I had spent several years wondering if there was a place like the one I had in my head. I live in Los Angeles, my husband is Hispanic, I had spent some time in Mexico and loved it. I loved the family BBQs in the park, the kid's parties at my husband's cousins houses, and the vibrant yet laid back life that a Hispanic community brings to it's residents. I wanted a safe, affordable, urban, Hispanic community. A community with nice homes, nice parks, friendly neighbors, kids playing in the street, the taco truck or the paletero man coming by with his cart, a place where I could rent a jumper for my kid's parties, play some cumbia, invite over the family, and not violate HOA codes or community expectations. Yet I wanted the community to be safe, friendly, and neighbors that took care of their homes. I searched EVERY major city across the SW that was likely to have a high Hispanic population and a good local economy. I searched Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston - but with no luck. With each city it was the same old story. The higher the Hispanic population the higher the crime, the more serious the black vs. Latino gang problems, the lower the residential upkeep, and the more rundown the community was. I had a vision in my head of a vibrant, flavorful, clean, safe community and I felt that maybe I was crazy.
When I was given the news that I was on track for another promotion at work - I started thinking - and starting looking at homes online - I realized I could actually afford a future here in Los Angeles - one that included home ownership. I had always wanted to stay in L.A. but couldn't see a future here since I wanted to buy a home. This is why I searched so diligently across other cities - hoping to find a cheaper, mini-version of L.A. I almost found it in San Antonio, yet the suburbs felt too isolated and controlled for me and I didn't want the crime found in the non-suburban neighborhoods. Not to mention the huge drop in salary I would take and I didn't even have any potential career leads for any other city.
At first we started by looking at small townhomes across the San Fernando Valley. I was having the same problem. Anywhere affordable was still riddled with crime. We eventually seemed to settle on Winnetka - but after checking the crime stats on a townhouse on a street that I loved - and finding an attempted murder on the corner and another murder 2 blocks away - I decided to try to find another part of the valley. I had always noticed a ton of affordable homes in Sylmar - but it had a bad reputation and was pretty far up and nestled along the mountains (and subject to California's many wildfires!). After checking it out - I found that it wasn't quite as horrible as it's reputation was. But I didn't LOVE it either.
There was a townhome I loved in San Fernando - a neighboring city - but my husband wasn't crazy about it and it was a little small for the money. But San Fernando had spoken to me - the first time we came up to check out a condo in Mission Hills, by Brand Park, and drove through the downtown area of San Fernando - we were struck by how clean and nice it was - and the area really stuck with me - I was almost moved to tears. I felt that this would be our future home. But with not many options and an unclear focus of what we wanted (at that time I was focused on clean, new, 2 story townhomes and wasn't thinking about anything else) we didn't really give SF much of a second thought. San Fernando only had that 1 townhome complex and so we focused on Sylmar - which has at least 50. A few weeks went by and I couldn't help but notice the huge difference between Sylmar and San Fernando. The more we visited San Fernando the more I felt drawn to it in a very strong way. We started to look at single-family-homes - older homes that would need some more work.
We drove up there one weekend, looked at some houses, and went to have lunch at the marketplace downtown. Now I don't know how to describe this place so I will just post some pictures. But it feels like an old west town mixed with a strong feeling of a pueblo in Mexico. We sat down and enjoyed a leisurly lunch. The residents were friendly, the feeling in the atmosphere was nice, and the restaurant reminded me of ones we had visited while in Mexico. My husband had to go to work and we left feeling that we were leaving a paradise and going back to the rat race.
Let me describe San Fernando for those of you that don't know. It's a very small city between Sylmar (a decent area) and Pacoima (a not so nice area). They have an excellent police department with one of the fastest response times in California. Since the city is so small, and not under the jurisdiction of L.A. (as are the surrounding areas) you can literally tell the difference when you cross the city line. The main streets are spotless, family businesses line the streets, and families are everywhere. There are tons of parks, so many cute little stores, and the amazing downtown area I mentioned above. There are street vendors that come around, and there is the swap meet every weekend. Most of the streets are green and tree-lined and well-kept with the friendliest people that would just come up to us and talk to us about the area. The city is nearly 100% Hispanic and yet the city leadership, the excellent police department, and most of the residents have made this a perfect destination for middle and working class Hispanic families - people like myself and my husband. We want to enjoy that flavor - that spark - that laid back feeling - but we don't want to deal with the crime and the gang conflicts that plague most majority-minority areas - such as the neighboring Pacoima. We love the local charm and tight-knit community feeling that San Fernando brings. They have trolleys instead of buses that roam the streets, nicely restored schools from the turn of the century, a free shuttle service for residents, a very nice government city hall area, and an attention to detail and to each resident that I haven't found anywhere else - not even here in Glendale.
But San Fernando comes with an extra hidden bonus - something I wasn't even looking for nor ever dreamed could actually become a part of my life. You see, San Fernando was the birthplace of Richie Valens, he attended San Fernando High School and was famous locally first. Los Angeles and especially San Fernando was part of the birthplace of car culture, of cruising the long streets with music playing; of drive-ins and diners. But while all those other places changed - San Fernando was able to retain it's charm - and keep alot of it's history - (After all the San Fernando mission was the birthplace of the San Fernando Valley..) and it is a place largely at the heart of car culture - and especially classic car culture. It is not unusual to be driving around and see cars from the 50s and 60s - even the 30s and 40s parked in front of houses. Many people here collect and fix up cars. Brand Park is the home of many many classic car shows. Most homes come with RV parking (basically a very long driveway) and we can not wait to become a part of this culture (a classic 50s "starter" car can be found for even as little as 4-5k - while of course the most popular and rare cars are much more expensive)
So what is your dream community? Post here and tell me about it.. maybe I know where to find it ;)
