Van Nuys

History

The town was founded in 1911, and named for Isaac Newton Van Nuys, one of its developers. It was annexed by Los Angeles on May 22, 1915, after completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, providing it with the water required for further growth. Van Nuys was the first new stop on the San Fernando Line of the Pacific Electric Railway red cars system, which boosted its early land sales and commercial success.

Van Nuys became the Valley's satellite Los Angeles municipal civic center, with the 1932 Art Deco Valley Municipal Building (Van Nuys City Hall), a visual landmark and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument starting the present day Government Center complex of government services buildings.

In 1991 Marvin Braude, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, redesignated a 45-block area from being a part of Van Nuys to being a part of Sherman Oaks. This redesignated area included the community of Magnolia Woods. Some area residents had presented a petition and several original deeds that stated "Sherman Oaks" to Braude. They argued that the area was originally a part of Sherman Oaks until the 1960s, when ZIP codes labeling the area as Van Nuys were established.

In 2014, A "Great Streets" project was introduced by Mayor Eric Garcetti with Van Nuys Blvd. to be redesigned between Victory Blvd. and Oxnard Street. Also, Sepulveda Blvd. was resurfaced between Victory Blvd and Oxnard Street in May 2014. A new Los Angeles County services building is under construction on the southwest corner of Van Nuys Blvd. and Saticoy Street in 2014.

On February 14, 2016, some 170 firefighters battled a fire at the abandoned Voyager Motel at 6500 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Geography

Van Nuys is bordered on the north by North Hills, on the northeast by Panorama City, on the east by Valley Glen, on the south by Sherman Oaks, on the southwest by the Sepulveda Basin, on the west by Lake Balboa and on the northwest by Northridge. Its street and other boundaries are Roscoe Boulevard on the north, Sepulveda Boulevard, the Tujunga Wash, Woodman Avenue and Hazeltine Avenue on the east, Oxnard Street on the south, the Sepulveda Basin on the southwest and Odessa and Hayvenhurst avenues and Balboa Boulevard on the west.

Population

The 2000 U.S. census counted 103,770 residents in the 8.99-square-mile Van Nuys neighborhood—or 11,542 people per square mile, about an average population density for the city. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 110,747. In 2000 the median age for residents was 28, considered young for city and county neighborhoods, and the percentages of residents aged 10 or younger and 19 to 34 were among the county's highest.

The neighborhood was considered "moderately diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles. The breakdown was Hispanics, 60.5%; whites, 23.1%; Asians, 6.4%; blacks, 6%; and others, 4%. Mexico (41.5%) and El Salvador (17.3%) were the most common places of birth for the 49.8% of the residents who were born abroad—a high percentage for Los Angeles. There were 4,917 families headed by single parents, or 21.3%, considered high for both the city and the county.

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $41,134, considered average for the city but low for the county. The percentages of households that earned $40,000 or less were high for the county. Renters occupied 73.9% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 26.1%.

Notable locations

Government services

Los Angeles Fire Department operates Station 39 (Van Nuys), Station 90 Van Nuys Airport Area, Station 100 West Van Nuys, and Station 102 East Van Nuys, serving the community.

The Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6420 Sylmar Avenue, 91401, serving the neighborhood.

The United States Postal Service operates the Civic Center Van Nuys Post Office at 6200 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys and the Van Nuys Post Office at 15701 Sherman Way in the Lake Balboa neighborhood in Los Angeles, west of Van Nuys.

The U.S. Census Bureau operates the Los Angeles Regional Office in Van Nuys.

The California Department of Developmental Services operates the North Los Angeles County Regional Center on Sherman Way west of Sepulveda Boulevard in which it serves the large fast-growing population of developmentally disabled people in the San Fernando Valley being helped by the Government of California to house the developmentally disabled people in the area and help them meet special needs of normal life with special benefits.

The Social Security Administration operates a branch office on Van Nuys Boulevard north of Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys.

Parks

The Van Nuys Recreation Area is in Van Nuys. The area has an auditorium and gymnasium with a capacity of 420 people, and a multipurpose/community room with a capacity of 20–25 people. The area has barbecue pits, lighted baseball diamonds, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, lighted handball courts, an indoor gymnasium with no weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts.

