Valley Gurl Series: The Valley Isn’t Just a Place, It’s a Lifestyle

The Valley isn’t just a place, it’s a lifestyle. It’s known for its palm trees, wide streets, mountain views, suburban neighborhoods, and fun, homey atmosphere. How is it a lifestyle, you may ask? Well, it starts with its location. We are a community, a suburban part of Los Angeles with a different personality. Like I said in my very first blog post, the San Fernando Valley is part of Los Angeles, but it is its own thing. How are we our own thing? Well...

COMMUTE AND LOCATIONS:

• We are a community with its own identity, separate from Los Angeles. If you hear us Valley people talk about how to get from one place to another, we have our own lingo. We say "the 101" or "the 405," while people from other states or areas might say "Interstate 5" or "Highway 101." We have a lingo that most Valley people will understand.

• We are about 26 miles away from Los Angeles depending on where you are located. From the Valley to Los Angeles typically takes 25–30 minutes on a good day. On a rough day, it takes 45 minutes to an hour or more to make it there. To get to Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley, we usually take the US-101 South or Interstate 5 South.

• When you visit Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley, it’s quite a different world. It’s more boxed in, with lots of skyscrapers, tall buildings, poverty, businesses, and shops, with less green space and more structure. It has a fast-moving vibe, whereas the Valley has a more moderate, slower, and spacious feel.

• We are about 22–25 minutes away from Hollywood depending on where you are located and what time of day it is. We usually take the US-101 South (the Hollywood Freeway) to get there.

• We are about 25–30 minutes away from Culver City, which is a city in Los Angeles County. However, it usually takes over an hour to get there, whether it's on the I-405 South or through Topanga Canyon. The same goes for Santa Monica.

• We are about 21 miles from Santa Clarita, but it takes around 25–30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. We usually take Interstate 5 North (the Golden State Freeway) or State Route 14 North, depending on where we're coming from.

• We are about 20 to 80 minutes away from Ventura County depending on the exact starting and ending location using the US-101 or State Route 118. The US-101 (Ventura Freeway) connects the western/coastal parts of Ventura County, such as Ventura and Oxnard, through Thousand Oaks and into the southwestern part of the Valley. State Route 118 (the Ronald Reagan Freeway) connects to eastern Ventura County, such as Simi Valley and Moorpark, directly across a road called the Santa Susana Pass onto the northern rim of the Valley.

• We are about 25–30 minutes or 22–28 miles from Pasadena depending on location and traffic congestion. The route normally taken to Pasadena from the Valley is east on Interstate 210 (the Foothill Freeway).

So basically, I covered location and how to get to our neighbors. There’s so much more I can bring up; however, those are our primary neighbors that are an hour or less away depending on our lovely Southern California traffic. Basically, we are a suburban community that meets city convenience.

NEIGHBORHOODS & AREA CODE:

• Every neighborhood in the Valley has its own personality. If you visit them, they’re all different in their own way, from Burbank and Studio City to Sherman Oaks, Northridge, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, and beyond. I can’t explain every neighborhood, but you have the slower-paced communities with a city feel like Woodland Hills and West Hills. You have the ranch-style parts of town like Chatsworth and parts of Porter Ranch and Northridge. You have the college-town feel around the heart of Northridge with California State University, Northridge (CSUN). You have the lower-income but rich Valley culture areas like Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Mission Hills, and parts of Granada Hills. You have the higher-income neighborhoods like Calabasas, Porter Ranch, parts of Woodland Hills, West Hills, Sherman Oaks, and Burbank. Then you have the busier city areas like Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and Burbank. They all have their quirks, and we cherish every one of them.

• If you’re from the Valley, you automatically know 818. That is our area code, and we take it very seriously. We use 818 for many things. Some companies use it in their brand, their social media usernames, or simply call the Valley "The 818." It’s a great area code because it’s so iconic and memorable. If someone hears the numbers "818," it’s automatically associated with the Valley.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Entertainment is part of the San Fernando Valley’s DNA! As I’ve explained before in one of my previous blog posts, we have studios such as Warner Bros., Disney/ABC Studios, CBS Studios, Universal Studios, and over the hill we have Sony Pictures Studios located in Culver City (which used to be MGM). In Hollywood, we also have Paramount Studios. We have production companies and creative professionals who not only work here but live here too.

Not only do we have Universal Studios as a TV and film studio, but it’s also an amusement park, which I previously wrote a blog about. Not every town can say they are famous for TV and movie studios, let alone a theme park based around one. People come, stay, or move here to chase their careers in the entertainment industry, which is highly challenging, so all the power to them.

The Valley also plays an important part in filming locations. Some movies and TV shows I can name are Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Bad News Bears, The Karate Kid, Back to the Future, Boogie Nights, The Brady Bunch, Seinfeld, The Office, and Tacoma FD. I can go on, but I’ll save that for another blog. Now that's personality. That is what makes the Valley so unique and awesome!

RESTAURANTS, FAMILY-OWNED, CAFÉS, & BREWS:

The San Fernando Valley is known for its food and drink culture, whether it be a long-time family-owned business, a coffee shop, a café, a brewery/tavern, a burger stand, or somewhere that gives off a fun, nostalgic, fun-oriented vibe. We have so many places that I can’t even begin to name them all, but we have The Munch Box in Chatsworth, Carney’s in Studio City and on Sunset Boulevard, 8one8 Brewing in Canoga Park, Dark Horse Tavern in Tarzana, Henri’s in Canoga Park, Calabasas Coffee House in Calabasas, The Coffee's Crib in Woodland Hills, and many more. Most of these places are dog-friendly as well.

We also have a bunch of local strip malls that the Valley is known for and, of course, our indoor malls filled with restaurants and shops. I can go on, but I’ll be talking about all of these places and more in future posts.

The Valley is definitely unique when it comes to small local business owners, which is something I really appreciate. I love and support my Valley mom-and-pop shops more than the typical franchise nowadays because appreciating people's passion for their small businesses makes a difference. Support your local businesses, you won’t be disappointed, and you’ll be making a difference.

WEATHER:

Our typical day is sunny with a few clouds or no clouds at all. During the summer, temperatures are typically in the 80s and 90s but can easily reach 100 degrees or more. Spring usually brings highs in the upper 60s, 70s, and low 80s. Fall is very similar, although the beginning of the season tends to stay warmer.

During the winter, we get cold but not freezing. We typically stay in the 50s during the day, sometimes the 60s, and occasionally the 40s. At night, temperatures can drop into the 30s. We almost never get snow, t’s extremely rare. Instead, we usually get rain if we get any precipitation at all. We also experience high winds during the fall and winter. Our biggest weather concerns are floods after heavy rain, strong winds, wildfires, and earthquakes. Overall, we enjoy sunny, dry weather for most of the year, with occasional clouds and wind.

So, whether you’re chasing a career, raising a family, enjoying time at a locally owned business, or simply enjoying the weather, the Valley offers a unique suburban lifestyle. The memories and traditions will be forever in your Valley favor.

The San Fernando Valley isn’t defined by a map itself, t is defined by us, the people who live here, the stories, the sunshine, the neighborhoods, the traffic, the local community, the entertainment industry, the 818, the home-away-from-home feeling, and even the way we talk.

That is why the Valley isn’t just another city or place to be, it’s an actual lifestyle that we can live, breathe, share stories about, and make endless memories in.