Valley Girls, Represent!

Of course this week's travel feature (okay-- feature may be stretching it, but it was on the front page of the Sunday NYT Travel section, in any case) on the San Fernando Valley (affectionally known as "THE" Valley, as NYC is known as "THE" City-- because there is no other that could possibly stand up to it...) was one not to be missed. I'll let you read the article for yourselves however, anyone who has any ties to this great and magical corner of the world will surely get a kick out of it.

Apparently, The Valley is making a play for the new LA hot spot. Clubs are cropping up on Ventura Boulevard (Iest we forget Tom Petty's refrain, "... and all the vampires walkin' through The Valley move west down Ventura Blvd...) ala Sunset Blvd, making bars actually "hoppable" without getting into your car (don't scoff, you New Yorkers). Of course, the article fails to touch on the getting home after the hopping... but we'll overlook it.

And celebrities aren't ignoring it either. Nick and Jessica famously made their [broken and slightly dysfunctional] home there (well, in Calabasas, but that counts by "Valley" vs. "Westside" standards). And then there was Scotty from Star Trek (in Van Nuys, no less!), Christian Slater (lived down the street from my friend, Beth), and the best example of all? Beverly Hill's ultimate poster child, Tori Spelling, presently calls The Valley (Studio City to be exact) home.

Ah... The Valley. My home of homes. The picture is the best, though-- it's the corner of Vesper and Ventura (I'm totally guessing on that intersection, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong); La Reina was an old movie theater (way before my time) and the facade has been preserved for posterity. The building used to be "La Reina Gap" because there was a Gap and BR there. Now it's a Starbucks. If that's not a text book example of gentrification, I don't know what is.