NO AFFINITY FOR VAN NUYS; GROUP SEES OASIS IN VALLEY GLEN NAME.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

A rose by any other name might still smell as sweet, but Van Nuys by any other name might be . . . Valley Glen.

Or at least part of Van Nuys.

No offense to pioneer sheep rancher Isaac Newton Van Nuys, but a pocket of this beleaguered community has become the latest area in the San Fernando Valley seeking to shed its old name in favor of a moniker with less negative baggage.

Never mind that Valley Glen is a bit of a contradiction (Los Angeles Valley College English instructor Margaret Freeman notes that glens are found in mountains, not in valleys). But neighbors say the name suits them better than Van Nuys, which they believe calls to mind a concrete jungle scarred by gangs, graffiti, street prostitutes and run-down apartment buildings.

``We've worked really hard to make our little community something that we can be proud of. We have crews who clean up graffiti every other Saturday, we don't have gang problems, and we have a very good safe-house program. The name change is a celebration of all that,'' said Bobbie Fresh, secretary of the Valley Glen Neighborhood Association.

Not wanna-bes

``We're not just a bunch of Sherman Oaks wanna-bes trying to increase our property values. We're a community that's been working together to solve police, safety and beautification issues,'' added Marc Thurston, co-chairman of the Valley Glen Neighborhood Association.

Not everyone feels that a new name will make life any better.

``It's not the name change that makes the difference; it's the people who make the difference,'' said Van Nuys Homeowners Association President Don Shultz. ``I know Van Nuys has problems and a lot of us are trying to solve those problems. The last thing we need are people who want to rename an area of Van Nuys to something else. We'd rather they get involved in trying to do something positive for the community.''

Valley Glen would be a square-mile pocket bordered by Woodman Avenue on the west, Victory Boulevard on the north, the Tujunga Wash on the east, and Burbank Boulevard to the south.

The name change still has to be submitted to Councilman Mike Feuer, who says he'll pass it on to his 25-member Livable Neighborhood Council for a recommendation before making up his own mind. The council includes Van Nuys residents who live outside Valley Glen's borders.

Should Feuer approve the name change and none of his council colleagues objects, official blue-and-white Valley Glen street signs would be erected.

That would make Valley Glen the latest of Los Angeles' ever-growing number of communities.

Getting officials at the U.S. Postal Service to cooperate is another thing.

In reality, Postal Service customers may say they live anywhere - Wuthering Heights or East Overshoe if they choose - and still get their mail as long as it carries the correct ZIP code.

A new address

Fresh, for example, has already told her friends and creditors to write to her in Valley Glen, and she's getting her mail just fine.

But the Postal Service likes things to be a bit more orderly. First of all, they'll want to make sure there is no other Valley Glen in California, said Postal Service spokeswoman Terri Bouffiou.

That's to avoid problems like this: During the O.J. Simpson murder case, hundreds of pieces of mail addressed to the football star in Brentwood, Calif., ended up in rural Brentwood in eastern Contra Costa County because the envelopes lacked a ZIP code.

While the Postal Service would put Valley Glen on its list of approved alternate names for Van Nuys, it wouldn't change the neighborhood's ZIP code, Bouffiou cautioned.

The neighborhood has busy strip centers on Woodman Avenue and Victory Boulevard, and meandering residential streets with huge shade trees and neatly manicured lawns. A few streets are crowded with condos and apartment buildings, some freshly painted, others in need of attention.

``Valley Glen, Valley Glen,'' mused retired grocer Paul Green, outside his cute, one-story Delano Street home last week. ``Sure, I like it, why not?''

``Wish we could join them,'' lamented retired schoolteacher Ron Kindig, who lives north of Valley Glen, on Sunnyslope Avenue. ``I just hope people won't desert the area completely 'cause that's not going to solve the problem.''

Valley Glen would be home to Los Angeles Valley College, but whether the institution would list its location as Valley Glen has yet to be decided, said college spokeswoman Shannon Stack.

The name Valley Glen was selected in May, after the neighborhood association distributed ballots to the area's 1,263 single-family homes. (Apartments weren't included because the mailboxes are less accessible, Thurston said.)

About 400 ballots were returned. Valley Glen squeaked into first place with 108 votes, followed by College Park - the moniker favored when the name change was first proposed several years ago - with 104; and Hillview Park and Hillview, 78 and 48, respectively.

About 27 residents favored the status quo - Van Nuys. Finally, about two dozen voted for River Woods, among them a man who scribbled on his ballot that ``he had never seen a river in Van Nuys, but that he didn't get out much,'' Thurston said.

Not the first or last

Valley Glen would be the most recent in a long list of Los Angeles neighborhoods that have cast off their old names, so as to disassociate themselves from communities that have become notorious for crime and run-down housing.

Sepulveda morphed into North Hills. Valley Village was carved out of a small chunk of North Hollywood. Portions of Reseda are now Encino and Tarzana. A small pocket of North Hollywood became Sherman Village.

Western Canoga Park became West Hills. What was once part of Sun Valley is now La Tuna Canyon. Just last year, West Toluca Lake sprang full-blown from a tiny triangle in North Hollywood.

Many critics complain that name changes are backed by greedy real estate agents and conspiratorial homeowners seeking only to raise property values.

Thurston and Fresh angrily insist that's not the case in Valley Glen, though they would certainly welcome increased property values.

``If you're participating in enlightened community involvement, can't you also be the recipient of enlightened community capitalism?'' Thurston said.

Thurston also noted that a more cohesive community might be at an advantage to bargain for power rates come Jan. 1, 1998, when deregulation allows individual consumers to comparison shop for electricity.

Some City Council members are happy to oblige breakaway neighborhoods - Councilman John Ferraro had no problem giving West Tolucans the green light.

But Councilman Hal Bernson backed the Sepulveda-North Hills name switch in 1991 only because it enjoyed overwhelming support from residents. Generally, he's not keen on such changes, said assistant chief deputy Francine Oschin.

A name change ``isn't as simple as it seems. It impacts so many little parts of life. It creates problems for fire departments, delivery people, every piece of stationery has to change, the phone book has to change,'' she said.

Councilwoman Laura Chick insists she won't support any name changes in her district.

``I believe that name changes are divisive and do not correct the problems that communities are trying to address,'' she wrote to a group of residents seeking a name change.

Thurston disagrees. ``This is not Balkanizing. This is just a community standing up for itself.''

Buffalo Avenue homeowner Peggi Perlman, who lives within Valley Glen borders, favors the name change, even though she knows that ``in reality, it'll still be Van Nuys.''

One thing she is sure of is that it's a very El-Lay thing to do.

``In California it's about where you live, what you wear, what you drive, how you look. It's very superficial,'' Perlman said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map

Map: Proposed Valley Glen Community

Photo: (Color) Bobbie Fresh holds mail delivered to her Van Nuys home under the address Valley Glen, a change she supports.

Terri Thuente/Daily News