Van Nuys Boulevard
Van Nuys Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, which was depicted in the 1979 film "Van Nuys Blvd." History. When Van Nuys was plotted in 1911, the main thoroughfare and its offshoots were called Sherman Way. The Pacific Electric San Fernando Line interurban railway was constructed north to San Fernando between 1911 and 1913 largely in the boulevard's median strip. As the town developed, North  Sherman Way was renamed Van Nuys Boulevard as the main boulevard in the town of Van Nuys, which got its name from longtime Valley wheat farmer Isaac Newton Van Nuys. Sherman Way, named for entrepreneur and Valley developer Gen. Moses Hazeltine Sherman, originally included segments of the thoroughfares known today as Chandler and Van Nuys boulevards. Rails were removed from the street by 1981. Geography. Van Nuys Boulevard runs approximately ten miles from the Santa Monica Mountains in Sherman Oaks at its southern terminus to the foothills of the western end of the San Gabriel Mountains in Lake View Terrace  at its northern terminus. It passes through the affluent community of Sherman Oaks, then continues through the community of Van Nuys, passing the numerous automobile dealerships in southern Van Nuys, then passing through the Van Nuys Municipal Center, the government center of the San Fernando Valley, then continuing north through Panorama City, past the old General Motors plant now converted into a shopping plaza called “The Plant,” before veering north east through the communities of Arleta and Pacoima, passing the San Fernando Gardens housing project, and ending in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. With its wide expanse through  the heart of the San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys Boulevard became known from the 1950s through the 1970s as a center of teenage cruising. Its car culture was celebrated in several motion pictures, including "Van Nuys Boulevard". Cruising became a thing of the past as police cracked down on the practice, but the car culture still lives on through the numerous automobile dealerships that line both sides of Van Nuys Boulevard in northern Sherman Oaks and southern Van Nuys. Van Nuys Boulevard has several bus routes running on it, including two Metro routes with heavy ridership, Metro Rapid line 761  and Metro Local line 233. Van Nuys is currently the only arterial bus corridor in the San Fernando Valley running New Flyer XN60 articulated buses for both lines (previously operated by NABI 60-BRT buses). The Metro G Line has a station at Van Nuys. Further to the north, there is a Metrolink and Amtrak station. In the first half of the 20th century, Pacific Electric interurban trains ran in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard from Chandler Boulevard to Parthenia Street, which would then continue to Sepulveda Boulevard; traces of this route can be seen in the large medians  of the streets the tracks used to run on. Metro is currently proposing a light rail line from the G Line station to San Fernando along Van Nuys Boulevard as part of the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor.