It’s time for us who live and work in Our Valley to brush off the chips on our shoulders that have burdened us for decades. It’s time to take pride in the region we have created North of Mulholland. No longer should we cringe in the presence of those who declaim their pride in being from the Westside, Hancock Park, or San Marino. I’m tired of hearing that we don’t have any great restaurants in the Valley…I’ve got the waistline to prove that we do. I could take three months to eat my way from Pinot Bistro in Studio City to Brandywine in Woodland Hills and never (Heaven forbid!) miss a meal. I’m tired of people saying they have to go Over the Hill for shopping. Thanks to developers like Rick Caruso and Westfield, we have just as many places to spend our money as anyplace in the county. From Bloomingdale’s to Macy’s we have department stores at every level. Imelda Marcos would have given a few outlying Philippine islands in exchange for free rein of the women’s shoe selection at Nordstrom. I’m tired of listening to those who say we didn’t have a first-class musical venue here until CSUN erected its Performing Arts Center. That’s crazy! Ever listen to the singing waiters at Miceli’s on Lankershim…now that’s music! And, it’s fun! And while – to the world – the word “Hollywood” means motion pictures, we know that more film studios, supporting businesses, and creative talents are located in Our Valley than anyplace else in the world…including Hollywood. It’s about time we stopped hanging our collective heads in unnecessary shame when outsiders point to us in disdain and declaim, “Yeah, and you’re the world’s Porn Capital!” Darn right, we are. And that industry creates thousands of jobs for directors, cinematographers, musicians, set decorators, and other film and television professionals who find that outlet for their talents when jobs aren’t available in mainstream production. Many cities around the world trumpet their museums. Paris has its Louvre; London has its British Museum; Chicago has its Art Institute; and Washington, D.C. has the Smithsonian. But the greatest art form of the 20th century – motion pictures – has its populist expression right here in Our Valley: the Universal Studios Tour. And when some business know-it-all haughtily asks how many major companies are headquartered in the Valley, we should respond by pointing out the latest Fortune 500, which appeared in its May 23, 2011 issue. The highest in Fortune’s list in our county? Yes, it’s the Valley-based company that Mickey Mouse brought us, Walt Disney, at number 65. Second is Los Angeles’ Northrop Grumman, coming in at number 72. We may not be the corporate headquarters capital of the world, but when it comes to small business and entrepreneurialism, Our Valley is hard to beat. Not that we are without our flaws or less-than-stellar citizens. New Yorkers are stuck with Bernie Madoff (how appropriately named for the man who “made off” with people’s life savings), the king of Ponzi schemes. We cannot point with pride to our own Angelo Mozilo, whose Countrywide Financial helped tens of thousands of people achieve the American Dream of home ownership by giving them mortgages that they couldn’t afford. Statues abound around the globe: Rome’s Trevi Fountain, Michelangelo’s David in Florence, and Washington’s Lincoln Memorial. But we’re not bereft of statuary. Our Valley can boast of not one, but Seven, Dwarfs, conveniently holding up the cornices of the Team Disney building on the Disney Studios lot. Consider transportation. China has just unveiled its newest bullet train: Beijing to Shanghai at almost 200 miles an hour. Spain can whiz you from Madrid to Barcelona in two hours and forty minutes, while France’s TGV speeds you across their wine-soaked nation at more than 200 miles per hour. Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains are the busiest in the world, carrying more than 150 million passengers a year. Rapid transit has become a major factor in moving people from one part of a metropolitan area to another. Our nation’s capital’s Metrorail system carries the second-highest number of passengers of any U.S. rapid transit system, behind New York’s Subway. Even St. Louis, a city who’s high point may have been the World’s Fair in 1904, has its excellent MetroLink system. Of course, in riposte, we have the Orange Line…and who cares if it’s really just an articulated bus? OK, OK, transportation may not be our crowning achievement in the Valley…yet. But for all that, wouldn’t you rather live and work in the Valley than anyplace else? I would. (Well, a little pied-a-terre in London or Paris in addition wouldn’t be too hard to take.) Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections. — Anonymous Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, Inc., is Past Chairman of VICA and Chairman of its Board of Governors; Founding President of The Executives; Vice Chairman of the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley; and a member of the Boards of the Valley Economic Alliance and of the LAPD’s West Valley Jeopardy Program. He is Past President of the Public Relations Society of America-Los Angeles Chapter, the Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Commission, and the Encino Chamber of Commerce. He is the 2010 recipient of VICA’s Harmon Ballin Community Service Award, and can be reached at [email protected].
