Name Game : Call In With Your Suggestion to ‘Rename the Valley’

It all started when a few folks in wacky Canoga Park decided to call themselves West Hills. The idea spread, sort of like mass hysteria. A chunk of Van Nuys became Sherman Oaks. Part of North Hollywood turned into Valley Village. All of Sepulveda became North Hills.

What’s going on?

Well, it’s not just high jinks. You see, these neighborhoods had run into a few problems with crime, decay and, more importantly, declining real estate values. The residents could have banded together in community groups. They could have spruced up their streets and lured new businesses to the area. But that sort of thing can take years of hard work.

Why not just change the name? It’s fast and it’s free. Heck, it might even fool a few people.

Now everyone can get in on the fun.

The San Fernando Valley doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation. People think that we’re all smog, strip malls and nail parlors. And there’s that Valley Girl image. How will we ever live it down?

You guessed it: Let’s change our name.

From now until Dec. 26, call the “Rename the Valley” hot line with your suggestions. Any name will do. Don’t feel that you have to be historically or geographically accurate. After all, there’s only one hill in North Hills. The new name can be pretentious, such as “Inland Grove,” or just plain silly, such as “San Fernando Lamas.”

The best 20 entries will receive a gift from The Times and will be printed in Valley View on Jan. 2.

A new year. A new address.

There’s more. We’ll submit the winning suggestion to the Los Angeles City Council, which, when it comes to names, seems willing to do just about anything.

Why, we could even be South San Francisco.

Call the “Rename the Valley” hot line at (818) 772-3301, or send your entry to “Rename the Valley,” Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St . , Chatsworth 91311. Please include your name, address and telephone number so we can send you a prize if you win. Enter as many times as you like.