Los Angeles Eastside Expertise: Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Downtown & Hollywood

EAGLE ROCK

GEOGRAPHY

East of Atwater Village and south of Glendale, Eagle Rock has wide streets for its main thoroughfars and narrow winding one as you crawl up into the hills where you’ll find all manner of craftsman houses and newer ranch homes.  Though it’s only minutes from downtown, there’s something oddly suburban about Eagle Rock, though I wouldn’t call it folksy, just the kind of place you might want to go to Target.  Colorado Blvd. is the main street that’s lined with some boutiques, diner-type restaurants, the odd bar and yes, The Target.

VIBE

Eagle Rock has the built in “cool” factor of being a little bit of a college town nestled into Los Angeles.  Though the Occidental presence isn’t pervasive, you’ll feel it at local coffee shops or while waiting for a table at one of the many popular breakfast spots.  The hipster overflow is still at a minimum and for the most part there are fresh faced co-eds and local families.

DOWNTOWN

GEOGRAPHY

10 years ago, most people wouldn’t have dreamed of living in downtown Los Angeles, but a lot has changed since then.  Now high rises that house law firms and corporate offices stand blocks from warehouses converted into lofts and tiny art galleries.  Most of the action here is between Figueroa (“Fig” if you prefer) and Alameda.  Go farther east and you’ll find yourself in Skid Row.  Though a lot of the commerce that has popped up is in the form of bars and restaurants, you can get your knockoff shopping done in the Fashion District and more and more boutiques are popping up around the city.

VIBE

If any place in Los Angeles is a melting pot, it’s certainly downtown, especially in its most recent incarnation.  You can spend a night bar hopping in heels and a cocktail dress and not feel out of place at any of the local establishments, you will probably walk past more than one person sleeping on the sidewalk.  The second Thursday of every month is the Downtown Art Walk where you can carouse with residents and artists at the various galleries around downtown, usually while sipping on cheap wine.  It’s very chi chi.

HIGHLAND PARK

GEOGRAPHY

Small casual eateries (think movable plastic letters on the menu board) and shops that someone like me doesn’t ever find herself needing (dry cleaning?  Shoe repair?) line York Ave. in Highland Park.  There are commercial niches on the side streets along with a lot of small homes and apartments.  Towards the southeast the houses get bigger and farther apart and the neighborhoods get quiet and a little more hilly.

VIBE

There is a distinctly punk rock/rockabilly (so sue me for not knowing the difference) vibe to Highland Park.  I’m not sure how every girl with dyed black bangs and every guy with red plaid and a wallet chain figured out that this was the place to congregate, but they did.  This population is especially likely to be found at a place like The Little Cave.
Highland Park seems to be a bit more laidback than many LA neighborhoods and if you’re not near one of the few local watering holes, it shuts down pretty early.  That is, you’ll be hard pressed to find food that doesn’t come out of a truck after 9 or 10pm.  Still, it’s a haven for 20 & 30somethings looking for a little more square footage and a dirtier escape from the Silverlake scene.

HOLLYWOOD

GEOGRAPHY

Plenty of non-Angelenos are familiar with the geography of Hollywood.  Hollywood Blvd? Check.  Sunset Blvd?  Check.  Between Western and La Brea.  This is the expanse that is Hollywood (though it also encompasses lesser-knowns like Thai Town and the suspicious ‘East Hollywood’).  Unless you venture up into the hills, most of the neighborhood is a healthy mix of apartment buildings, shops and restaurants.  And if you even find yourself in need of something to wear to amateur night at the strip club, lok no further than Hollywood Blvd.

VIBE

Hollywood is distinctly eclectic.  Like downtown, it has experienced somewhat of a renaissance/clean up much like Time Square in New York (such is my limited understanding).  So while you can now find hip celebutante clubs like LAX and Les Deux in the Hollywood zip codes, you’re still able to find the grimier watering holes of Charles Bukowski.  Sometimes they’ll even be right next to each other.