People like to live near people, business, lifestyles, amenities that fit their image and own lifestyle.  In other words, people like to live near people like themselves. Business like to locate near people who will use their services, and people like to live near businesses who services they use. As these people and businesses locate near each other–a cluster forms.  The more people and businesses, the stronger and more attractive the cluster.

Los Angeles is a large city of 4 million people.  It offers a host of options and many different neighborhood clusters.

Silver Lake and Echo Park offer a neighborhood where hipsters can cluster.  I don’t want to get into a discussion of what is a hipster.  You can read articles like this one to help:  http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/18/nation/la-na-nn-has-america-reached-peak-hipster-20120618 . 

Generally, Gen Ys who live in Silver Lake and Echo Park tend to be in the creative arts, like a certain form of Rock Music,wear unique clothing; enjoy small boutique shops over chains and vintage clothing over upscale designers; prefer some unique character to their housing; and  dig randomly meeting people they know while walking on the street or in cafes.  They may still like the beach but are not compelled to live near it (20 miles is close enough).  These northeasters do not mind the economic diversity still present within their neighborhood.

Westside Gen Ys tend to enjoy the safety, economic homogeneity, cleanliness,  and amenity rich characters of their neighborhoods.  The weather is cooler,and most everything they need to get to is a short commute. They don’t need their amenities in walking distance as long as it is a short drive with available parking. These west-siders enjoy the proximity to the beach and infinite choices in restaurants, bars, and shopping.

Hollywood offers an outrageous amount of bars and clubs and entertainment venues.  Downtown offers an urbane urban experience while still being able to get to other Los Angeles amenities by car (during non-rush hour). Downtown offers  the ability to rent or own a loft at a relatively more affordable price. Downtown has a diversity of clubs and appeals to the ecletic.

I apologize if I stereotyped or overly generalized these neighborhoods.  The purpose was to provide some  overview for why some Gen Ys may prefer one neighborhood over another in their housing choice.  Once started, these clusters are self aggrandizing.