A clash over huge new homes on average-size lots has divided Valley Village and led to an L.A. ordinance that would limit the size of houses…
The proposed split has raised tempers in the community and has even brought religion into the debate because a majority of the neighborhood council’s 15 members are Orthodox Jews, many of whom support Friedman’s motion.
One resident compared Friedman’s proposal to the division of occupied territories in Israel.
Because of the controversy, neighborhood council meetings often are standing room only and community newsletters are filled with articles about development.
Says a source: Valley Village was a slum. North Hollywood. Home to vicious Latino gangs. It’s hot. The people who live there are the can’t-make-it-in-Studio-City crowd. About 30 years ago, a bunch of rich white people got together with serious envy of Studio City went to Los Angeles County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and got it renamed Valley Village.
There are parts of Valley Village that are nice. There are winding streets. Big front lawns. There are few sidewalks. Under Rav Aron Tendler, Shaarey Zedek began growing in the 1990s, becoming the biggest central Orthodox community after Fairfax and Pico/Robertson. All the houses in Valley Village became as expensive at Studio City. The area got cachet. The credit goes to its Orthodox Jewish community.
The old timers in Valley Village have few friends and few children. There are a few gays and a bunch of misfits. The Orthodox have big families and a bunch of Israelis who want big houses. The Orthodox need big houses because they have big families and they need bigger kitchens. The Orthodox built a bunch of big houses which take away from the architecture of the neighborhood but even worse they are populated with Orthodox Jews, who few people like.
A few years ago, this all came ahead and there was an ordinance that you couldn’t build on more than 40% of the lot. It became impossible to have an Orthodox home with six bedrooms and three kitchens.
The Orthodox community woke up and ran a slate of candidates for the Valley Village Neighborhood Council. There was a harsh election. The shul won four seats. In 2006, the shul landed another five candidates, giving it nine of 15.
The Valley Village Homeowners Association is a waste of time.
The Orthodox don’t appear to give a damn about anybody else. They said, "Fine. You don’t like us. We don’t like you. Go split off."
Valley Village has lame events such as dances that the Orthodox don’t show up to. They don’t feel the need to belong to the rotary or other civic organizations. Then out of nowhere the Orthodox control things.
