Highland Park

Highland Park Map

Location: Off the 110, bordered by Downtown to the south, Glendale/Eagle Rock/Pasadena to the north and Los Feliz/Atwater to the east

Summary: Central, character homes that don’t cost a fortune, diverse, artists’ community. Median prices range from $350k-500k

Highland Park (Los Angeles, 90042) is in northeast Los Angeles, and includes the neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington and Glassell Park. Highland Park is the best deal in all of Los Angeles for a character home in a historic neighborhood. Dozens of restaurants, bars and art galleries dot the two main thoroughfares of Figueroa and York. There’s a vibrant homeowner community, the Highland Park Heritage Trust that inducts historically significant homes every year, a weekly farmers market, grassy dog parks and multiple annual street fairs.

Restored Craftsman in Highland Park, $389k

Even before I started in real estate, nearly a decade ago, I was told that Highland Park was the new Silver Lake/Echo Park/insert the newly minted hood du jour of your choice here. It was artsy and chock-full of character homes at a tiny cost compared to über trendy Silver Lake. Investors swept in and snapped up blocks and tripled the area’s values. Then the market crashed.

Four years later, many of those original investors have moved on and left behind a throng of Spanish, California Bungalows and Craftsman homes in its wake. Foreclosures have brought prices back down to 2003 levels—a time when you could pick up one of these gems for about $200k.

Restored Spanish style home in Highland Park, $530k

The very first home I bought was in Highland Park. I bought it because it was less than 10 minutes to Downtown, Silver Lake and Pasadena. It was central to everything worth being central to and priced at $220k. But I didn’t buy it for the price alone. I fell in love with a 1929 Spanish home that sat next to a Craftsman on a block of Bungalows and one magnificent Queen Anne.

Yes, there are naysayers who don’t know the real Highland Park, but love discussing it endlessly. Yes, there are problems, but what L.A. hood doesn’t? What they don’t know is that some of the most breathtaking character homes are found here. Some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet, live, love and work here. Highland Park is and will always be historic, authentic and beautiful–the epitome of the Los Angeles I love and where I called home for many years.

So what does this mean for you? This means you have the opportunity to come into Historic Highland Park, pick up a vintage stunner you might want to restore and plant roots. Now that’s a beautiful thing.