Delano Park in Van Nuys has an auditorium, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, lighted handball courts, an indoor gymnasium with no weights, picnic tables, and a lighted soccer field.

The Van Nuys adjacent Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area to the west is a large open space park behind Sepulveda Dam. The Metro Orange Line bicycle path connects Van Nuys to it and other valley destinations. It has numerous recreation facilities and natural areas, including a wildlife preserve, cricket complex, and archery range at Woodley Park.

The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park is in Sherman Oaks, near Van Nuys. The park has an auditorium, two lighted baseball diamonds, six unlighted baseball diamonds, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a 60-person community room, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts. Located in the same place as the park, the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool is a seasonal outdoor heated swimming pool. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizen Center (a.k.a. Bernardi Center), also on the park grounds, has an auditorium and multi-purpose room. The senior community hall also has two community/meeting rooms, two kitchens, a play area, a shuffle board area, a stage, and two storage rooms. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Tennis Courts facility in the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park has eight courts.

Education

Fifteen percent of Van Nuys residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average figure for both the city and the county, but the percentage of the same-age residents who had less than a high school diploma (43.1%) was high for Los Angeles.

Schools within the Van Nuys boundaries are:

Public

The Los Angeles Unified School District operates district public schools:

Charter schools include:

Van Nuys Middle School was in the Van Nuys community until 1991 when its area was moved into Sherman Oaks. The school continued to use the name "Van Nuys" despite the move.

Private

Montclair College Prep, 8071 Sepulveda Boulevard, has closed.

Lycée International de Los Angeles previously operated a campus in Van Nuys.

Public libraries

The Van Nuys Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library serves the community.

Air

Van Nuys Airport, the busiest general aviation airport in the world, the 25th busiest airport in the United States, and among the 20 busiest airports in the world by aircraft movements, is located in Van Nuys.

The closest airport with commercial airline service is Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

The community includes a terminal for the Van Nuys FlyAway Bus service, which travels from Van Nuys to Los Angeles International Airport.

Public transit

Van Nuys has two Metro Orange Line stations, the Van Nuys (Los Angeles Metro station), and the Sepulveda (Los Angeles Metro station).

The Orange Line connects to the Metro Red Line subway at the North Hollywood (Los Angeles Metro station), for access to Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, and other Los Angeles Metro lines.

The Metro Liner also uses the Van Nuys station. All stations, and the neighborhood's major streets, are served by Metro Local, Metro Rapid, and/or other bus lines and systems.

The Metro Orange Line bicycle path and pedestrian walkway runs in a landscaped zone alongside the entire route, to Pierce College, Canoga Park, and the Chatsworth Station on the west, and North Hollywood on the east.

Freeways

Van Nuys is directly served by the 405 (San Diego Freeway) passing through it.

Other nearby freeways include: the Route 101 (Ventura Freeway), the Route 170 (Hollywood Freeway), the Route 118 (Simi Valley Freeway), and the Golden State Freeway section of Interstate 5.

Economy

Van Nuys Boulevard has a long and diverse commercial district along it, as do other major streets crossing through Van Nuys.

From 1947 until 1992, GM operated an automobile factory called Van Nuys Assembly at the location of Van Nuys Boulevard and Arminta Street to augment their production efforts at their South Gate, California factory called South Gate Assembly which opened in 1936. The Van Nuys location manufactured the Chevrolet Impala, the Chevrolet Corvair, and later was the primary location for the Chevrolet Nova and the Chevrolet Camaro. Badge engineered versions of the Impala, Nova and Camaro were also manufactured at this location. Due to air quality remediation efforts, and decreasing market share of GM products, the factory was closed.

Sound City Studios was a very well-respected recording studio located in Van Nuys. Van Nuys, along with Chatsworth, is home to numerous pornographic movie studios, distributors, and manufacturers.

Grupo TACA operates a Van Nuys-area TACA Center at 6710 Van Nuys Boulevard.

Property values

Some former Van Nuys neighborhoods have won approval by the Los Angeles City Council to break off from Van Nuys and join the neighboring communities of Lake Balboa, Valley Glen and Sherman Oaks in an effort to raise their property values. City Council member Tony Cardenas "suggested the change was motivated by racism."

Notable people