In only five years, it is quite (un)likely that Van Nuys Boulevard will be completely transformed into a walkable, safe, vibrant and urban corridor with a light rail system running down the center.

This essay is about VNB between Sherman Way and Oxnard, basically the original part of pre WW2 downtown Van Nuys.

Currently a littered wasteland of vacant stores, homelessness and speeding cars, desirable for nobody other than crows and rats, the eight lane wide “Heart of the San Fernando Valley” is also the seat of local government where officials, and those transacting official business, appear in court, apply for building permits, and attend meetings of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council where they can yell and scream and stuff their faces with donuts and Subway sandwiches.

It’s been going downhill since the 1970s, but its condition has steadily gone from bad to worse in the pandemic years.

Despite enormous areas of underused open space, populated by unused parking lots, Van Nuys could be the center of a revitalization of urban life in the San Fernando Valley.

Since nobody in power has any vision for its future, I went to Google AI to see what might be possible.

As the photos above show, buildings that come up to the street and do not shrink from engagement with street life promise a more healthy atmosphere of prosperity and safety. A light rail, patrolled by law enforcement, should help move people in and out of the new Van Nuys neighborhood.

It all looks better than what it is now.