Life Only Becomes More Strenuous for Van Nuys Residents as the Pandemic Continues
With a poverty rate that’s about 1.4 times greater than the rest of California according to the Census Reporter, the pandemic has only made things harder for the residents of Van Nuys. The lockdowns have crippled small businesses and struggling families across the nation, Van Nuys is at the forefront of its effects.
Despite new apartments and shopping centers being added to the area, the issues that plague Van Nuys aren’t an easy fix. While housing prices rise and the area continues to appear fresher, it gives little assistance to those in need. To put it simply, it’s gentrification in action, and unfortunately, it’ll come at the cost of the individuals and families who can’t continue to afford the area anymore.
The data collected paints a clearer picture as to why Van Nuys has been heavily affected. While 79.7% of residents completed high school with some college experience, 34% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher — both of which are slightly below state averages. Smaller numbers in higher education lead to decreased prospects, a lower median income, less opportunity for the residents. Adding expensive condos and a glossy mall to the area does little-to-nothing to help the roots of the community’s downfalls.
Van Nuys embodies many of Los Angeles’s core problems. Living comfortably in the city is alarmingly hard to come by, especially in lower-income Valley neighborhoods. The reduced work opportunities have forced many in Van Nuys to continue working despite the current health risks, and despite their determination, the payout isn’t impressive. As shown in the graph from Census Reporter, both per capita and median household incomes are substantially-below state and even national averages.
Has the need to work led to an increase in Coronavirus cases? Absolutely. While some people have vacationed, started a hobby, invested heavily in the stock market during the pandemic, the vast majority of Latinos have had to keep working. It’s not because of semantics or enjoyment, but because they have to in order to exist and sustain their livelihoods.
Furthermore, Van Nuys has a 41.7% foreign-born population, 1.5 times greater than California’s according to Census Reporter. As the graph shows, the vast majority are Latino, indicative of them bearing the worst of the pandemic’s effects.
In addition to the large Latino population in Van Nuys, 43% of its adult residents speak Spanish, with children from 5 to 17 years old at a significantly higher percentage of 58.
Almost everything seems glossy and fabulous about California from the outside. In reality, it’s far from almost. The pandemic has exposed many of the state’s shortcomings, and despite a large budget surplus, it’s still allowing far-too-many people and families to sink during troubled times.
According to USC’s Crosstown, a Coronavirus tracker, there are 13,881 cases within Van Nuys, a rate of 12,377.40 per population of 100,000. Not the worst, but certainly not the best. With the vaccine for COVID rolling out slower than desired, the only thing for families in Van Nuys to do is stay as safe as possible until immunization reaches them.
