Van Nuys Boulevard

Last updated
Van Nuys Boulevard
Namesake Isaac Newton Van Nuys
Maintained by Bureau of Street Services, Los Angeles Department of Public Works
Location Los Angeles, California
Nearest metro station LAMetroLogo.svg LACMTA Square G Line.svg   Van Nuys
South endValley Vista Blvd. in Sherman Oaks
Major
junctions
Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks
US 101 (1961 cutout).svg US 101 in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys
Sherman Way in Panorama City
Roscoe Blvd. in Panorama City
I-5 (1961).svg I-5 in Arleta
San Fernando Road in Pacoima
I-210 (1961).svg I-210 in Lake View Terrace
North endFenton Avenue. in Lake View Terrace

Van Nuys Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, which was depicted in the 1979 film Van Nuys Blvd.

Contents

History

When Van Nuys was plotted in 1911, the main thoroughfare and its offshoots were called Sherman Way. The Pacific Electric San Fernando Line interurban railway was constructed north to San Fernando between 1911 and 1913 largely in the boulevard's median strip. [1] As the town developed, North Sherman Way was renamed Van Nuys Boulevard as the main boulevard in the town of Van Nuys, which got its name from longtime Valley wheat farmer Isaac Newton Van Nuys. [2] Sherman Way, named for entrepreneur and Valley developer Gen. Moses Hazeltine Sherman, originally included segments of the thoroughfares known today as Chandler and Van Nuys boulevards. [3] [4] Rails were removed from the street by 1981. [5]

Geography

Van Nuys Boulevard at the Metro G Line crossing, 2008 Van Nuys Boulevard Street Scene2.JPG
Van Nuys Boulevard at the Metro G Line crossing, 2008

Van Nuys Boulevard runs approximately ten miles from the Santa Monica Mountains in Sherman Oaks at its southern terminus to the foothills of the western end of the San Gabriel Mountains in Lake View Terrace at its northern terminus. It passes through the affluent community of Sherman Oaks, then continues through the community of Van Nuys, passing the numerous automobile dealerships in southern Van Nuys, then passing through the Van Nuys Municipal Center, the government center of the San Fernando Valley, then continuing north through Panorama City, past the old General Motors plant now converted into a shopping plaza called “The Plant,” before veering north east through the communities of Arleta and Pacoima, passing the San Fernando Gardens housing project, and ending in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

With its wide expanse through the heart of the San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys Boulevard became known from the 1950s through the 1970s as a center of teenage cruising. [6] [7] [8] [9] Its car culture was celebrated in several motion pictures, including Van Nuys Boulevard. Cruising became a thing of the past as police cracked down on the practice, but the car culture still lives on through the numerous automobile dealerships that line both sides of Van Nuys Boulevard in northern Sherman Oaks and southern Van Nuys.

Van Nuys Boulevard has several bus routes running on it, including two Metro routes with heavy ridership, Metro Rapid line 761 and Metro Local line 233. Van Nuys is currently the only arterial bus corridor in the San Fernando Valley running New Flyer XN60 articulated buses for both lines (previously operated by NABI 60-BRT buses). The Metro G Line has a station at Van Nuys. Further to the north, there is a Metrolink and Amtrak station. In the first half of the 20th century, Pacific Electric interurban trains ran in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard from Chandler Boulevard to Parthenia Street, which would then continue to Sepulveda Boulevard; traces of this route can be seen in the large medians of the streets the tracks used to run on.

Metro is currently proposing a light rail line from the G Line station to San Fernando along Van Nuys Boulevard as part of the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project.

Communities along Van Nuys Boulevard (south to north)

Looking south from Lake View Terrace Van Nuys Boulevard Looking South from Lake View Terrace.JPG
Looking south from Lake View Terrace

Landmarks along Van Nuys Boulevard (south to north)

Valley Municipal Building Valley Municipal Building.JPG
Valley Municipal Building
Panorama High School Panorama High School.JPG
Panorama High School

Places on Van Nuys Boulevard

Notes

  1. "San Fernando Valley Line". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. "The Valley Observed". Americassuburb.com. Retrieved 24 November 2005.
  3. "The Valley Observed". Amertcassuburb.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. "Early Views of the San Fernando Valley". Water and Power Associates. Water and Power Associates. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. "1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes" (PDF). Caltrans. February 1982. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  6. "AskPatty.com: Cruising the Boulevard".
  7. "Cruising Van Nuys Boulevard".
  8. "Van Nuys High School Class of 1966: Let's Cruise Van Nuys Boulevard".
  9. "Van Nuys Boomers: Van Nuys Boulevard".
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Los Angeles Almanac: City of Los Angeles Population by Community & Race 2000 Census". Archived from the original on 2010-01-11.
  11. "The Village at Sherman Oaks".
  12. "Sherman Oaks Hospital".
  13. "Grossman Burn Center". Archived from the original on 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  14. "How Yousif Got His Smile Back". CNN. 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  15. Whiteson, Leon (1990-06-04). "Courting Beauty in Construction: New Van Nuys Municipal Court Combines Functionalism and Dignity of Design". Los Angeles Times .
  16. "21st Beautification Awards Announced". Los Angeles Times . 1991-06-02.
  17. "Senate Approves Bill To Designate San Fernando Valley Federal Building in Honor of the Late Congressman James C. Corman".
  18. "Former City Councilman Marvin Braude Dies". Archived from the original on July 1, 2012.
  19. "Braude Center brings uplift to Van Nuys City Hall area".
  20. "Valley Municipal Building".
  21. "PreserveLA.com: Van Nuys City Hall Project".
  22. "Here in Van Nuys: Van Nuys Municipal Building". Archived from the original on 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  23. "Panorama High School".
  24. "Arleta High School".
  25. "Mapping the Murals of Pacoima". I Am San Fernando. March 27, 2013.
  26. "Answers.com: San Fernando Gardens".
  27. "Youth Policy Institute: YPI iN Pacoima". Archived from the original on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2008-03-16.

See also

Template:Attached KML/Van Nuys Boulevard
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