ARLETA : Residents Feel ‘Lucky’ in Wake of Earthquake

Northridge is famous for lending its name to the Jan. 17 earthquake, and Reseda for trying to take it away.

Arleta, on the other hand, is famous for managing to stay out of the post-temblor limelight.

That’s not to say there was no damage in this tiny community tucked between Mission Hills, Pacoima, Sun Valley and Panorama City. Arleta had its share of toppled walls and chimneys, shattered glass and cracked masonry. But damage wasn’t spectacular.

“We came through pretty good,” said John Maxon, a neighborhood activist who lost a 50-foot wall beside his home. “We’re just lucky is all.”

The Arleta Chamber of Commerce estimates that businesses suffered about $1.5 million in damage, said Hawley Smith, first vice president of the chamber, which conducted a door-to-door poll of more than 260 businesses.

“Businesses got hit harder in inventory than in structures,” said Smith. Liquor stores fared the worst, he said, averaging losses of $10,000 to $20,000 each. Most enterprises managed to recover well enough to open up within five days after the quake, he said.

Residences experienced similar damage, according to chamber members.

“The people we’ve talked to since, most of them had the same experience I had,” said Smith. “A few things got tossed to the floor and broke.”

Maxon theorized that the humble wood-frame construction of homes, many of which date to the 1950s, saved Arleta from more widespread destruction.

If anything, the quake might have shaken Arleta out of its normal obscurity. Drivers who sped along the Simi Valley Freeway, north of Arleta, now find themselves traversing it on Osborne Street and Van Nuys Boulevard.

But Smith suspects Arleta won’t be able to cash in on its position. “It could, if the people stop,” he said. “But my guess is most people just go through.”