What's in a name?

Van Nuys can't seem to get any respect. Daily News.

The heart of the San Fernando Valley's working-class community has slowly lost pieces of itself over the years, as entire neighborhoods seceded from the gritty image by renaming themselves in more bucolic terms, such as Valley Glen or Lake Balboa.

Now, another group of residents is launching an effort to break away from Van Nuys. The 1,855 homeowners in an area bounded by Sepulveda Boulevard and Hazeltine Avenue, and Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street, want to declare themselves part of the far tonier Sherman Oaks.

Laurette Healey, a Valley businesswoman who has run unsuccessfully for local offices in recent years, has collected signatures from about 800 residents and is bringing the proposal to the City Council for a final decision.