About, but not limited to, Van Nuys, CA.
Photograph caption dated February 23, 1955 reads “Posing with custom, are, from left, Wally McIntyre, president, Stylers of Van Nuys, and George Weinstock, secretary-treasurer. Sleek showpiece is ’48 Olds with unaltered engine but complete customizing, including ‘Frenching’ (recessing) headlights, ‘shaving’ (taking ornaments off) hood and ‘deck’ (trunk), new upholstering and rungs, choming windowsills and painting dash to match general color scheme (Mandorin (sic) red and white).”
From the USC Digital Archives come these photographs of flooding in Van Nuys at Tyrone and Sylvan Streets (a block east of the Valley Municipal Building) after heavy rains.
Caption reads: “Mrs. Agnes Snyder removes debris from car on flooded street. Wayne WIlson (bare foot) crosses St. Overall views of flooded Tyrone Ave. — cars submerged. Kids in stalled car.”
There are smiles on the faces of people, a lack of jadedness, that seems characteristic of that era. The hardship is harmless, nobody is getting hurt, the flooding is inconvenient and messy, but they are making the best of it.
Imagine the same situation in today’s Van Nuys.
A herd of fatties stuck inside their SUV, DVD player and boom boxes blaring, everyone on their mobile phones, three enormous women with tattoos, dressed in black leggings, broadcasting their “movie” on their smartphones with scowling and angry faces, never knowing how to live in the moment.
Today, around 12:30 PM, a car caught fire while parked in the Salvation Army lot at 6300 Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys. I was driving past it on my way to Costco. I stopped, parked and recorded these photos and video of the event which was quickly extinguished by the LAFD.
From the whimsical collection of Shorpy, I found this 1950s photograph of a car, on San Vicente, which hit a light pole.
Most likely, the driver was not texting while driving.
Mini-Cooper on Gilmore., originally uploaded by Here in Van Nuys.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-housing20-2009jan20,0,3078806.story?track=rss
From the Los Angeles Times
Southern California home prices close out 2008 down 35%
The December median sales price falls to $278,000, remaining at 2003 levels, a real estate research firm reports.
By Peter Y. Hong
10:35 AM PST, January 19, 2009
Southern California home prices continued their decline at the end of 2008, closing the year at 2003 price levels, a real estate research firm reported today.
The December median sales price for all Southern California homes fell to $278,000, a 35% drop from the same month a year prior, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.
The falling prices were again driven by sales of foreclosed properties, which comprised 56% of all homes sold in the region. Consequently, the lowest median sales prices were reported in San Bernardino County ($180,000) and Riverside County ($209,000), where foreclosures have been rampant.
Los Angeles County’s median sales price of $320,000 was down 32% from December 2007, while Orange County’s median price fell 30% to $397,000. San Diego’s median price dropped 30% from December 2007, to $300,000. Ventura County’s $338,000 median December sales price was down 36% from the prior year.
Low prices drove the number of Southern California homes sold in December up by 51% over the previous year.
“It does look like the spigot is being opened a little bit, at least for low-cost home purchases,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,239 last month, down from a revised $1,380 for the previous month, and down from a revised $2,060 for December year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments were 43.9% below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 54.0% below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.
peter.hong@latimes.com
In shooting the fire yesterday, I have to admit that 9/11 was not far from my mind. I thought of the contrast of normality v. disaster as in this image.
Here in Van Nuys 
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