After seventeen years in corporate sales, marketing and product management, Van Amerongen switched to cartooning at the age of 40.
The comic was similar in format and content to Gary Larson's The Far Side, employing a single panel gag cartoon infused with surreal humor.
Ballard Street ran as a multi-panel strip until 1993, when Van Amerongen reverted to the single panel format employed by The Neighborhood.
The drawings themselves rely on facial expressions and body postures to give readers additional information beyond the caption, providing the motivation behind the action.
In April 2004, Van Amerongen's Giclee prints and some original pieces were presented during a one-man show at the Every Picture Tells A Story Gallery in Santa Monica, California.