1st Year as Valley Glen Celebrated

Neal Berke said he was initially opposed to changing the name of a portion of Van Nuys to Valley Glen because he thought it would divert attention from problems like drug dealing and excessive traffic.

“I think people were afraid of the perception of what Van Nuys had become--rundown, crime-ridden,” said Berke. Yet the name change had unforeseen positive effects, he said.

“It brought people a sense of community I didn’t expect. I’m delighted to be proven wrong,” said Berke, who is a member of the Valley Glen Neighborhood Assn.’s graffiti abatement team.

Residents celebrated a year of having that greater sense of community at Valley College on Saturday. About 2,000 people attended the birthday event organized by the Valley Glen Business Assn. There were exhibits, a mariachi band, an Armenian dance troupe and other entertainers.

In June 1998, a portion of Van Nuys officially became Valley Glen, which is bounded by Hazeltine Avenue, Woodman Avenue, Sherman Way and Burbank Boulevard. About 16,000 people live in the area, and there are 4,000 homes.

Valley Glen was one of several San Fernando Valley communities that have adopted new names. Others include: North Hills, formerly Sepulveda; West Hills, formerly part of Canoga Park; and Valley Village, formerly part of North Hollywood.

Berke believes the 1992 riots and 1994 Northridge earthquake motivated the name change and people’s desire to protect their community.

“Those two events were catalysts for improvement. People were saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to live here,’ ” Berke said.

City Councilman Michael Feuer, who supported residents’ efforts to carve out a new community, said the area’s sense of identity has strengthened.

“There’s a sense of people looking out for each other that transcends where we were a year ago,” Feuer said Saturday. “The name change is simply another step in the evolution of the community here.”

Realtors apparently also like the community’s image. Carlos Ferreyra, vice president of the community’s neighborhood association, said that some properties are now advertised as “adjacent to Valley Glen.”

Yet Michael Randall is disappointed the name change and greater community sense have not given the area more of a voice in city planning issues.

He said he wants the city to be more responsive to efforts to keep pawnshops, check-cashing businesses and sex-oriented businesses out of Van Nuys Boulevard--”So people will no longer flee to places like Calabasas and Burbank, where they find communities that are more family friendly and responsive.”

Marc Thurston, president of the neighborhood association, conceded he thought the name change was “stupid” last year, even while going door-to-door gathering signatures in support of it. He said he was also ambivalent about letting adjacent neighborhoods join the initial area--centered at Fulton Avenue and Oxnard Street--that wanted to be Valley Glen.

But the new name has increased the number of residents working together to improve the community, he said.

“To put up a bunch of signs means nothing. Anybody can do that,” said Thurston. “We have a focal point that’s much more powerful and more accomplished.”