San Fernando Movers

Getting to Know San Fernando

How San Fernando Sits

San Fernando is an independent city in the northeast San Fernando Valley, about twenty miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It covers roughly two and a half square miles and held about 24,000 people at the 2020 census. That works out to around 10,000 people per square mile, which makes it one of the denser cities in the region. It is surrounded by the City of Los Angeles, with the LA neighborhoods of Sylmar to the north, Lake View Terrace to the east, Pacoima to the south, and Mission Hills to the west. The Interstate 5, the Interstate 210, and the State Route 118 freeways run nearby.

San Fernando is the oldest city in the San Fernando Valley and is nicknamed the Mission City for the nearby Mission San Fernando Rey de España, founded in 1797. The community is heavily Latino and family-centered, with many households that have lived here for generations alongside more recent arrivals. The walkable San Fernando Mall, a pedestrian shopping corridor near the city’s heart, anchors downtown along with the Maclay Avenue and Truman Street corridors. Las Palmas Park and Pioneer Park give the dense city green space, and the city holds a large Día de los Muertos festival each October.

The homes are mostly modest. Older single-family bungalows on small lots fill the residential blocks, with apartment buildings along and near the main streets. The 1882 López Adobe on Pico Street, one of the two oldest private homes in the Valley, still stands as a reminder of the city’s age. The result is a compact, walkable, working city that runs differently from the sprawling Los Angeles neighborhoods that surround it.

How a Small City Stayed Independent

The land was home to the Fernandeño Tataviam people, and in 1797 the Spanish founded Mission San Fernando Rey de España nearby. Under Mexican rule, the area became part of the vast Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando. In 1874, State Senator Charles Maclay bought tens of thousands of acres of the rancho, laid out a townsite, and named it San Fernando, the first town in the Valley.

The railroad made the town. Southern Pacific rail service from Los Angeles reached San Fernando in 1874, and for a time the town was the line’s northern endpoint while a tunnel was cut through the pass to the north. The community grew into farm country, known for citrus and olives, fed by the deep wells and abundant groundwater that had once watered the mission’s fields.

That water decided the city’s future. When the rest of the Valley agreed to join Los Angeles in the 1910s to reach the new Los Angeles Aqueduct, San Fernando did not need it. Its own groundwater let it stand alone, and in August 1911 residents voted to incorporate as an independent city. The Valley around it was annexed into Los Angeles, but San Fernando kept its own borders and its own city hall, which is why a small independent city sits ringed by Los Angeles today.

What a San Fernando Move Really Involves

San Fernando is dense and ringed by Los Angeles, so most moves here turn on access and tight streets rather than long distance. The first thing we settle is where the truck can sit and how the items reach it. On the residential blocks, that means narrow streets, small lots, and bungalows with tight driveways. Near the corridors, it means apartments with stairs and limited parking. On the Mall and the commercial streets, it means loading zones that fill during business hours. We confirm the parking and the access before move-in day.

The building is the next factor. A small bungalow has a narrow path from the curb and a tight porch or doorway. An apartment has a shared entrance and a stairwell to protect, and an elevator to reserve if there is one. A single-family home on a small lot has a short but tight approach. We check the floor, the stairs or elevator, and the carry distance ahead of time, and bring the protection and the crew size to match.

The third factor is the city line. Because San Fernando is surrounded by Los Angeles, a local move often crosses into an LA neighborhood like Sylmar or Pacoima within a mile or two. The crew handles both ends the same way, and the short distance keeps a local move quick. We bring door, railing, and floor protection as standard and plan the handling for fragile and valuable pieces. With the parking, the building, and the route settled before move day, the crew keeps moving once it arrives.