New Names for Communities

Re: Valley Edition editorial, “New Names Create More Division, Less Community,” Oct. 6, 1996.

I feel your article was a disservice to everyone living in Los Angeles.

Your article claims that the residents of self-named communities are retreating deeper into their communities, losing a sense of responsibility for the city around them. What a stupid notion this is indeed, especially after you stated so correctly that for these communities, nothing changes except the name; they remain under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles; even the ZIP Code remains unchanged. Taxes still get paid and people still volunteer for citywide causes.

I couldn’t care less if you want me to call you Bob or Mary. I won’t attack you for taking on a new name, if it motivates you into self-awareness and responsibility. I won’t question your choice, but I certainly will anticipate that only a proud sense of self-identity will enable you to contribute to your potential. So I will congratulate you on your efforts to create for yourself an identity that you value. To me, it feels like the American way, different, yet together.

West Toluca Lake hasn’t filed for divorce or withdrawn from anything. Rather, this small community is working to make itself a better piece of Los Angeles. I hope the future will see more small communities evolve, where people can feel they have taken for themselves a manageable piece of the big pie, and they create a very unwelcome place for crime and neglect. It’s no new concept. . . . Los Angeles isn’t one massive blob.

JONATHAN GREGORY

West Toluca Lake