Pundits have identified several precursors of gentrification.  One precursor is artists moving to a new neighborhood:  Soho, Venice, Chelsea.  In Northeast Los Angeles (Echo Park, Silver Lake, Highland  Park, and Eagle Rock), the rising indie music industry has helped fuel Northeast Los Angeles gentrification.  According to a Los Angeles Times article (Sunday, August 17, 2014, E5), the area in Northeast Los Angles is home to many of he city’s most successful independent labels. Combined, the area has become its own little epicenter, and one of  its strengths fuzzy, strange rock as delivered by indie  artists and bands.  According to the LA Times, a notable number have recently relocated from San Francisco.  “Everyone we know, pretty much,from San Francisco moved down here, said prolific rocker Ty Segall.  “People are moving down here because there’s a lot of stuff going on and its cheaper–a lot cheaper,” explained Segal of the migration.

Seven out of LA Weekly’s ten top rock clubs are located in Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Downtown. The remaining three are in West Hollywood. Even Sunset Strip’s rock clubs have noted a loss of business to Silver Lake’s emerging indie rock clubs. Young creatives now go east for a unique variety of night life not currently found elsewhere in Los Angeles.

Echo Park Rising is a indie music event in it’s 4th year that focuses on the music, creativity, diversity and small businesses of Echo Park http://epr.la/. There were multiple stages and activities throughout the weekend of August 15, 2014, located on the main routes of Sunset Blvd, Glendale Blvd, Alvarado Avenue and Echo Park Avenue and beyond  . Here are some pictures from the event.

At the Cafe Bookstore

Cafe at the Bookstoe

Hanging Out

Crowds in Front of a Club

Crowds Waiting to Get Into a Venue

A line in front of another Indie Rock Club

We took a 1960’s apartment building and renovated it into a hip new apartment for Millennials with the assistance of Adaptive Realty .  The goal was to re-imagine this 1960 apartment building and convert it into a creative multifamily property for the gentrification occurring now in the south part of Silver Lake.

Before Exterior

Before Exterior 2

On the exterior, we added new paint, landscape, and fencing to create a new facade suggesting both a secure and new fun environment inside the gate.  One reads the horizontal natural wood siding as the telltale of a renovated northeast Los Angeles housing project.

After Exterior

More After Exterior

Even More After Exterior

Below is the interior courtyard before renovation.  The buildings formed a courtyard paved with asphalt.  The catwalks made the courtyard look like a prison yard.  The asphalt devoid of landscape gave the impression the courtyard was meant only for cars like a 1950s motel.

Before Interior Courtyard

Before Interior Courtyard 2

We fenced off the courtyard; added siding to the rails; privatized patios with wood horizontal  fencing; and installed new landscaping and hardscaping. We added tables and chairs to create  a social collaboration area. The new courtyard looks like an outdoor cafe

New Interior Courtyard

Part of the courtyard was fenced off to create private patios and create a cafe look into the public courtyard

More Interior Courtyard

We  used the excess land to create some private patios the size of small backyards.

Private Backyard

New Private Exterior Patio to Unit

We even privatized the end portions of the catwalks to create private balconies:

Private Balconies

The units were typical dingbat 1960 units with popcorn ceilings, carpet, laminate counter tops, and cheap kitchen cabinets. The kitchen was closed off from the living room with only a pass thru counter-top with  cabinets above.

Before Kitchen

Before Living Room

Before Interiors 3

The 500 square foot one bedroom units now have quartz counter-tops, white thermafoil cabinets, designer stove hoods, eating bars and drywall ceilings. We combined the kitchen, living, and dining room into one  cafe style great room.   On the ground floor, large charcoal color slate floors distinguish the unit from just another typical apartment unit, while on the second floor ,sloped white wood ceilings contrasted with natural oak floors do the same cool trick.  In Silver Lake, young renters of the creative class yearn for something different than the.typical apartment.  Every unit has washer dryers, mini-splits for heating and cooling, and track lighting.

Ground Floor Unit with slate floors

After Renovation Second Floor Unit with Wood ceilings and floors

Another Second Floor Unit After Renovation

The bathrooms before renovation featured the traditional 1960 dingbat pink tub and home depot type apartment vanity.  We installed subway tiles as homage to the old and new contemporary vanities to blend in the new.

Before Bathroom

After Renovation Bathroom with subway tiles and new vanity

We even re-imagined the carports by privatizing them to allow for use either for parking or a private studio/workshop/storage.

Carports become partially enclosed to use for either parking or a workshop/studio

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.