THE VALLEY: L.A.'S ECONOMIC ENGINE.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Older American suburbs such as the San Fernando Valley are thriving and resemble self-sustaining, independent cities of their own despite competition from newer suburbs, according to a report to be released today.

The study by the Los Angeles-based Reason Public Policy Institute found that even as some residents and businesses flee cities and older suburbs for outlying areas, many of the older suburbs continue to prosper and have developed a healthy diversity of businesses and ethnicities.

The report used the Valley as its primary case study, calling it ``the archetype of midopolis,'' a term used to describe older suburbs that are becoming increasingly urban.

``The bottom line is older suburbs may be the growth engines of the future,'' said project director Sam Staley. ``It varies significantly, but if you look at the character of many of these older suburbs, particularly the San Fernando Valley and Long Island (New York), as part of larger metropolitan areas, they have a housing stock and an urbanity to them that can be very attractive.

``The Valley has really become the economic engine of the city of Los Angeles,'' he added.

The report sought to debunk another school of thought in urban planning that says older suburbs are at economic risk because they don't have enough industry on their own.

But one of the leading proponents of that viewpoint, Myron Orfield - a nationally recognized urban planning expert and Minnesota state senator - said he and others in his school of thought never intended to include the Valley in that group, because he sees the Valley as a part of the Los Angeles core, not as a suburb.

The Valley also clearly has its own industries, he added.

Instead, he said, the greatest risk faces cities southeast of Los Angeles, such as Downey and Bellflower, as well as the city of San Fernando, because they have a shortage of industry.

``An older suburb is a place that doesn't have a big commercial tax base,'' Orfield said. ``It's a place that has very poor schools that are increasingly racially segregated.''

Orfield has called for greater regional governing and planning so that such cities do not continue to fall further and further behind.

While the report does not specifically tackle the subject of Valley secession, author Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University, said it is clear the Valley could stand on its own economically.

``I think the Valley could be a very dynamic city on its own,'' Kotkin said. ``It would not be an economic stepchild.''

Kotkin also said he believes the ideal city size is small - along the scale of Burbank, for example - and that a Valley city would still be too big.

Just as Westsiders argue with people in the Valley about which side of the Santa Monica Mountains is better, Valley residents have similar disagreements with those in outlying suburbs - on the other side of the Santa Susana Mountains.

Kim Thompson of Granada Hills lives within visual range of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill and has fought hard against its expansion, but she said she couldn't see herself moving out to Santa Clarita or other suburbs farther from Los Angeles.

Thompson said she likes the Valley's urban quality and thinks those who leave are part of ``white flight'' to escape living in areas with high densities of minorities.

``They 'white flight' out of here and head off to Simi Valley and Santa Clarita,'' she said. ``I can't stand those cities.''

Nancy Hoffman is someone who has her feet in both worlds. She grew up in the Valley and is chief executive officer of the Mid-Valley Chamber of Commerce - representing businesses in one of the oldest areas of the Valley - but she lives in Santa Clarita. The move was tough because she always saw herself as a city girl, she said, but it got to be too much.

Moving to Santa Clarita wasn't about white flight, she said, but about elbow room.

``We moved out there to get away from the growth here,'' Hoffman said from her Valley office. ``A lot of it seemed unplanned. It seemed congested.''

``Now, as it's getting more crowded (in Santa Clarita), my husband would like to move farther away.''