Van Nuys, California

Van Nuys is a district centrally located in the San Fernando Valley. It is also central to the Valley in terms of commerce and transit. For example, in terms of the amount of “general aviation” activity, Van Nuys Airport has no equal in the world. This is the case despite the fact that it keeps a very low profile in the area. No commercial airlines use its runways, so there is little visible activity or auto traffic into or out of the airport. Van Nuys airport is used for wide variety of public and private uses. High-profile individuals in politics and the entertainment industry take advantage of its lack of human traffic to fly their private planes into and out of Van Nuys, as opposed to Burbank or Los Angeles International. News, police, emergency medical transport services, and fire department helicopters also use the airport as a base, as do services that provide aerial tours of Los Angeles.

Van Nuys’s neighbors to the north, across from Roscoe Boulevard, are Panorama City, North Hills, and further east, Sun Valley. At the opposite end, to the south, set apart by Burbank Boulevard, is the wealthier community of Sherman Oaks, defined by the relatively upscale string of businesses the line Ventura Boulevard and the expensive residences built into the mountains that divide the Valley from the rest of Los Angeles. East of Van Nuys are the communities of Valley Glen, North Hollywood, and Burbank. To the west, beyond Van Nuys Airport, are Northridge to the north, Lake Balboa and Sepulveda directly to the west, and Encino south and west. In the southwest corner of Van Nuys and spreading into other communities in the area, is the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. This is a large green space capped by Sepulveda Dam, which is kept undeveloped for the purpose of taking on floodwaters in the event of a “hundred year flood” that might hit Los Angeles. In the mean time, it is the home of lakes and ponds, several golf courses, public gardens and parks, and recreation and community centers. It may be a surprise to recent arrivals to Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles River was once prone to severe flooding every few decades during rainstorms and even changing its boundaries. The Army Corps of Engineers were given the assignment of getting the river under control so residences and business could come to the city and the Valley without fear of losing everything. The result was miles of concrete-lined washes that contained the river and its tributaries, and the dam.

The main artery running through the district is Van Nuys Boulevard, which serves as a major commercial and municipal corridor for the Valley as a whole. There are other significant streets, such as Sepulveda Boulevard, Sherman Way, and Victory Boulevard, but Van Nuys Boulevard has the highest concentration of businesses, and is home to the Valley’s center of government, being the home of the Van Nuys Courthouses and other city and county government offices. Our office serves the Van Nuys community as well as all of the San Fernando Valley. Employees in Van Nuys whose employee rights have been violated can contact us for a free consultation if they have been wrongfully terminated due to disability discrimination or if they complained about sexual harassment in the workplace.