AMERICA'S SAFEST, RICHEST CITY : BECOMING MAJOR METROPOLIS COULD MEAN GROWING PAINS.

Byline: Sara Catania Daily News Staff Writer

This is the city.

Or it would be if the San Fernando Valley seceded from Los Angeles, becoming the nation's safest and wealthiest city of more than 1 million people.

Stretching between the Santa Susana and Santa Monica mountains to the north and south and the Simi Hills and Verdugo Mountains to the west and east, this city would have its own university, four Fortune 500 companies and the lowest murder rate among the top 10 U.S. cities.

With its 1.2 million residents, the Valley would be the sixth-largest city in the country, the second-largest in the state and the biggest suburb-turned-city in the nation.

Valley residents enjoy a per capita income of $19,021, compared to $14,668 in Valley-less Los Angeles. Of the 20 largest cities in America, only 14th-largest San Francisco is higher, with a per capita income of $19,695.

If the Valley muscled its way onto America's urban map, L.A. would be left with a population of 2.3 million - dropping it to third and restoring Chicago to the Second City status it once cherished.

If the unwieldy Los Angeles Unified School District were broken up and Valley schools came along in the new city, the Valley school district would have some 200,000 pupils at 206 schools. The rest of L.A. Unified would drop to 445,000 pupils at 431 schools.

``The Valley would be a rather impressive city,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County.

``It would have a great economic base and a lot of things going for it in general,'' Kyser said. ``A Valley city would probably thrive.''

The Valley's richness is reflected in its increasingly diverse population.

The 1990 Census shows it is 69.5 percent white, but by Census Bureau calculations, that figure includes many Latinos.

When residents of Census-designated ``Hispanic origin'' are removed from the tally, whites make up 56.8 percent of the population, while Latinos account for nearly a third.

Spanish is spoken in more than a quarter of Valley homes, and 38 percent of Valley adults are foreign-born. Asian-Americans account for nearly 8 percent of the population, African-Americans 4 percent.

Los Angeles without the Valley would have a non-Latino white population of about 27 percent. Latinos would make up nearly 44 percent, African-Americans nearly 14 percent and Asian-Americans close to 10 percent.

``People who exercise a white-bread, middle-class perception of the Valley have a vision that's 10 or 20 years old,'' said Edward Soja, professor of urban and regional planning at UCLA.

``What hasn't been realized is that the Valley has experienced everything the rest of L.A. has,'' Soja said. ``It's an extraordinarily urban, multicultural population.''

As an increasingly urban mecca, the Valley has retained many of the qualities that have attracted new residents over the years.

The dream of home ownership is a reality for many Valley residents, with half the housing owner-occupied. For the rest of Los Angeles, that figure drops to less than a third. And Valley homes are fairly new, with 86 percent built after 1950.

Families make up a full two-thirds of Valley households. Valley teens are less likely to drop out of high school than students in the rest of the city. Three quarters of adult Valley residents have at least a high school degree, compared with about two-thirds in the rest of L.A.

In nearby Burbank, where many Valley residents work, the entertainment boom is bringing thousands of new jobs to Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros.

In Studio City, CBS Studio Center has doubled in size to 2,700 employees in four years. Plans are in the works to add 600 more jobs.

Just 6 percent of Valley residents rely on public assistance, about half the rate of the rest of Los Angeles.

``The Valley is a pretty great place,'' said John B. Warner, administrative manager of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley. ``There's so much going on right now, and I think we're seeing improvements all the time.''

But a Valley city would bring with it many of the disparities of urban America.

Although nearly 17 percent of Valley residents hold bachelor's degrees, and the average household income is $52,724, 11 percent of Valley residents live in poverty.

In general, affluence is centered in the area west of the San Diego Freeway and south of the Ventura Freeway, including the Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino and Sherman Oaks neighborhoods.

Of the four Fortune 500 companies that call the Valley home, three of them - Litton Industries, Wellpoint Health Networks and Health Systems International - are stationed in Woodland Hills.

The fourth, Great Western Financial Corp., is also located in the West Valley, in Chatsworth.

While million-dollar homes perch on hillsides, many residents live in cramped apartment complexes on the congested Valley floor. In some areas, overcrowding is rampant.

Arleta-Pacoima is the most overcrowded rental area in the Valley, with 55 percent of renters living in overcrowded conditions.

Pacoima is home to the Valley's lone public housing development, the 448-unit San Fernando Gardens. The northeast Valley consistently has the lowest home sale prices, while the northwest Valley has the newest single-family homes and the southwest Valley has the newest apartments.

Educational attainment is also uneven in the Valley, home to Cal State Northridge and three community colleges: Pierce, Valley and Mission.

More than a quarter of the adult residents of the Sherman Oaks-Studio City-Toluca Lake area, which is 86 percent white, hold a bachelor's degree.

In the Arleta-Pacoima area, which is three-quarters Latino, just 5 percent of residents have graduated from a four-year college.

The distribution of parks is equally skewed. While nearly 18 percent of the Encino-Tarzana area is devoted to parks, Sylmar is just 0.4 percent parkland, according to the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Such disparities have given rise to concerns that richer portions of a separate Valley might seize control of the new town, leaving the poorer neighborhoods to languish.

``I'd hate to see the secession movement come down to wanting to escape problems of the city,'' said Bill Gallegos, project director of the San Fernando Partnership Against Substance Abuse.

