One of the delights of living in the lightly patrolled streets of Van Nuys, is waking up several times a week and going to the edge of my driveway to find last night’s discarded used condom.
In fact, every morning, in this section of Los Angeles, is a revelation in how locals treat their neighborhood. Whether it’s a discarded soda, McDonalds wrappers, an abandoned sofa, or old “entertainment” centers left along Victory…..we can assure ourselves that we live in a civilized city.
Here in Van Nuys 
Ugh! Just when I thought I’ve seen it all in this life…simply disgusting!
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I fully appreciate your frustration, Andrew. However, I can tell you from experience that resistence is NOT futile. After I moved to my little corner of Van Nuys about six years ago, I joined up with some other residents in the area to become part of a neighborhood committee. It wasn’t a large group…perhaps only forty or so, with a much smaller percentage doing most of the work, but it was effective in many ways.
To be frank, I wasn’t 100% behind all the campaigns, such as the decision to cut off access to our neighborhood from Victory. In retrospect, however, I have to concede that it has made an enormous difference. We have also been able to increase the police patrol in our area (we all have the cell phone number of “our officer”) which has led to a decrease in vagrancy and crime (including the presence of working girls) hereabouts.
Many residents were apprehensive about the Orange Line station (Sepulveda and Erwin), but through our concerted efforts, we achieved a number of concessions from the MTA including the lighting of the parking lot and even the landscaping along Erwin. There was a lot of apprehension that the wall surrounding the lot would fall victim to disrepair and tagging, but it hasn’t happened…thanks, I believe, to the increased police presence, the neighbors’ vigilence, and the MTA’s supervision.
As I said, only a minority of the residents were heavily involved, but even that small number of movers and shakers made a significant difference. To my mind, the greatest benefit was that we got to know each other and made an effort to look out for each other. That, in itself, is a rare thing in most LA/Valley neighborhoods.
-Nancy
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i, too, live in van nuys near the hs and see the condoms daily. my girlfreind and i actually staked out my street one night, hanging out on my roof for a few hours drinking beers with a big flashlight to shine on the hos and johns in case we saw them park and turn a trick. we had the cell at the ready as well. no luck, though: apparently those crimes are comitted past my bedtime. my neighbor did however remove the huge bushes from in front of her house, and this has helped. we see a lot less condoms there now, but unfortunately it seems as if they’ve moved over to your block. also, i recently installed a sensor operated spotlight in front of my house. sadly, i had to adjust the sensor to trigger the blinding light to go off whenever someone walks on the sidewalk in front of my house. the used condoms and a recent break in attempt on a guest’s car parked in front of my house necessitates this offensive vigilance…such is life in van nuys.
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