The San Fernando Valley

The San Fernando Valley gets a bad rap. Mocked in the infamous Frank Zappa song and Nicolas Cage film, both of the same name, "Valley Girl," this area of suburban bliss is located just over the hill of the notably "more cool" areas of Downtown, Hollywood, and the Westside. There are even some Angelenos who swear, with a sneer, that they will never set foot in "the Valley." But despite all the snickering, the Valley is home to many of the sets and artists that have made Los Angeles famous: Disney, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, NBC, and, ahem, a large chunk of pornography. In fact, nearly 70% of all entertainment productions in L.A. happen here. That means that some very rich entertainment executives regularly undergo sweltering summer temperatures, smog, and bumper-to-bumper traffic to go there everyday on their trek from their Westside and Malibu compounds to their less glamorous workplaces.

So what's in store for you? Well, besides the somewhat tired Universal Studios Hollywood, there's an archetypal urban sprawl. You might start wondering if there's a center to this maze of minimalls, gas stations, and mid-century tract homes. Nope. Instead, there are a dozen or so neighborhoods with names like Encino, Van Nuys, and Burbank, each with its own character if you look hard enough. One small jewel of the valley, Studio City, is rich with film history dating to 1920s silent movies. Its pedestrian-friendly strip along Ventura Boulevard has some of the tallest palms in L.A. and many interesting boutiques, antiques stores, and great nonchain outdoor cafés. But with so much to see on "the other side of the hill," your visit to the Valley is most likely best spent focusing on the entertainment industry aspect rather than searching for the diamond in the rough.