[ex-Texan]

The real problem is that the Valley People are fed up paying for the Los Angeles Unified School District and its incredible corruption .... Los Angeles has bad schools that keep getting worse and need metal detectors to keep out weapons. People living in Encino, Agoura, West Lake Village, and Thousand Oaks actually have pretty good schools.

[GoreIsLove]

Who's gonna pay for all the ludicrous social programs now?

I really hope the valley is able to secede. The one saving grace in the Bay Area is that there are no uber-cities like Los Angeles to boss the more middle-class and conservative communities around.

[ElkGroveDan]

accessible through a handful of canyon roadways and one major freeway artery that snakes in from downtown

I've been gone for 6 years now, but having grown up in The Valley I can attest that access to the rest of LA is by way of THREE major Freeways. The one snaking in from downtown is I-5, but they've missed the 170/101 (Hollywood Freeway) and the 405 (San Diego Freeway).

You'd think someone doing an article on a major city might have a glance at a map for about two seconds.

[altair]

Best of luck to the Valley. They don't belong in LA the city.