What Should We Tell Tiffany?
Tiffany, a UCLA student who is working on her Masters of Social Work, recently wrote me to inquire about Van Nuys:
Andrew,
I am currently working on a neighborhood assessment of Van Nuys, within the boundaries of Sepulveda, Victory, Van Nuys Blvd, and Sherman Way.
I have reviewed your website and have found it very informative regarding the changing community. I was wondering if you would be able to provide some more insight on the issues surrounding Van Nuys that a non-resident may not get the chance to see.
Information I am looking for surrounding anything you can offer of:
Neighborhood distinctions (ex. West Van Nuys- Van Nuys)
Changes in the neighborhood over time
Quality of life
Employment
Community, Economic, Religious, Social Services agencies- specific to the
area, anything that gives the neighborhood character
Political issues/ leaders and resident investment in political issues
Anything the community is missing that residents need or benefit from.
Please leave (helpful) comments below for Tiffany.
Here in Van Nuys 
happy that fresh & easy is coming to van nuys!! finally we have a great market for a great neighborhood! let’s shop and keep their business successful!
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I noticed today a sign on the door of the old Ralphs on Vanowen and Sepulveda saying something about Fresh and Easy applying for a liquor license or something to that effect. Oh please oh please! What a wonderful start to cleaning up our neighborhood.
p.s. the tile store across the street on Sepulveda is fabulous! I highly recommend it!
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I noticed a sign on the old Ralphs on Vanowen and Sepulveda indicating that Fresn and Easy was applying for a liquor license or something to that effect. Oh please oh please…that would be a wonderful start to cleaning up our neighborhood!
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Toni – your wish for a Fresh and Easy may be on it’s way:
http://www.pacret.com/listings/index.php/details?id=10054
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Ok Everyone!! I am not one for social action but we all need to e-mail the Fresh & Easy people to put a market in on Sepulveda & Vanowen where Ralphs used to be. What would be good is if we could get rid of those damn transient motels, they attract the hookers. If I had millions I would buy them and tear them down and put in condo’s…Van Nuys used to be really nice, it is a shame. The houses are so much nicer than the little 800sq foot bungalows in North Hollywood. Just my 2 cents. E-MAIL FRESH & EASY ON THEIR WEBSITE!!
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What we need here in my neck of the hood in Van Nuys (wish list to Santa):
(1) Sidewalks on the west side of Kester between Sherman and Vanowen. Schoolkids trying to walk + Moms with strollers, Come on! Throw us a bone here!
(2) How ’bout a bookstore where the old American Red Cross building now sits empty, forlorn and vandalized? The nearest bookstore is Borders on Ventura in Sherman Oaks, I think. Not counting the religious books they sell in the Christian store on Van Nuys Blvd. Build it and they will come: How much do you wanna bet we people in Van Nuys like bookstores too!
(3) A nifty new store of some kind (Trader Joe’s would be nice?) in the old abandoned Ralphs at Vanowen & Sepulveda.
(4) What’s the deal with the empty, half-completed-looking retail/office building on the east side of Van Nuys Blvd north of Vanowen? How depressing. It’s like four or five stories tall! it’s practically a skyscraper! People could be working there demanding cafes and shops and services.!! Can’t we get some businesses in there? (but not more career colleges, check cashing stores or driving schools please.)
(5) And while we’re at it, how about a rock club/gallery in the abandoned building right next to that…(next to Wells Fargo)? Can you imagine some life being breathed into that block? Some people wanting to walk around there? Already there’s a small public arts high school housed in that church right there near the at&t building. What if the whole block was bustling? Wow…
Ok, I’ll stop daydreaming now.
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Becky-
Thank you for leaving the comment. I hope to hear from you again. Send me an email with your email!
Andy
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I just moved this summer from Sepulveda blvd just north of Sherman Way. We had prostitutes every night of the week starting as early as 7pm and going until 4am. Cars would circle our block and pick up girls right outside of our building. Lots of tenants moved out because of it, and as we were leaving the neighborhood organized a night walk to take back their streets. We also had alot of police activity and I believe there was a gang injunction in that area.
We also had a police standoff for almost a whole night with a house right up the street.
(also, hello andy, we met today at peets; i was with marc)
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Thank you for you assistance…any information can help!
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a few major problems.
1) Ralphs left its Sepulveda/Vanowen location more than a year ago. No tenant has moved in. Now I have to drive to the Encino Ralphs (Hayvenhurst)
2) No Boys and Girls Clubs in this area. The nearest one is in Burbank.
3)Too many liquor stores and eyesore apartment buildings. Is it too much to ask for a Starbucks? (a non-Magic Johnson Starbucks??)
4) Can we get some sidewalks on Gaviota (between Haynes and Vanowen)? Everyday schoolkids walk to Bassett Elementary in the middle of the street with their moms… because there is no sidewalk!!!
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Where are the prostitutes? Most of the boards i read claim that the SFV is kind of dead, and it would be nice to know what cross streets there are working girls so that I can report them, of course.
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there is a major prostitution problem, mostly centered around sepulveda. the most tangible and disgusting byporduct of this–to me, anyway–are the discarded soiled condoms that can be found on a daily basis within the boundries tiffany describes. also, car thiefs frequently prey on vehicles on and off the side streets of kester.
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