Home buyers looking for something different
By: Cynthia Sparagna
Urban planners are saying that recent demographic changes are effecting the way home buyers purchase. Instead of looking for bigger lots, newer homes, or more amenities, buyers are looking to purchase homes that are closer to coffee shops, restaurants and grocery stores. Such was the case with Jennifer and Andrew Greenberg who recently bought a house in Portland, Oregon. They purchased a 1950’s ranch home that needed some updates but is close coffee shops and wooded paths.
Home buyers interested in finding homes in walkable communities are using websites such as WalkScore.com. The site allows users to enter an address and receive a score ranging from zero to 100 (“car dependent” to “walkers paradise”) indicating the walkability of the community. A recent study by a non profit company called CEO’s for cities found that houses located within walking distance to amenities raised values by as much as $3,000 per point.
EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.
Posted by Cynthia Sparagna on July 12th, 2010
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Sherman Oaks, California
Sherman Oaks is an 8.1-square-mile (21 km2) district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. In contrast to much of the Valley, the area is relatively urbanized, with commercial skyscrapers along Ventura Boulevard as well as scattered throughout. In addition, residential densities are highly mixed, with apartment and condominium neighborhoods alongside single-story residential ones. The area is a hub for regional transportation, business, and shopping.
Trivia
* Sherman Oaks is home to Fire Station #88, the first out of town Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to respond following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
* Marilyn Monroe's first home as a 16-year-old newly-wed was on Vista del Monte.
* Liberace lived on Valley Vista Boulevard and had a piano-shaped pool complete with black keys.
* Britney Spears got a tattoo in Body and Soul, a Sherman Oaks Tattoo parlor, after shaving her head in Tarzana on February 17, 2007.
* The FOX network is currently developing a serial drama entitled "The Sherm". It will be patterned after "The OC" in an attempt to reclaim viewers that were lost due to the show's early demise.
* Chris Broderick (jag panzer, nevermore, megadeth) has his house in this town
* American singer Pink and her husband motocross star Carey Hart have a house in Sherman Oaks.
History
Sherman Oaks was one of the first Valley communities to experience intensive real estate development. Anticipating the development of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, Los Angeles Suburban Homes Co. purchased 47,500 acres (192 km2) of the southeast Valley in 1910. In 1911, a subdivision map called Tract 1000 was filed with Los Angeles County. From that parcel, one of the partners in the company, General Moses Hazeltine Sherman, bought 1,000 acres (4 km2) for himself. In 1927, Sherman subdivided the property and sold the land for $780 an acre ($0.19/m2).
Geography
The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Studio City to the east, Van Nuys to the north, Encino to the west, Bel Air and Beverly Hills Post Office to the south.
Sherman Oaks is situated along the Los Angeles River, Ventura Freeway, San Diego Freeway, Beverly Glen Boulevard, and Sepulveda Boulevard.
The southern boundary has always been Mulholland Drive. The western boundary is Firmament as it crosses Ventura Blvd. The current northern boundary is Burbank Boulevard and the eastern boundary is Coldwater Canyon Avenue from Burbank south to Magnolia where it jogs west so as to reach Fulton Avenue at Ventura Boulevard The line then follows Longridge south to Mulholland.
On July 14, 2009, the Los Angeles City Council approved a request to extend the northern boundary of Sherman Oaks to Oxnard Blvd.[1]
Culture
Sherman Oaks is an affluent neighborhood, with several high-end fashion boutiques, and features many upscale houses and restaurants. One of the city's main claims to fame is the presence of the Sherman Oaks Galleria, a shopping mall identified as a meet-up place for the Valley girls, a 1980s cultural label which became widely known because of the 1983 movie Valley Girl and a song of the same name by Frank Zappa. In addition, a portion of the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High was filmed there. After being damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Galleria eventually was torn down and replaced by an open-air retail and office complex that bears little resemblance to the original mall. Other local shopping options include the Westfield Fashion Square (formerly known as Sherman Oaks Fashion Square), and an assortment of boutiques and restaurants located along Ventura Boulevard. Aerobics and Fitness Association of America operates in Sherman Oaks.
Every April and October, the Chamber of Commerce produces a popular Street Fair, closing down a half-mile stretch of busy Ventura Boulevard for booths, food, and entertainment (including rides for the kids). Upwards of 100,000 visitors stop by each year. Grand Marshals have included Coach John Wooden and actor/child-safety advocate Bryan Cranston (KidSmartz).
Media
Sherman Oaks has significant references in television.
* The short-lived 1990s sitcom, Sherman Oaks, centered on a wealthy plastic surgeon living with his family in Sherman Oaks.
* Parts of the television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer were filmed at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.
* Scenes from the popular show Desperate Housewives are periodically filmed in Sherman Oaks, most often at Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park and Maxson's Drug Store.
* The final scenes of the film Escape from New York were filmed in Sherman Oaks.
* On several occasions Scrubs (TV series) has filmed throughout Sherman Oaks.
* Video game developer Spark Unlimited is based in Sherman Oaks.
* Premiere Radio is based out of Sherman Oaks.
* Sherman Oaks is also the home of Fox Sports Radio.
* A flower shop on Ventura Blvd. was filmed at frequently for the HBO hit Six Feet Under.
* Sherman Oaks is where Alan Harper's ex-wife Judith and son Jake live in the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
* Virtual Instruments Magazine is published and edited in Sherman Oaks.
* The mall scenes from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" were filmed at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.
* Scenes from Crash were filmed in Sherman Oaks.
* The character Jazz in Michael Bay's movie Transformers drops down from the roof of the Casa De Cadillac dealership, located on Ventura and Tyrone/Beverly Glen.
* Richard Pryor stayed at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks in 1980, after lighting himself on fire when he was freebasing cocaine.
