Next area to gentrify in Los Angeles? Silverlake, Echopark, Highland Park etc What's Next?

[Will F.]

(I'm kind of copying @joederobertis' other post asking for predictions about beachcities poised to boom.)

Since so many neighborhoods in LA have been gentrifying recently into "cool yuppy/hipster" areas.  

Heck even Santa Monica had to go through gentrification a while back.  Some in the past include Venice many years ago, as well as Silverlake and Los Feliz more recently.    Even more recently Echo Park, parts of Long Beach and currently Highland Park have boomed even faster than LA's current fast (bubble-like) boom.

Where do you all think the current areas are being gentrified or where the next flow of artists/ hipsters are moving to gentrify.  I'm talking place that are largely working-class low income neighborhoods that have potential for a boom based on hipsters etc.

(I assume no boom in this current market can be like what's happened from 2011-2013 since they've already gone up 25-30% in a lot of areas, but I still want to think about areas where there's more potential for faster growth)

So where are the hipsters going next? They're priced of of Silverlake 

Some background info: http://la.curbed.com/tags/gentrification

Perhaps @Ali Boone the Hipster investor herself could chime in ;-P

[Francis A.]

If I were a betting man, I would point the area south of USC - west of the 110 freeway.

The boundaries would be JEFFERSON BLVD to the north, SLAUSON to the south and stretching westward all the way to BALDWIN HILLS and ending at La Cienega on the western border of this rectangle of speculation.

I've personally seen "in love" yuppies taking a sunday morning stroll at Central and MLK blvd. If that isn't a sign of gentrification then I need to recalibrate my yuppie-dar. There's also a nice Fresh and Easy grocery store a few blocks north on Adams and Central btw.

And then there is a starbucks on the South west corner of Slauson and Central ave. I was driving south towards the 10 freeway on Central. A friend of mine texted me to grab a WSJ to read an article in the business section. I thought "oh drat!" I gotta drive back to downtown to locate a WSJ! And then I remembered that there was that Starbucks on Slauson that I had seen while driving around with my realtor. I called an Audible and drove there as it was a shorter drive than hiking it back to downtown Los Angeles.

What do you know? They had a WSJ at that Starbucks at 10:30pm at night. That kinda blew me away considering what the neighborhood used to be like 6-10 years ago. 

So I would say...

90037 - first choice (specifically - west of the 110 fwy)

90011 - 2nd choice

90018 - 2nd + choice

Case in point. When we were shopping around for a duplex, we just missed out on a really really nice one next to USC. As we drove around dejected, we saw this place.

1221 West 51st Pl Los Angeles, CA 90037

We checked it out and almost ran for the hills.  Hello deferred maintenance hell! There were squatters in the back (don't let the pics fool you) but you could tell it had once been a nice duplex! The structure was still regal looking. Fast forward July, 2014 and this some enterprising investor has scooped up that fixer upper. I am very curious to see when it re debuts on the market and at what price.

Wild card neighborhood - City Terrace. Keep an eye out for this neighborhood in the next 3-5 years. The views of the city from that hill are gorgeous!

To show you how much fat cat Google is slacking when it comes to updating Google maps, check out the corner of Slauson and Central. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9893322,-118.25662...

This picture is SO DAMN OLD it isn't funny. That whole section across from the McDonalds is a bustling shopping strip anchored by the Northgate supermarket and a CVS pharmacy. Starbucks, Waba Grill, Panda Express, Yogurtland and Wing Stop are some your usual far of casual eateries round out the the rest of list.

http://www.regencycenters.com/properties/property_...

http://www.mattconstruction.com/project-detail/ret…

Happy hunting!