Ten Favorite Things About: The Place You Call Home

Brianna (the artistic brain behind this here blog design) is having a Link-Up and I had to participate because I LOVE to talk about things I LOVE! This week’s topic is “Ten things I love about.. the place you call home”.

I live in Los Angeles, but more specifically in the San Fernando Valley. You don’t have to be from SoCal to know about this place. It’s the famous “818” area code (although they’ve now added a second area code, 747) and the “valley” that everyone heard about on Clueless. For a while I was the typical “Valley Girl” with blond hair and a red convertible though I don’t think my accent is quite as thick as portrayed in the movie.

Let’s get started with the fabulous place that is the SFV:

1.    Location, Location, Location!  They say that when you look to buy property those are the 3 things to consider, and although there are areas within the Valley you want to stick to, it would be very hard to move me out of the 818.

2.    Weather! I know this is probably something everyone who lives in California says – but it’s true (for the most part). This winter is an example. While most of the rest of the country has been freezing and/or covered in snow, we’ve been having 70*+ days daily. While today we expect a high of 68, by Friday it will be in the mid-80s! As many have probably heard, it rained this weekend (and it rained hard for 3 days!) but it was the first significant rain we’ve had in 3 years I heard. It does get hot in the summer but you do get used to it and that’s why we have so many shopping malls! Which brings me to…

(I took this one when I left work today, there's a plane in there!)

3.    Shopping! Everyone says this about their home town, but I think that we outshine others. The Valley is minutes away from Beverly Hills if those type of stores are your thing. There are also tons of thrift stores all around to satisfy the other shopping end. In the middle there are countless strip malls and shopping centers (I’ve heard we started the “mall” thing) with every kind of store you’ve imagined (or could possibly have a use for!)

4.    Food! Also, not unique but still true. Of course there is the famous In-N-Out but we also have some amazing hole-in-the-wall mom and pop type restaurants that are to die for. We have some pretty awesome ethnic food (Thai and Indian among my favorites) in the Valley and we are moments away from Little Ethiopia where the food is spectacular!

5.    Hiking/Walking/Climbing! Although our transportation system sucks (they are working on it and it is getting better) we do have some of the nicest areas to hike, climb and walk within 30 minutes from anywhere you are in the Valley. Near our home in the West Valley we have some rocky sandstone mountains that area beautiful to look like and fun to climb. There are also trails that will lead you right behind the Hollywood sign and others that take you to the point where you can look at Malibu and Santa Monica and the Pacific on one side and the Valley on the other – gorgeous views even when it’s smoggy or foggy.

(This is near my house. I love it!)

6.    Freeways! This one is a bit different, I guess. Most people would not include freeways since here that usually means traffic, but we have freeways nearby that you can hop on and take to any of the places I’ve mentioned. I’ve been to places where you have to drive miles and miles on surface streets in order to get to one, using up gas at each red light. In the Valley and in Los Angeles mostly anywhere you go a freeway is nearby.

7.    Snow/Beach/Dessert/ETC! These are almost obligatory to include, so I’ll lump them in together. Any of these things are available to you within an hours’ drive from where you live here. Albeit we aren’t getting much snow lately, but when it’s available we are close enough to visit. Mexico is only a few hours away as well!

8.    Historical Sites! Yes, I know, this isn’t New York or Washington DC or Philadelphia, but we have our own history. This item, for me, is a bit more local. I live in a suburb called Chatsworth. It has quite a history and it is pretty well recorded. For example, Chatsworth joined the city of Los Angeles when they had a need for water and weren’t able to get it for themselves. It also has the oldest elementary school in the Valley which has a cool story in itself (the school my niece and nephew go to, and hopefully my own kids one day!). There is a church from over 100 years ago at our cemetery and the house of one of the original inhabitants of the city. I love history, especially the one around me.

9.    Staples Center/Pantages/Hollywood Bowl/ETC: We have an enormous amount of places to go to for entertainment whether you like sports (Lakers/Clippers/Dodgers/Kings) or like the theater (Pantages) or like to check out Stars (Hollywood Blvd) or like listening to a concert under the stars (Hollywood Bowl) or want to see a fun pre-show at a Disney movie (El Capitan) there is something for you! With Groupon/Living Social type of websites you can get in to these places with discounts which is always an added bonus.

10.  Diversity! We are a very diverse place. There are over 224 spoken languages in Los Angeles, which doesn’t include different dialects. People in Los Angeles (and the Valley) come from all parts of the world. In my office there are people from just about every country in central and south American, from different countries in Asia and the middle-east. And that’s just my office!

It was hard to stick to only 10 things. I had to leave out not having a football team for instance. I love that and I LOVE my hometown!