10 Reasons To Love The West San Fernando Valley

I have lived in different parts of Los Angeles since moving from Ventura County in 1996. Los Angeles certainly wasn’t what it is now. I first moved to West LA for school and lived in a 1960s built apartment building near Santa Monica Blvd. and the 405. Definitely not a glamorous location, but it was central to school and work. I loved living near Sawtelle however found I couldn’t eat out very much as a starving student.

A few years later, I moved near Robertson and Olympic in a Spanish-style duplex in an area, otherwise known as “Beverly Hills Adjacent”. This was a good location and somewhat safe, but busy and not very relaxing area. Located near two major streets along a route to Cedars Sinai Hospital, I got my fill of hearing sirens and honking.

After living there for almost 10 years, I moved to Hollywood Hills then Los Feliz. Loved the east side but commuting through traffic on city streets was a nightmare and living near unpredictable Hollywood was not my scene.

I moved to Studio City and felt more at peace in the valley. The pace was not as hectic but I was close to the city and work. The canyon was a nightmare in the mornings but I got used to it. When the opportunity to buy our first home came about last year, we landed here in the West SFV. As I’ve joined many community Facebook groups, I’ve come to take the good, the bad, and the ugly but I want to focus on the good and great!

Here are my 10 reasons to love the West San Fernando Valley. This post may get edited as I live on this side longer and discover more.

1. Parking Is Plentiful!

You don’t have to pull a ticket to park, unless you are going to The Village to shop. Guests can park at your house easily. Going to Target or Trader Joe’s at the Fallbrook Center is fairly easy and there are tons of spaces. I can get in and out of the Westfield Topanga Mall easily.

2. Dining Out is Less Expensive

I noticed this right away after moving here from the city. We are blessed with some great chain restaurants like Stonefire, Poquito Mas, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Baja Fresh, and Cheesecake Factory. Living in the city you have to make reservations and out here you rarely need one. We also love our local pizza parlor, West Hills Pizza! Pho 21 in Canoga Park is our favorite go-to Vietnamese restaurant. Tacos at Casa de Papi are delicious and they have Chili Verde and empanadas. Go’s Sushi is a couple doors down and Nicos is a good place to catch breakfast once in awhile.

3. Vallarta and Pavilions Supermarkets

All I have to say is great job to Vallarta Supermarkets for putting a great new place to get groceries and ready-made food. Their new concept is clean, affordable, and delicious. Find the link here for the Yelp reviews for Vallarta in Canoga Park. I will write a post about this later. Pavilions on Platt in West Hills, just had a makeover a few months ago and was revamped with a better seafood and meat section as well as bakery and wine tastings! You can get what you need here for your picnic at Malibu Wines.

4. Outdoor Activities- Hiking, Running, and Biking

Living next to several trails for hiking, running, and mountain biking is a plus. These are probably just a few. Being in West SFV, we are close to Agoura, Calabasas, Bell Canyon, Simi Valley, and Santa Monica Mountains. I have yet to explore them!

Something you don’t find in the city are wide enough bike lanes. I would have to ride along San Vicente in Brentwood down Ocean to the Marvin Braude trail to PCH. Now I can ride along Valley Circle to Calabasas or ride to the Orange Line Bike Path (14 miles) and to Lake Balboa. Map of all bike lanes and paths in Los Angeles County here.

There are some challenging climbing hills in West Hills in the neighborhoods off Highlander. Just pack extra tubes as flats can happen with thorns and bike paths can get full of pine needles and leaves during certain times of year. If you’re up for some Velodrome riding, we have one in the SFV in Encino. Find out more about the Encino Velodrome here.

In my old days as a runner I would drive all the way to Santa Monica to run with my team. We would run the grass median along San Vicente Blvd and run Will Rogers State Park for hill repeats. Well, over here in the West SFV there are plenty of areas to run and hills to do repeats. If I wanted to relive my track days, I could jump into the Allcomers Meet at Birmingham High School

5. Warmer Weather and Sunshine

I love that it’s warmer out here. It’s easily 10 degrees warmer that the city during the spring and summer months. I like it because I can enjoy my front patio or I can enjoy my backyard for grilling and playing with my dog. My succulents thrive with all the sunshine and I feel like doing some gardening because I actually have the space and Green Thumb Nursery is close by.

