“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Los Angeles. Although we’re a large city, most people don’t want to associate themselves with LA. Rather, they associate themselves with a community name within the city. According to the LA City Nerd, there are approximately 178 such communities, representing former cities (such as “Sawtelle”), former subdivisions (such as “Silver Lake”), or just marketing angles. Some of these names are official, and some are not. Some have known boundaries, and some do not. But these names are an intense source of pride… and controversy.
I’m well aware of these controversies. When we moved into our previous house, we were living in the community of Sepulveda, which was formerly Mission Acres. Some of the other folks on my friends list also lived in Sepulveda, although others may have lived in Panorama City or Arleta. Each name brought its own connotation and baggage. Part of Sepulveda (specifically the part west of I-405) didn’t like that baggage, and petitioned the city to split off from Sepulveda, and change their community to North Hills (never mind that there was only one hill). They succeeded. In retaliation, the remainder of Sepulveda also petitioned to change its name to North Hills… and succeeded.
Name changes and splits have happened numerous times in the valley. There is the case of Canoga Park and West Hills. There is North Hollywood and Valley Village, as well as Van Nuys and Valley Glen.
But that’s not the latest. According to LA Times, there’s trouble my friends. Trouble in Lake Balboa. Trouble with capital-T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Property Values. There are a number of issues. First, although Lake Balboa is signed… it doesn’t exist. Yup, they put up the signs, but never formally designated the community. Thus, there are potential lawsuits from those that believed they were buying in Lake Balboa (vs. the less tony “Van Nuys”)… but really didn’t. Is this significant? According to Steven Leffert, a retired science and math teacher who has lived in Van Nuys since 1969, real estate sales statistics show that homes with a Lake Balboa address have escalated in value at nearly twice the rate of those with Van Nuys addresses.
Second, Lake Balboa doesn’t actually include the lake (just like North Hills only has one hill). The actual lake, which in reality is a 27-acre Sepulveda Flood Control Basin pond filled with treated wastewater… is in Encino… which doesn’t want to lose the lake.
Third, some of the residents currently in the parts of Van Nuys that were still Van Nuys also want to be part of Lake Balboa. Why? Property values again. Residents living in an area roughly bounded by I-405 on the east, the Los Angeles River on the south (why they didn’t use US-101 is beyond me), Roscoe Boulevard on the north and White Oak Avenue have lobbied for the name change as a way of unifying the area politically and improving property values. Of course, the real reason is they don’t want to be associated with the poorer sections of Van Nuys east of the freeway.
I’m sure, if they could do it, they would exclude the brewery and the industrial parts of the potential “Lake Balboa”. Perhaps they should petition to make that area “Busch Gardens”. Sounds quite picturesque. Related to this is the problem that, if the name change goes through, Van Nuys Airport (VNY), one of the busiest general aviation airports… will no longer be in Van Nuys!
Since the last flurry of name changes (which tended to coincide with the last drop in property values… coincidence… I think not), the rules have changed, and now city rules require the City Council to approve neighborhood name changes, and the new approval system requires a broad public consensus. However, the city is working on a compromise… which of course means a name change will happen, somehow.
I find this all silly. We lose history and lovely names (I still like “Mission Acres”), all because of people who are worried about the effects of the never-named “them” on their property values. Of course, I’m now living in Northridge, one of the “better” named communities. Still, I’m not in “Porter Ranch”.
