni Barber Shop” in this quaint little section of Sylvan Street across from the Van Nuys Civic Center.

Luigi Della Ripa showed me a panoramic photo of “downtown” Van Nuys in 1911, when there were just a few buildings dotting an otherwise empty vista. Luigi has been in his shop since the mid 1960’s, right next door to barber friend Giovanni Caputo. The changes in Van Nuys have been lots of bad and lots of good. The crime and pawn shops came in, along with the burglars and abandoned stores.

But now the revitalized Van Nuys Civic Center and the Busway have brought a fresher and more optimistic feeling to the area. The shops where Giovanni and Luigi practice their crafts are a throwback to a time when Van Nuys served as a meeting place and town center of the San Fernando Valley. There is new paint on the facades, and when these old guys retire, it may be that old Van Nuys will be ready for a new rebirth.