91.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

I-5 Corridor: Nurturing Its Economic Potential

Let’s take a helicopter ride above the San Fernando Valley literally and figuratively so that we get a broad sense of what our Valley looks like economically. What industry clusters do we have here? Knowing our geography may be essential to fixing a troubled part of our area, the North Valley. According to Bob Scott, Valley business activist and key player in the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, there is a way of helping the North Valley by taking a look at where it is located and going from there. Scott is involved in a study by the Alliance-affiliated Mulholland Institute on the future of the Valley. The institute is now looking at industry and commerce in the area, specifically the “I-5 Corridor” that goes through the North Valley. Other business community and public officials should also actively get involved in the discussion of how to get the North Valley, a place of disjointed strip malls and small industries, to become a stronger economic engine for the whole region Look at the Valley from high up and you’ll see a natural geographic connection if you start at Glendale and go up Interstate 5 through Burbank into the North Valley communities of Pacoima and Sylmar and on through Santa Clarita. But there’s something wrong with the whole scenario. The North Valley area sticks out like a sore thumb as totally not living up to its potential. You’ve got the remade cities of Glendale and Burbank, world-class communities now with several significant companies from several different industries (see Mark Madler’s Yahoo story on Page 1 of this issue). But the North Valley area, although it does have some significant industry, still lacks a cohesive quality that makes it a major player in the economy of the region. So how do we change this? As Scott suggests, and I agree, perhaps certain industry clusters should be identified ones that have some relation to the Burbank-Glendale areas or Santa Clarita and that could be nurtured as well in the North Valley so that the whole I-5 Corridor area becomes better connected and stronger. I suggest entertainment should be looked at closely. Burbank, Glendale and Santa Clarita all are powerhouses in this arena whether it be by housing studios themselves or by nurturing certain ancillary businesses or post production houses. These are also crucial businesses for communities in the East Valley such as North Hollywood. Why not nurture them also in the North Valley? Or perhaps aerospace, a smaller industry than it once was but still important to the area, should be the industry to be re-nurtured along the I-5 Corridor. There are still many small aerospace subcontractors there. Let me know your thoughts and let’s get some serious and constructive discussion going on about the future of this area of the Valley. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected] .

Featured Articles

Related Articles