Small Town in the Big City
Can you guess the location of North Evergreen Street from these descriptions left by residents on its community Facebook page?
✦ “A series of unfortunate events led me to leave my house with my front door wide open. Andre, our mailman, alerted my neighbors, who not only locked my house up for me but checked for any bogeymen too!” —Ann M.
✦ “We recently went on a long weekend getaway only to find that we had forgotten to leave the key with our house/dog sitter. Our neighbors across the street jumped right in to save the day, or days, as it was. They fed our dog, checked her water, made time to play with her, and even took her for walks. This neighborhood is the best I’ve ever lived in, so familylike, friendly, helpful.” —Dorothy B.
✦ “My neighbors found a stray pig in their yard that was obviously someone’s pet. I was walking my dog when I saw them giving the pig carrots and apple slices. I wrote a post to see if anybody knew where it belonged. Before my walk ended, the pig had found his way home thanks to this group!” —Susan S.
Is this somewhere in small-town America, perhaps, maybe out in farm country? In fact, North Evergreen Street is in Burbank, California, which is part of the Los Angeles metro area, smack in the middle of the most populated county in the country. Burbank is famous for its TV studios, and its charming streets showed up in The Wonder Years. But instead of being a fabricated Hollywood version of a small town, this close-knit neighborhood is the real thing.
You can drive right onto North Evergreen; there are no guards to stop you, as you’ll find at countless gated communities nearby. The homes sit on tidy yards, not on estates so big you can’t even see your neighbors. Folks wave when you pass by, and when you get home you might find a dozen eggs from the backyard coop next door waiting
on the porch or a bag of limes hanging from your doorknob. These neighbors just like to share. “Over the years, we’ve given and received oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, tomatoes, squash, avocado, kale, jalapeños,” resident Jane H. says. Recently Jon O. posted in the Facebook group that he would fire up his outdoor pizza oven for anyone who felt like coming over. He ultimately made—and shared—18 pizzas. That’s just why people such as Amruta S. move to North Evergreen: “I want my son to know what living in a village feels like.” Even if that village is in the heart of La-la Land.