Talk:North Hills, Los Angeles

Comment
I've noticed substantial changes in this article ; someone clearly wanted to blot out the negatives associated with the North Hills community. Perhaps the original article was not NPOV because it emphasized them overtly ; the changed article seems to deny entirely the well known problems with drug sales, prostitution, and gang activity that North Hills has become known for (and Sepulveda, to a somewhat lesser extent, was known for).

It's fair to mention positive aspects of North Hills, but completely leaving out its less positive aspects is clearly violating NPOV. And one other thing: generally in Los Angeles, being close to a freeway does not make a neighborhood desirable - it usually has just the opposite effect. This is not to say that there aren't desirable neighborhoods close to freeways, but freeway access is not the reason why they are desirable.

Also, why was the information about ethnic changes in North Hills left out? The old Sepulveda, which was overwhelmingly non-Latino white, suffered from the same exact problems as predominately Latino North Hills. The ethnic changes in the neighborhood were not the cause of those problems ; they may have been contributing factors in their exacerbation, but the problems existed before the ethnic changes in the early 1990s. I can say this having lived in Northridge in the 1980s, and having had members of my family owning property in what was then Sepulveda in the 1970s (right near where Nordhoff meets the 405).

This article should be better balanced. It certainly needs a correction, to emphasize both positive and negative aspects of the area. Prairie Dog


 * I think the article now reads like a real estate ad. The answer is to go out and find SOURCES that talk about the reality. LA Times, Daily News, Valley Beat, etc. There are plenty of papers covering the Valley - I'm sure you should be able to find respectabel sources. Cheers, -Willmcw 03:03, Jun 10, 2005 (UTC)

I did find an LA Times story online that, while generally positive, did mention the neighborhood's negative aspects. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-re-guide1feb01,1,4538259.story?coll=la-editions-valley. Prairie Dog

I edited the article to present both positive and negative aspects of North Hills. This removes the NPOV issue. Prairie Dog.


 * Thanks for doing that. Cheers, -Willmcw 06:10, Jun 11, 2005 (UTC)

"The old Sepulveda, which was overwhelmingly non-Latino white, suffered from the same exact problems as predominately Latino North Hills."
 * No, it didn't. I lived in Sepulveda with my family right off of Woodley, and went to James Monroe High School.  There was no crime back then.  I lived there from the early 60's till 1976.  My mother would even let me be outside in the front yard alone, playing with barbie dolls.  There was zero crime then.  It was a great neighborhood.  Right next door to us lived a principal of a school, on the other side of us were people who worked at the university.  My father was a salesman.  And on Woodley, I had a friend whose father was a truck driver.  That's the kind of neighborhood it was.  It was diverse economically.  BTW, Wendy Sperber (now dead actress) was someone I knew at Mayall School and we walked home together ALONE at 8 years of age.  (FYI  her dad was a producer).  So no, it was not crime ridden then. Ruth E (talk) 08:06, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Someone who grew up in East Los Angeles or Boyle Heights would say the same thing about how their neighborhoods were not crime-ridden in the same era, even though compared to the rest of Los Angeles those neighborhoods were considered amongst the most crime ridden. They were merely less crime ridden than in later years, considering the escalation of gang activity in the 1980s. Problems of drug dealing and prostitution around Sepulveda and Nordhoff go back to the 1970s. It is undoubtable that such problems have increased in Los Angeles as a whole over the years, and Sepulveda might look idyllic compared to today's North Hills - but one could say the same about the East L.A. of that period looking idyllic in comparison to later years, or even the South Central of that period seeming idyllic in comparison to later years. 71.118.50.36 (talk) 02:40, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Wrong again. My grandmother grew up in Boyle Heights, and my mother grew up in East LA.  And when those neighborhoods were primarily Jewish, they were fine, but this was before the Latinos moved into them.  My family moved out of those neighborhoods, and by the mid 1960's those neighborhoods WERE crime ridden.  My family has lived in Los Angeles since about 1911, and so I am quite familiar with the neighborhoods of LA. Ruth E (talk) 20:26, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Know any Latinos who grew up in the Boyle Heights of the 1960s (NOT the 1930s)? They'll describe the area as not being crime ridden at the time, in comparison to what happened later. Most likely the same is true of virtually any L.A. neighborhood (even those which have improved since the 1960s got worse before they got better) Prairie Dog —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.106.215.45 (talk) 00:43, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I support RuthE's comments. I grew up near Nordhoff and Hayvenhurst in 1964-75, and street crime and burglary were extremely rare. Bicycle theft was a big deal back then. DOR (HK) (talk) 01:26, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * By the way, what happened to my old alma mater, Parthenia Street Elementary School? There was another one, too, behind Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High School. DOR (HK) (talk) 01:28, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Parthenia Street school is still there. The one you're thinking of behind Holmes is Dearborn Street School. My daughter just graduated from there -- she was there from K-5, and it was a good school. However, they are actually in Northridge. I grew up in Sepulveda and now live in North Hills West. I am in a very nice part and feel safe here. (West of Hayvenhurst, east of Balboa.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.90.184.155 (talk) 03:18, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

