Porter Ranch is a suburban neighborhood in the northwest San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. History The new home construction that was completed in the Porter Ranch area in the 1990s–2000s, including the Renaissance Summit development, was mired in controversy and Los Angeles politics in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This largely undeveloped area on the very edge of the San Fernando Valley slated for a master-planned $2 billion real estate and commercial development was opposed by the "slow growth" movement, which was gaining traction through a combination of ballot initiatives and court cases along with growing environmental concerns as L.A. at the time was experiencing multiple environmental and infrastructure problems related to the previous decades rapid expansion, in terms of air quality, sewage capacity, and flood control. More locally, this combined with the more "nimby" type sentiment of existing and nearby residents of the Porter Ranch area who feared the increased traffic that would be brought by the planned building of an area commercial complex to service the new homes being built. Developments were also criticized for destroying the natural beauty of the brush and wild areas that inhabited the space before the houses were built. However, Shapell Homes, a company founded by Nathan Shapell, a major Los Angeles builder, brought together powerful Los Angeles political figures to support the new home building. Aliso Canyon Bridge In the late 80s, there was an attempt to connect Sesnon Boulevard, the road that flanks the north side of the neighborhood, to its counterpart across the Aliso Canyon, also named Sesnon, via a bridge to be named simply, the "Aliso Canyon Bridge". This plan never came to fruition due to demonstrations from the residents of Porter Ranch, the primary opponents of the bridge, who believed that connecting the road to the neighborhood across the canyon would bring "crime...drag racing, and drug dealing". Residents were also afraid of Sesnon becoming "a [highway] 118 alternate route", which would "send many cars through Porter Ranch". Proponents of the bridge said that there was a "critical need" to build a bridge because "the city of Los Angeles has installed heavy-duty guard rails to stop any vehicle that is out of control as it moves east at Beaufait. There is a much smaller rail 200 feet farther east...however, the first guard rail is usually partially broken because of out-of-control vehicles hitting