``We can't ignore that we have a large concentration of Latinos and others who are very poor. If there's a commitment that Valley secession means we're going to address their concerns, it would be worthwhile.''

For now, backers of secession are focusing their efforts on righting the perceived imbalance in stature and city-sanctioned services.

Pending state legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Paula Boland, R-Granada Hills, would strip the City Council's veto power if the Valley votes for its own cityhood. Before that could happen, secession backers would face vehement city resistance and tough bureaucratic battles.

But those who support the breakup may have momentum on their side, Soja said.

``What's going on now in the Valley is much bigger than just secession,'' said Soja. ``It points to a larger movement across the country, the urbanization and autonomization of suburbia.''

Taking on cityhood also means addressing a constant barrage of demands, from the mundane, like filling potholes and posting stop signs, to the unexpected, like an occasional devastating earthquake.

``People will say, ah, we're masters of our fate,'' Kyser said. ``But they'll likely find it a rather exhausting process.''

Political tangles, natural disasters and inescapable urban problems of poverty and housing aside, the Valley would have some catching up to do before it could truly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the country's top cities.

Although home to Van Nuys Airport, the biggest general aviation field in the nation, the Valley has no equivalent to Kennedy, O'Hare or LAX.

The closest thing is the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. Kyser, a third-generation Los Angeles resident, suggests that the Valley might try to get joint ownership there.

The lack of a harbor poses another problem, Warner said.

``We would be landlocked,'' he said with a sigh. ``But ultimately, I don't think it would make a difference. We'd still get to use the harbor, and we'd still have access to things in Los Angeles that we didn't have on our own.''

Water and sewage services could be purchased from Los Angeles, he said, while the Valley would control the bulk of its own taxes from sales, property, utilities and business.

At the very least, however, the Valley would need its own sports team, Kyser said.

``You would have angst,'' Kyser said. ``You'd be pressured to tax the citizens to build a big stadium - maybe out by the junkyards in the Pacoima area.''

Of course, a Valley city would also need a center.

``What's going to be the equivalent of the capital of the Valley?'' Soja asks. ``The Valley is really a collection of communities. Because of its amorphous nature, the center could be a number of places.''

It could be Van Nuys, where city offices and courts are now located. Or Universal City, home to the Valley's tallest building and Universal CityWalk. Or Woodland Hills near the medium-rise building complex in Warner Center. Or not.

``Probably the closest thing to a hub now is Woodland Hills,'' Kyser said. ``But that would probably make a lot of people unhappy. That is something that would have to be worked out.''

In the category of the arts, the Valley has a burgeoning theater district developing in North Hollywood, where the NoHo Arts District has 18 live theaters and plans for 12 more over the next four years, said David A. Cox, founder of the Valley Theater League.

``Artistically, a lot of our seats are filled from the other side of the hill,'' Cox said.

``But my romanticism makes me want the Valley to be its own city,'' he added. ``I live in the Valley. I like the Valley. It has a richness the rest of the city doesn't share.''

Art galleries and movie houses are scattered throughout the Valley, but the new city, home to 50 adult video companies, would be museum-poor. No Hockney exhibits here.

The only recognized museum is the San Sylmar, a private center in Sylmar which houses the ``Merle Norman Classic Beauty Collection,'' a medley of classic cars, antiques and mechanical musical instruments.

The city's Cultural Affairs Department oversees the operation of 11 arts centers citywide. Two, jointly run by nonprofit arts consortia, are located in the Valley, one in Tujunga and another in North Hollywood.

And of 1,000 murals in the Los Angeles area identified in a book by Robin Dunitz, 75 are in the Valley, many on the grounds of multiethnic public schools.

The most famous architectural landmark is the San Fernando Mission in Mission Hills.

Of the 575 historic-cultural monuments in Los Angeles, the Valley has 34, including the 79-year-old Gothic-style Faith Bible Church in Northridge and Shadow Ranch House in Canoga Park.

Perhaps the most unusual is the pile of 2,000 wooden pallets in a Sherman Oaks back yard, declared a historical monument nearly 20 years ago.

``Can we count the pallets in the museum category?'' wondered Bob Scott of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. ``I guess that's one area where we do come up short.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Maps, 2 Charts

Photo: (color) The city of San Fernando V alley would be the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Dean Musgrove/Daily News

Map: (1--color) What if the Valley were . . . THE CITY

Jorge Irribarren, Brad Mar, Gregg Miller/Daily News

(2--color) San Fernando Valley

(1--color) FROM NYC TO SFV - THE BIG SIX

If the San Fernando Valley seceded today, it would become the sixth largest city in the U.S. and L.A. would drop to number three. Here's a quick look at how the Valley, as a separate city, would measure up.

RESEARCH: Sara Catania

SOURCES: 1990 U.S. Census; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Los Angeles Public Library; Office of Statewide Health and Planning Development; Los Angeles Police Department; Valley Industry and Commerce Association; Fortune Magazine; PFK Consulting; 1996 World Almanac; 1996 Information Please Almanac

Chart: (2--color) US AND THEM: THE VALLEY VS. L.A.

More facts comparing the San Fernando Valley, as a city, to a Valley-less L.A.

Research: Sara Catania, Beth Barrett, Jaxon Van Derbeken

Sources: 1990 U.S. Census; Los Angeles Police Department; Adult Video News; Association of Statistics of American Religious Bodies; Archdiocese of Los Angeles 1996 Catholic Directory; Yellow Pages