HOMEMADE: The San Fernando Valley communities with...
HOMEMADE: The San Fernando Valley communities with the fewest native Californians are North Hollywood, Van Nuys and north Sherman Oaks, where just 32% of the residents hail from the Golden State. The biggest concentration of home-grown golden staters is in Sylmar, with 48% of its population California-born. . . . Statewide, 46% of residents are natives, compared with 38% in Los Angeles as a whole.
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME: The regulars at Residuals, a Studio City bar frequented by entertainment industry types, say concerns over the influence of film and television on young people are overblown. After all, they say, if a youth decides to lie down on a busy highway, the movie he saw the stunt in is not the problem: The child most likely suffers from an unfortunate but all-too-common phenomenon called stupidity (B1). . . . “Movies are make-believe,” says one writer. If you think otherwise, he says, you deserve what you get.
KEEP IT SIMPLE: Santa Clarita City Councilman Carl Boyer III says the state’s Constitution is just too darn complicated. Boyer wants to pare down the state’s 134-page Constitution to a manageable size. His proposal to the California League of Cities comes just as the governor has set up a committee to look at the same issue (B14). “Our Constitution is an unholy mess,” Boyer said of the 114-year-old document.
ARMOR FOR ALL: From King Arthur’s sword to Cap’n Hook’s hook, Tony Swatton makes arms and armor for the movies. Right now, he’s working on a Bowie knife for the upcoming film “The Alamo.” . . . A lapsed member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of history buffs who get together and dress in period gear, Swatton sells everything you might need for a good joust at his Burbank store. A suit of chain mail starts at about $1,200, and a full suit of plate armor costs $3,000 (B5).
Native Numbers
Only 38% of San Fernando Valley residents, or about one in three, were born in California. Communities with the highest percentage of California natives: Community: Born in state Sylmar: 48% Sunland-Tujunga: 47% Granada Hills: 43% Chatsworth-Porter Ranch: 42% Arleta-Pacoima: 41% Source: 1990 U.S. Census