Northridge Vision 2025

This month we highlight one of our fine Reseda Blvd. businesses, Aromagica Sol & Luna.  Located at 8916 Reseda Blvd, Aromagica Sol & Luna is, as the name indicates, a magical place.  Owner Miriam Bayas, who opened her store in 2014, offers unique gifts from around the world, concentrating on exotic scents for the mind and body.  These include blending, burning, and massage oils, of all types and aromas (sensual, mystic and esoteric) as well a multitude of candles (religious and aromatic) and incense from all around the world.  As Miriam tells her customers, her shop offers the perfect gift for mind, body and spirit.  Among her offerings are products from South America as well as China, India and South Arabia.  Miriam’s shop is also the perfect place for finding that unique gift or collectible, whether a small Buddha or a beautiful candle holder or decorated box. Miriam, originally from Ambato Ecuador, had a successful career as a social worker before she put her

Our Holiday Bazaar last Saturday was another milestone for our Reseda Great Street.  The Gresham to Nordhoff corridor saw decorated shops and storefronts, as well as a holiday arts and crafts walk, a children's holiday craft station and sidewalk portrait art. There was even a "visit with Santa"  with our very own Andrea Alvarado as Chief Elf. Topping off the entertainment was the fine jazz offerings of DenIntosh, CSUN students Drew Dennett on the upright bass and Miles Macintosh on Guitar. Our portable stage equipment has been officially christened at the last two events and was the good folks at LA mas  who custom made a dedication plaque that we installed this last Saturday.  Congrats to all those who made these events possible! I spent most of the four hours of the event walking up and down the street with Transportation and Public Works Chair Sal Pelaez of Northridge South Neighborhood Council.  We were amazed at all the new

This Saturday, November 28th, is Small Business Saturday.  It's a day when we are all encouraged to patronize our individually owned businesses in the neighborhood.  With the revitalization of the Reseda Great Street we have lots of new, interesting retail to check out.  So after you are done with Black Friday, consider your neighborhood businesses on Small Business Saturday.  Subscribe to the LA Great Streets blog at greatstreets@lacity.org .

Next [RE]visit[RE]seda Event is a Holiday Bazaar scheduled for December 5th The second in a series of three events, funded from a LA City Great Streets Grant, will be a [RE]visit[RE]seda Holiday Bazaar on December 5 th on our Reseda Great Street, between Gresham and Nordhoff. The holiday bazaar is scheduled from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and will include an arts and crafts walk, an ornament decoration station, live portrait art, and a decorated store contest.     The event will be a great opportunity to get those one of a kind presents that your [RE]visit[RE]seda merchants can provide. Thanks to the LA Great Streets, Northridge Sparkle, Councilman Mitch Englander, CSUN, LA Mas, Northridge South Neighborhood Council, the Museum of the San Fernando Valley and Northridge Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring all these upcoming events. The Great Streets Grant includes the funding of one more event, a Valentines Day celebration, designed for friends and lovers alike.  Check your

The first of our three Great Streets Grants events took place the afternoon of Halloween.  Over 100 kids in costume, festively decorated bikes and a series of sidewalk a cappella performances, made the first event in our cycle of three Great Street "performances" a solid success. Of particular note was the energetic and captivating performance of the CSUN Acasola singing group.  Doing Halloween themed numbers, they wowed street goers with their talent and enthusiasm. There was a costume contest for young and old alike, adding to the festive air on the boulevard. The Great Streets Grant includes the funding of two more events, a holiday bazaar and a Valentines Day event.  Check back later for more information on those events.

When homeless families arrive at the new  San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission  in Northridge, they are greeted by cheerful original artworks on the walls, cozy club chairs and stylish accessories. See the rest of this article by Lisa Boone at the  LA Times .

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley had a soft opening for their Mid Century Modern Show a couple of weeks ago.  The museum has been presenting shows of increasing interest and professionalism, from the Ken Twitchell Michael Jackson Mural Show to the new mid century modern exhibition, with an emphasis on the way modernism influenced the middle class experience of the San Fernando Valley in the 1950's. Many of us grew up with Neutra, Knoll and Russell Wright influences in furniture, dishware, lighting and textiles.  Some were originals, some knock offs, but all honoring the design aesthetic of the 50's, not to mention all the unnamed blond wood and teak furniture of Scandinavian design that we ate from or lounged about on.  For many of our parents or grandparents, W & J Sloane was the arbiter of good, simple modern design.  Nothing too far out, but well made and built to last.  Much of it is still in use two or three generations later. The mid century modern sho

Students from the incoming freshman class joined with CSUN campus organizations, local officials, neighbors, and with Northridge Sparkle, under the direction of Don Larson, for a day of service to the community.  The first major town and gown collaboration on a neighborhood clean up was a resounding success.  The first of many yearly traditions for our newest campus members. https://youtu.be/ig0WUfFLv5Q

On any third Wednesday of the month, in the conference room at Council District Twelve in Chatsworth, your can find a group of like-minded individuals giving up their time, enthusiasm and unique skills to work to build a better Northridge.   Northridge Vision was founded to counter a series of negatives:   growing suburban blight, uncontrolled and unsustainable growth, outdated zoning models, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction by the citizen stakeholders with the institutions that surrounded them: economic, political and social.   Clearly, no one was engaged in a purposeful conversation about the problems that beset everyday life.   Several projects along the Northridge Corridor were built out of scale with the neighborhood, bringing questions about the development and planning processes, the participation of the local neighborhood councils, and the importance of citizen participation in every step of the planning process.   A turning point in this process was the a