Reminiscing The Valley

With all talk of the Orange Line and Transit Oriented Development (TOD), The Valley might just be embarking on some major changes over the years. Concurrently, my friend Katy, who has lived in The Valley her whole life, just moved to Silverlake to live with her boyfriend last month. Today, she posted this "life update in the basin" on her MySpace blog (which is posted below). Will TOD and other factors change the sense of community in The Valley?

One major distinction between greater Los Angeles and the valley is that people just seem to be friendlier and more willing to open up to their neighbors in the valley. Whenever I need to fill up the tank I make it a point to visit the Mobil on San Fernando Mission and Balboa where my cute little Asian gas station attendent works. He's worked there ever since I can remember and he always tells me never to fall in love with boys because they're scum bags. "Let them fall in love with you!" he says. "Make them pay for everything too!"

I also miss my auto shop in Chatsworth. Sometimes I'll go out of my way just to get my oil changed there even if it's a little bit more expensive. It's the only shop I've ever been to where I'm absolutely positive they have no intention to rip me off. They're the sort of people who will let you know if they're going to exceed the estimate they gave you and will show you exactly what's been done so that you know they didn't just replace your alternator with a cheese grater or something.

Sure, the hostile Korean mechanic down the street gets the job down but not without berating me for being an insane female driver. The people in Silverlake all work by the holier than thou attitude and never seem to get anything done in a timely or efficient manner. The only person I've encountered thus far that seems to appeal to my "down home sensibilities" is this woman who just opened a boutique near Sunset Junction. Anyone who can stick a sale in the midst of a dog vomiting on the welcome mat is alright by me. As for the rest of these chickenheaded clowns, they can all go back from whence they came.