Last Sunday, I went to the SFV Obon Festival, as I have since I was a kid. I thought it’d be fun to dance, eat and enjoy the JA community, young and old.
What I didn’t know was that I’d be on camera. If you look in the background, I’m in the blue shirt with the sunglasses hanging from my collar. If you know Brian, he’s also there right behind me.
GPOYW.
At the Mission San Fernando Rey de España, the reason why the San Fernando Valley has its name. The mission has been around for the past 200+ years. This arch was evidently built for people my height - basically anyone under 6 feet.
the San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley. The place where I grew up and where I’m currently living post-college. I declare this with some hesitance and embarassment.
Of all the cities, other “valleys,” exurbs and suburbs in the Los Angeles area, I think the San Fernando Valley is the least understood. Named after the San Fernando Mission (which is 4 miles from my house), its population is diverse but segregated by freeways, hills, language and money. A century ago, there was just farmland, airplane strips and Hollywood star getaways. Now, it’s covered in track homes built in the 50s and 60s. It’s the birthplace of Valspeak and, thanks to Clueless, the reason why people my age can’t say a sentence without using “like” after every other word. It’s also famous for pornography, a reputation I wasn’t aware of until I was older.
I grew up with a sense that the Valley wasn’t a complete place. For sure, it’s quiet and has a sense of stability. Yet, my parents and I commute to work everyday rather than work here. Happiness seemed measured in how big (and fake) one’s house is and how expensive their toys (cars, TVs, kitchen appliances) are. Escape to the developing/foreclosed exurbs in the north and west were the only ways up and away from its stagnant decay. Ventura Boulevard is more like a sad imitation of Sunset Boulevard, wanting the culture/history of Hollywood and Los Angeles but lacking authenticity. I tried to find depth and identity there as a teenager and ended up escaping it for the San Francisco Bay Area after seeing no future for myself here.
In a way, I don’t disagree with people who don’t think that the San Fernando Valley is part of Los Angeles. But I point out that my education was provided by the LAUSD and that my water and power are provided by the LADWP. To me, in its sick way, the Valley is LA’s doppelganger, embodying its desire for a post-WWII suburban paradise and getting instead a wasteland of smog, shallowness and complacency.
