Northeast Los Angeles real estate has been booming for years. We hear about it on TV and in the news. Rarely is a report published where the term "gentrification" is used to describe areas such as Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington and Highland Park, regions where home values rose. Is there anything home buyers and home sellers need to know?
By definition, to "gentrify" means to improve a house or neighborhood to suit middle-class tastes. The middle class, or bourgeoisie, attempts to emulate the standards of the upper class. In the United Kingdom, gentry refers to people of high social status, specifically a class of people below the nobility. The gentrification of an area is therefore the process by which people of lower socio-economic status are pushed out of a region to make it more attractive to people of higher socio-economic status. The taking of dilapidated inner city homes from working class families to be renovated and sold to the privileged is also known as progress or gentrification.
That's exactly what's happening in the once run-down neighborhood of Highland Park. This ongoing restorative transformation has helped eradicate crime and strengthen the local economy. Juice bars and yogurt shops have sprung up in the place of abandoned dressers and liquor stores. Local businesses are now thriving where once the windows were boarded up and the carcasses of cars rusted away.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Glassell Park, where police recently bulldozed suspected gang members in a dramatic crackdown on crime. Soon after, investors began investing in fixing up Glassell Park homes overlooking the hillside, and property values began to rise with new shops and restaurants popping up in direct proportion.
This forgotten slum underwent a complete metamorphosis in the 1990s, turning it into one of the most sought after areas east of the city centre. With Echo Park as a model, the restoration movement continued its eastward march, rehabilitating other areas with great potential, such as Highland Park and Glassell Park.
One of the telltale signs of the up-and-coming neighborhood is what's known as the Starbucks phenomenon. If this "7-eleven" of coffee shops decided to put their green lady logo on the block, you can bet your bottom dollar that 'The Hipsters Are Coming', or rather, that the Hipsters have already arrived. This, of course, means that property values are rising. In the historic Highland Park area, York Boulevard is now reserved for Starbucks. Having a Starbucks on the corner is clear evidence that the cash community is on the rise. Home values for sale in Highland Park are absolutely exploding.
Another way to measure well-being is to explore the plethora of trendy restaurants, bars and art galleries, not to mention cafes that are everywhere too cool for school patrons. This enclave has become a hot spot for exotic dining among foodies and the like. Good food seems to go hand in hand with gentrification. That is one of the advantages. Today, this once-neglected neighborhood offers French, Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and a wide variety of vegan cuisine. It has become a wonderful multicultural Mecca. Another example of economic growth is the improvement of public transport. Businessmen can commute from paradise to downtown by train in minutes.
The median price for a home in Highland Park is now close to seven hundred thousand. In relative terms, this area is still a bargain in Los Angeles' overhyped housing market. As the beautification of these older neighborhoods blossoms in NELA, properties naturally become more desirable and property values escalate.
