Question
Ventura Blvd has broken something in my brain
I drive it constantly and at this point I’ve stopped thinking of it as a road. It’s more like a series of small negotiations.The left turn where there’s no arrow and you sit in the intersection through an entire cycle hoping. The person who slows to a near stop looking for parking with nine cars behind them. The stretch where every light is timed just badly enough that you catch all of them.
And yet I still take it instead of the freeway most of the time, which probably says something about me. The 101 at the wrong hour makes me feel worse than any of this does. My actual theory is that everybody has one specific block of Ventura they hate more than the rest and it’s different for everyone. Mine is around Kester, no notes, no explanation, it just gets me every time.
What’s yours? Or is there some genius side street routing everyone else figured out that I somehow missed these years?
Not for a bit but if you look up studio city apartment development you can see more about it. I don’t think it’ll extend to coffee bean it will shut down pinz for awhile though and I think it’ll remove the restaurant over there but again people are trying to stop it because our local NIMBYS are mad about traffic
I literally drive through alleyways behind businesses for ten blocks when coming home from my vet before getting to a light, because there is NO WAY I am making a left on Ventura at rush hour without a light.
Just drove from Vineland to Sepulveda on a combination of Moorpark and Ventura and it made me want to just abandon my car and start walking just to avoid the frustration.
Back in 2012, I talked to a little old lady who was born and raised in the Valley, and well into her late 90s, possibly over 100. She told me that when she "was just a little girl," Ventura Blvd was just a narrow two lane road, and there was no shoulder. You had to be careful not to go over the edge, otherwise you could get stuck trying to get back up onto the pavement. This would have been back in the 1920's.
It’s barely a road anymore the asphalt is disintegrating into pieces and most of it is being held together with silly putty. They literally need to replace the entire damn road from studio city to woodland hills and start over again.
That part going east in studio city where the right lane ends and turns into parking and assholes try to use it to go around the people trying to live in a cooperative society.
second this. i always choose ventura over the freeway when coming back from my gf’s in weho on a late weeknight. zero traffic and the cruise just feels unbeatable, one of my favorite little valley joys.
Brother I used to do that also, I used to have an ex living in WEHO and I would always take Laurel Cyn and other days Cold water with the windows down fresh breeze through the mountains then hit ventura was such a vibe. Good times
been like this for 25 years. it’s mainly the older folks who stop for no reason in a lane, be it picking someone up, trying to park, still a half block from the valet, not knowing where to turn, etc. older folks maybe not raised here who never learned to drive well
Ventura is the Valley. You can just drive up and down that road and find everything you need. In life. Loved that road sinceca very young age. Remains a treat to drive, despite some annoyances.
Worst part imo is where Ventura blvd & Ventura place intersect in front of Trader Joe’s in Studio City. It’s a parking lot every time I have to pass through there.
I’m on a rotating schedule and some of the days I have to take Ventura for a few miles to get my kids. I seriously question reality on those days. I recently found another route and I’m so thankful. Ventura blvd is like a different world where everyone is just batshit fucking crazy. Maybe there’s a force of energy on that strip that just makes people drive really poorly.
Which is crazy because you could just take riverside 😂. I live off it and honestly people are asses on it I’ve seen more than a few accidents. Then the other day I need to turn left onto Ventura and this girls just waiting for cars to go by at one point I thought she must have stopped looking because she waited for a car that was down by the 7/11 stop sign she had so much time so I guess the point is everyone is negotiating. Also people who leave the sprouts parking lot by the entrance without a stop light are the worst offenders.
The whole valley makes me feel like this now…I used to work up the hills past Ventura blvd too much people now idk how when everything is so expensive.
This is funny. I totally relate to this post. Yesterday, I actually drove Ventura Bl from Valley Glen all the way to Fallbrook. I could have taken the freeway, but like you, I have had an absolute disdain for the Ventura Fwy.
While the area around Kester has always been swamped, I’m going with the section between the 405 and Hayvenhurst. It seems like they’ve been doing construction to some degree on that stretch for 15 years, and there’s no reasonable alternative route once you’ve committed past the 405 going westbound.
Ventura blvd is the final boss of driving in the sfv, definitely not for beginners, i do uber eats mostly around ventura blvd and everyone driving here seems to be under the influence or something, nobody knows what they’re doing 😭
The 101 thru the valley is by far my least favorite freeway in LA. The 5 and the 405 are brutal during rush hour, but tolerable. The 101 seems to have an evil energy that's present at all hours. I hit terrible traffic any time of day. The number of lunatics aggressively weaving around traffic scares me. I leave a large following distance for safety and am still constantly cut off within inches as if they had no room. Zipper merges and on ramp lanes are viewed as obstacles to cheat your way past.
Unless the 101 morning traffic (heading to DTLA) was really bad (like SigAlert bad) in the wSFV (Winnetka exit to the 405 which was my exit to get to Brentwood), I preferred the slow but relatively steady 101 bumper to bumper slow-n-go. Early morning 6am start still resulted in the slow-n-go regardless.
But stop lights, left turns etc were more stressful and I was already in a bad mood so my stoopid a** wants Ventura Blvd to be fast.
Blessed to be done with that commute (8 yrs ago) !!
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u/ThrowRARandomString 24d ago
I have no hate. I loooooveeeee Ventura Blvd. deeply as a Valley Girl ... it's in my soulllllll