Van Nuys, Los Angeles, CA

Van Nuys is the civic and working center for the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, home to the 1932 Art Deco tower of the Valley Municipal Building and to a busy general aviation airport on its western side. Housing is denser here than across most of the Valley, and most households rent. Apartment buildings line the big boulevards, while the side streets hold postwar bungalows and small ranch houses on modest lots. Delano Recreation Center on Erwin Street and the recreation center on Vanowen Street supply the local fields and courts. The bigger green space is the Sepulveda Basin just south, with Lake Balboa, bike paths and the Japanese Garden at the Tillman plant a short ride away. The food is cheap, varied and good. MacLeod Ale Brewing on Calvert Street pours English-style beers, and the Valley Relics Museum near the airport collects decades of Valley signs and memorabilia. Transit is better here than almost anywhere in the Valley. The Metro G Line has two stations, the Van Nuys rail station serves Metrolink and Amtrak trains to downtown and up the coast, and a light rail line is planned along the main boulevard. The 405 runs through the neighborhood and meets the 101 just to the south. The tradeoffs are density, traffic and aircraft noise near the runways. In return, a torta lunch, a train downtown and a pint on Calvert Street can all happen without leaving the neighborhood.