The date of name change from Sepulveda is not entirely correct.

We bought a house in what we were told was North Hills in 1986 after it was separated from Sepulveda. I'm unsure exactly when the name was officially changed, but it was much earlier than the 1991 date in the article. I was told by our neighbors the separation was because of the bad reputation of Sepulveda due to drugs, gangs, etc. east of the 405 freeway, and was done so due to efforts of real estate agents wanting to get higher prices for selling homes in what was then North Hills. Apparently, real estate interests in what was still known as Sepulveda (east of 405) moved to link back up with what had changed to North Hills by changing their name to North Hills in 1991 too.

Ironically we moved to a Northridge that had previously been a walnut and orange orchard, and real estate people there had the name of our area changed to Sherwood Forest to get better sales. So far, I don't know of any other neighborhoods of Northridge wanting to follow.

Photo request
I think it would help if this article had a photo Edward 14:06, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

In regards to the article about North Hills & its community:

I was born and raised in this neighborhood from 1980 - 2021. I am humored by any positive views of the city, especially from the previous authors perspective of being a resident in Northridge. Growing up, as kids, we thought Northridge was Beverly Hills in comparison.

North Hills is/was an extremely violent city to live in Los Angeles County. I lived on Langdon Street & Nordoff. The only slight improvement I saw in the neighboorhood was in 92 after the Rodney King Riots, when the police task force issued a curfew & placed street baracades on gang infested blocks. For only a brief moment did I feel somewhat "safe" in my home as a kid.

Prostitues, in front of the Knight Motel, would harrass me on my way to school. Random street perverts dealing drugs would stalk me, while simply walking to the market as a teenager. I had a close encounter with the infamous Valley Molester while riding my bike. I witnessed 3 stabbings, being unaffiliated with gangs. Seeing cars stolen & stripped in the middle of the night, outside my window, was common; as well as gunshots, and loud helicopters hovering.

Used needles & condoms littered the streets. Vicious pitbulls roaming the alleys attacking dogs & people. I saw 3 dogs murdered by dog packs, including my own black labrador "Sadie" (while on a leash). There is no "community", it is city formerly named "Sepulveda" that is still controlled by gang warfare.

After a long financial struggle, my mother (single parent of 4-- 2 being adopted) "had enough" & was finally able to move out of that hell hole. Unfortunately, at the cost of a home invasion robbery that has left my back scarred from me fighting off an intruder at only age 20. Did I mention it took 2hours for the police to arrive. I was locked up in a room, terrified my younger siblings were being killed.

My poor brother was beat-up everyday because of his blonde hair & blue eyes. My sister had a knife put to her throat in 7th grade, because she sat at the wrong tree during lunch recess.

I have nothing good to say about North Hills except that the only hope is gang intervention, police enforcement, parent guidance, & after school programs. Otherwise the sad cycle of poverty, crime, and ignorance will continue to grow like a deadly bacteria.

Yaya1582 (talk) 00:18, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RM bot 19:30, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

Borders
There is a problem with links, at least the Map of North Hills East Neighborhood Council boundaries. The page it links to is in a foreign language.

I am having difficulty determining the official boundaries of North Hills. Is there a Los Angeles Neighborhood Council for it? I especially do not understand where North Hills is in relation to Mission Hills and Granada Hills. The locations of Mission Hills and Granada Hills seem clear to me and but not North Hills.

North Hills is the "Default City Name" for ZIP code 91343 but I think it is confusing since there seems to be no Neighborhood Council for it. Sam Tomato (talk) 07:20, 11 August 2015 (UTC)