Arleta, Los Angeles, CA

Arleta is a compact, mostly single-family neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley, and it became its own place in 1968 after the new Golden State Freeway cut it off from the rest of Pacoima. This part of Los Angeles is quieter than the corridors around it, with Panorama City, Sun Valley and Mission Hills on its borders. Housing is the core of the neighborhood. Most streets are lined with 1940s and 1950s ranch houses and small stucco homes on regular lots, built when wartime factories turned farmland into subdivisions, and a large share are owner-occupied. Apartments are few and mostly sit along Van Nuys Boulevard and Woodman Avenue. Branford Park is the busiest green space, with a gym, an auditorium, ball diamonds, tennis courts and a soccer field. Devonshire Arleta Park offers a smaller neighborhood park on the north side, and Hansen Dam's trails and lakes are a short drive northeast. Woodman Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard carry the food. Sally's House of Lechon brings Filipino roast pork, and Tip Top Hamburgers is the old-school burger stand on Woodman. Father's Donuts and a couple of nieve and paleta shops handle dessert. Errands are close by, with Metro Market on Van Nuys Boulevard, a Regency shopping center on Woodman, and big stores in neighboring Panorama City. Metro's Rapid 761 runs Van Nuys Boulevard, and the 5 and 170 meet at the neighborhood's edge, so most commutes start on the freeway. Freeway noise is part of life on the blocks near the 5 and 170, and there are few sit-down restaurants or bars. Arleta makes up for it with calm residential streets that stay single-family from end to end, a rarity this close to two freeways.