In the Valley there are 1.1 police per 1,000 residents, while in Los Angeles they are assigned 2.2 police per 1,000 residents. In 1992 the City Council gerrymandered the Valley, fragmenting council districts and reduced the Valley's voting power. Almost without exception, City Council hearings and meetings are held downtown, making it difficult for Valley residents to monitor the council or to be heard. Valley residents get excessive noise from Van Nuys Airport, but noise controls are frustrated by Los Angeles politicians and the Board of Airport Commissioners. Valley residents are treated unfairly with regard to water rates.
Larger lots require more water for landscaping, charging Valley residents a premium.
And more water is returned to the underground water table in the Valley. Transit decisions are made with little regard to where transportation improvements are actually needed. Half of the residents who depend on public transportation live in the Northeast Valley, few improvements are planned there. The Sepulveda Basin has become the city's dumping ground for sewage and septic tank disposal. Valley residents must continually fight off attacks to use Basin open space for public facility projects.