North Hollywood : Portrait of a Changing Community

After decades of playing understudy to its Tinsel Town neighbor, North Hollywood is still a town in search of a starring role.

Dubbed “The Home of The Peach” in 1897, the former whistle-stop crop town has gone through more set and cast changes than a melodrama--even changing its name from Lankershim to North Hollywood in 1927 in hopes of luring movie studios.

It didn’t work, but in the 1990s, the arts in North Hollywood are blooming. The renovated El Portal Theatre on Lankershim Boulevard will open soon. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences makes its home there. And within the past five years, six new theaters, 12 theatrical troupes and the NoHo Performing Arts Festival have also taken root. Plans for the NoHo Arts District, which would provide living and professional space for artists, are progressing.

But the recession has hurt, leaving areas of urban decay and the second-lowest household income in the Valley.

COMMUNITY ISSUES

* Created to remove blight and spur investment, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, or CRA, has spent or pledged $61 million since 1979 on a controversial 740-acre North Hollywood project. The project has brought 836 new housing units, a $12-million community shopping center, $4 million in public improvements and the $45-million private/public funded Academy Entertainment and Business Center, the home of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. But critics say the new office buildings are not full, nearby businesses have hardly benefited and the promise of new jobs for residents has gone mostly unfulfilled.

* Nearly everyone seems to agree that a key to revitalizing North Hollywood is this district, nicknamed after the Manhattan artists’ enclave, SoHo. A cornerstone is the renovated El Portal Theatre on Lankershim Boulevard. Due to open sometime this fall, El Portal will be the first major live theater in the Valley since the mid-1960s, with a 199-seat capacity. Community leaders are pushing for the creation of an “artists-in-residence” district within the NoHo area. The proposal would lure artists to live and work in the area by allowing them to waive costly permits.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

* In a bid to create 2,400 new jobs, Forest City Development is proposing a $150-million renovation of the 26-year-old Laurel Plaza Mall on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street. The project would convert the existing one-level mall into a three-level complex with three new department stores. But the proposal has some residents worried about the impact of more traffic.

* The 35-year-old North Hollywood police station at Tiara Street and Lankershim Boulevard will move to a new, $14-million facility by 1996 at Burbank Boulevard and Troost Street.

* The nonprofit L.A. Family Housing Corp. is searching for a warehouse to convert into a $1.1-million shelter for between 100 and 200 homeless people. It would be the second North Hollywood shelter run by the agency.

CHANGING FACES, CONCERNS

“I see a lot of changes in the Latino community right now. We have a new Latino City Council member, Richard Alarcon. He is going to try to get some more neighborhood watch programs in the Latino areas. I also see the church getting involved too. We’re having meetings in Spanish to get them acquainted with the crime, what to look out for. Latinos have the same concerns as Anglos do.” --Manuel Figueras, community liaison between the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the North Hollywood Police Department.

“I would say, overall, a lot of exciting things lie ahead for North Hollywood. The NoHo Arts District is growing, it’s burgeoning, it’s actually starting to attract more artists, greater and greater talent. And basically, for that area, things can almost only get better. It kind of bottomed out in the last few years. It can only go up from here.” --James Berg, publisher, NoHo Magazine, and community activist.

COMMUNITY PROFILE

Based on 1990 U.S. census figures.

Stats Size: 24.5 square miles. Population: 120,240 Median age: 30.9 August median single-family and condominium home price (ZIP code 91601): $158,000 Number of households: 46,424 People per household: 2.6 Residents over 25 without a high school diploma: 30% (County average: 30%) Population below poverty line: 15.6%

INCOME Average household income is about 14% lower than the Los Angeles average.

Southeast Valley: $48,182 Northeast Valley: $44,444 Northwest Valley: $56,427 Southwest Valley: $61,722 Citywide average: $45,701 North Hollywood: $39,087

ETHNICITY

The white population has decreased 22% since 1980, while the Latino population has increased 19%.

Non-Latino White: 50% Latino: 40% African-American: 4% Asian: 6%

Sources: Los Angeles Planning Department analysis of 1990 U.S. census data.