Click here for weather averages for West SFV.

6. Historical and Cultural Aspect

When I was looking into moving to West Hills, I came across this in Wikipedia, “The neighborhood was formerly the home of many Native American tribes, and during the early Spanish and Mexican era was part of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España. In the American era, West Hills was part of Owensmouth, which was renamed Canoga Parkin 1930. West Hills was established in western Canoga Park and retained its present name in 1987.”

“From 1797 to 1846, the area (future West Hills) was part of Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). After Mexico won independence from Spain, it later became part of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando in Alta California. In 1845, a separate land grant for Rancho El Escorpión was issued by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash people: Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Urbano’s son Mañuel.^[21] It encompassed the land west of present-day Woodlake Avenue in West Hills, with its adobe ranch buildings (present 1840s—1960s) sited beside Bell Creek near present-day Bell Canyon Park.”
-Wikipedia

Places in the SFV to check out:

7. Community and Family Values

What I noticed upon moving here in West Hills is that it feels like my hometown of Ventura, CA. Why? It’s a small town feel. You get to know your neighbors and extended neighbors through social media. I have met some great people out here ranging from my immediate neighbors to people I met on Facebook groups for the area.

Within a couple months of moving here, I saw a “Coffee With A Cop” meeting nearby and decided to go to meet our Senior Lead Officer. It was a great casual meeting with our SLO where I met a couple block captains from close by neighborhoods. We exchanged info and still see each other and keep in touch socially. I like going to stores and running into people I’ve met.

I have recently joined the Beautification Committee with the West Hills Neighborhood Council after attending a few neighborhood cleanups last year. There are students from local schools that get involved and care about their community. I would say, if caring and meeting people in your community matters, then West SFV is for you.

8. Easy Access to Shopping

Living within a couple miles of Costco, Walmart, Target, Westfield Topanga, Home Depot, Ulta, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Tuesday Morning, Joann’s, Daiso, Big Lots, Off 5th, Nordstrom Rack, etc is super convenient! Parking is easy at these locations compared to living in other parts of the city where you may have to travel farther to get to these stores. Parking of course is also an issue once you get there. In the West SFV, this a huge plus and time saver.

9. More Space

Living in the city is a rat race. Living in the SFV you can typically expect a bit more space between you and your neighbor. More single family homes than vertical living. Even with the plans for Woodland Hills Warner Center to be built up, West Hills remains mainly singly family homes. I grew up in suburbia so living out here in the West Valley is similar. I like peace and quiet and choose serenity to chaos.

10. TIme moveS slower out here

Yes, it does. I like that the pace is slower than in the city. I feel you get more time out here if there’s such a thing because you’re not waiting in lines to when you’re shopping as long as you would in the city. You an actually enjoy spending time in your yard and garden which definitely makes you feel like time is moving slower.

I’m sure I missed something! Please leave your comments so others can discover.

One response to “10 Reasons To Love The West San Fernando Valley”

Monicca De Luna Shaw

February 28, 2020

When you get a chance check out Pierce College! I grew up in West Canoga Park on Farralone Avenue next to Columbus Middle school and attended Faith Baptist Private school on the same street. I also went to Pierce College! (They have a great ASL program which I benefitted from immensely (I’m 90% Deaf). During my running days, I loved running on campus trails, the bleachers at the football training field and running to class, of course! (Huge campus!) Living in Burbank, I now run mostly on the Chandler Bike Path with my two toddlers(who were born at West Hills Hospital! But nobody wants to go there!) Having lived in Canoga Park and all over the SFV since birth I’ve seen the landscape transform immensely. And for the better. Such as, a California Chicken Cafe on Topanga Cyn Blvd, on the way up to the 118. (One of the only Westside contributions I can get behind:)

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