![]() ![]() Much later it was part of US 101 but although no longer a highway would (like Wilshire) benefit greatly from the addition of a rail line and without one remains stalled in the car-dependent 20th Century. Ventura was used by Native Americans and later, after the Spanish Conquest, was developed as part of El Camino Real. Ventura isn’t known for it’s high culture, although there is culture to be found in its restaurants, mid-century architecture, and long history. Today the Miracle Mile is rightly celebrated for its cultural institutions but was developed as a sort of linear, automobile-oriented commercial corridor. ![]() Ventura is the Valley’s “main street.” A section of it in Encino is billed as “ The Valley’s Miracle Mile,” a reference to the museum-lined stretch of Los Angeles’s main street, Wilshire Boulevard. The main stretch of the route is Ventura Boulevard. The northern terminus, Chandler Boulevard, is named after Harry Chandler - the controversial publisher of the Los Angeles Times who also developed much of the San Fernando Valley. Coldwater Canyon Boulevard, at the route’s western terminus, is another connection to the basin (in this case to Beverly Hills). Lankershim has long been an important thoroughfare, connecting as it does the Valley with the Los Angeles Basin below via Cahuenga Pass. The choice of streets, Lankershim and Ventura, is interesting. However, add that all-important “the” and “The Valley” is nearly always understood by Angelenos to refer to the San Fernando Valley. Without a preceding definite article, “Valley” refers to the San Gabriel Valley in the names of many a business along Valley Boulevard. There will be organized activities and food trucks but for me the real fun is seeing these communities without fear of being harried, harassed, or harmed by cars. ![]() At just 8.85 kilometers, it’s a short one… but considering this past Tuesday it took me 45 minutes on the 134 to get from Studio City to Burbank, it’ll still be a glimpse of what the Valley looks like without gridlock.ĬicLAvias are free, open streets events that briefly close off streets to motorized traffic -although I have seen people on mobility scooters and battery powered toy cars so the events aren’t completely free of motorists. Tomorrow, 22 March, from 9am and 4pm, a stretch of Lankershim and Ventura boulevards will be closed to motorized traffic for CicLAvia – The Valley. ***** Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography’s Map of the San Fernando Valley (available on merchandise from Cal31 and art prints from 1650 Gallery) With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car-dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. ![]()
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