Beyond the 405
Discover the West Valley - it's not as unhip as you might think
In 19 years as a denizen of the west San Fernando Valley, I've gathered that my corner of L.A. is uncool. This understanding has been less gained from experience than bludgeoned into me, via endless jibes that usually include Valspeak. In recent years, east Valley communities such as Studio City and Sherman Oaks have risen in stature - like, even Ashlee Simpson has been seen shopping at Studio City's posh boutiques! The west Valley, however, remains mired in obscurity and disdain. To dissuade the snobs and present my west-of-the-405 home as a hip destination would be, er, tricky. But I haven't lived in the west Valley for almost 20 years without learning a thing or two about my own backyard. And as it turns out, this backyard isn't all bad.
Let's say you're driving east on the 101, en route to your modish Silver Lake home, when tragedy strikes. Some type of catastrophe - say, a monsoon - renders all passages to the city, from Topanga Canyon to the Cahuenga Pass, impassable. Your big plans to see performance art at your friend's downtown loft/gallery are ruined, and you're stranded ... in the west Valley, of all places. What do you do?
You might find solace in an unlikely place: Canoga Park. This suburban neighborhood is centered around Sherman Way, between Shoup and DeSoto avenues. You may recognize this stretch from the movie Boogie Nights, in which Marky Mark and his troupe of porno players are repeatedly seen on the palm-tree-lined street. Cameos aside, downtown Canoga Park has a surprising amount to offer. It's a thrift-store hub, featuring a Goodwill, a National Council of Jewish Women's Thrift, an Out of the Closet, and an Aardvark's Odd Ark. For antiquing, the area is a treasure trove - you could find enough furniture here to fill 20 grandmas' attics. For your dining pleasure, there's Follow Your Heart (21825 Sherman Way, 818-348-3240; Followyourheart.com), a vegetarian market and café that's a popular spot for socially conscious eaters throughout the Valley. In the way of entertainment, downtown Canoga Park offers the Madrid Theatre (21622 Sherman Way, 818-347-9419), a recently remodeled performance venue, and the decidedly grungier Cobalt Café (22047 Sherman Way, 818-348-3789), a rock club that has had possibly every high school band in the San Fernando Valley grace its stage.
To the southeast is Encino, a tonier 'burb made infamous by Frank Zappa's 1982 hit "Valley Girl." "Encino is like so bitchin'," blathers his daughter Moon Unit as the song's air-headed title character. On this point, she's right, but it's not "...like the Galleria ... And like all these like really great shoe stores" that make it so. It's an unassuming strip of Ventura Boulevard demarcated by Lindley and Zelzah avenues that has become a nucleus of the Valley's sizeable Jewish population.
The stretch is bookended by Mr. Kosher (17922 Ventura Blvd., 818-345-5100), a kosher butcher, and Aroma Bakery Café (18047 Ventura Blvd., 818-757-0477), an eatery that overflows with patrons at all hours and where Hebrew is the primary spoken language. These landmarks enclose a number of notable eating destinations, including Jerusalem Pizza (17942 Ventura Blvd., 818-758-9595), which serves up pizza à la kashrut, and Café Carolina (17934 Ventura Blvd., 818-881-8600), a charming Italian restaurant that was one of the first Certified Green Restaurants and whose menu includes vegetarian and vegan options. After dinner, you can head over to the strip mall just east of Louise Avenue to catch an independent movie at the Laemmle Town Center 5 art house theater (17200 Ventura Blvd., 818-981-9811). Or, for a more youthful scene, check out The Spot (17200 Ventura Blvd., 818-783-2233), a hookah bar in the same center that keeps very late hours and is always bursting with youngsters puffing away at the traditional Middle Eastern water pipes.
Never mind that monsoon scenario - now let's say that the weather on your day in the Valley is gorgeous, calling for activities alfresco.
The west Valley's wide-open spaces and position at the edge of the city make it a great place to be outdoors. Beilenson Park (6300 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys, 818-756-9743), one of the city's largest municipal parks, is smack-dab in the middle of the Valley. It includes Balboa Lake, which you can paddleboat in, bicycle around, or simply laze near. The Simi Hills that partition Chatsworth from Simi Valley are a draw for their humongous rock formations and desert-like scenery. The Santa Monica Mountains offer hiking of a different flavor, featuring chaparral flora, vistas of both the city and the Valley, and ocean breezes. To skip all the exertion and get right to the breathtaking views, drive to the southernmost point of Reseda Boulevard or Winnetka Boulevard, and don't look back until you get to the top. The panorama is enough to melt the hearts of even the most hardcore urbanites.
Sure, the west Valley also has the cultureless cul-de-sacs and malls: Nobody's perfect. But with the completion of the Orange Line, an express bus route that links the Red Line's terminus at North Hollywood with Warner Center in Woodland Hills, this area of L.A. is more available than ever. So move past the stereotypes, and look beyond the 405.
Published: 08/03/2006
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT
