Burbank Blvd. east of Kester is on the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks border. One story commercial buildings front the street.

On the south side (color photo)the stores include: a vacuum sales and repair, a tailor, two hair salons, a Chinese restaurant, a Honduran one; and at the corner, a Chevron gas station.

On the north side (b&w), there is an Armenian market, a chiropractor (Irv Jacobs) and a photographer, dentist and an insurance broker.

The architecture is pleasantly dull, most likely built in the 1950s, and resembles in its sunny, neatly kept blandness that crew cut, flag flying town that gave this street its name.

In this not-yet-blighted section, where Spanish is often spoken on the tongue, but rarely spray painted on the walls, the city has an opportunity to create a more humane environment. Why not carve out the center of the street and plant trees and shrubs as they have done in Studio City and Sherman Oaks? The sun baked sidewalks are torturous during the long Summmer heat (May-October) and deserve a canopy of shade.

Perhaps the city might even rezone the one-story shops to allow for (perish the thought!) apartments over the stores.