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Health & Fitness

Buzzfeed Contributor Loves the SF Valley

From Buzzfeed: 10 Things to Get Over About Los Angeles. (Hating the SF Valley is number #1)


This article from Buzzfeed tells people who hate on the San Fernando Valley to "get over it". 

The author of the article, who goes by the user name of "ipagn28", goes on to say "plenty of awesome stuff comes from the valley".

I'm not a native Angeleno but I've lived here most of my life. When I moved from the Fairfax area into Laurel Canyon 20 years ago, I discovered the joys of San Fernando Valley. Less traffic, friendlier people, personalized service at the speciality shops, many of which were still operated by the people who owned them. The area wasn't as developed yet. No Starbucks anywhere. But you could get ice cream at the drugstore on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Laurel Canyon. 

The "city side" has found the valley. Probably because, as the Buzzfeed article mentioned, 40 percent of Los Angeles lives here now. I knew it was official when Urban Outfitters showed up on Ventura Boulevard. And while some old timers have disappeared - like Studio City Camera, the camera store that was once located at Ventura and Vantage, and one of the places that first brought me down into the Valley. Owned by a German man (whose name I forget), they fixed the 50 year old old Voigtlander camera my father had given me when no one else could. From then until they closed, they were the only place I allowed to develop my film. (you remember film, don't you?)

Over time, I spent more and more time in the Valley, rarely visiting what I began to consider the "city side."

Eventually, I moved from Laurel Canyon into the valley. I miss the cooler weather of the hills, but have discovered that in general, I am happier to have my bones warm, which didn't happen often in the misty pockets of the canyon. When I lived in the canyon, it took me an extra 20 minutes to get anywhere - that is as long as my trips from home were carefully planned around the traffic jams that back up where Laurel Canyon narrows to two lanes. And plenty of times I couldn't get out of the canyon because of a felled tree or a mudslide. Not that I didn't love living in Laurel Canyon, but I am quite happy in the valley.
I guess I'm saying, I agree with "ipagn28". People should get over hating the valley. Especially since so many of us live here.
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