Just Don't Call It "EaHo": East Hollywood in the spotlight

But this densely populated neighborhood has developed a higher profile since the days when it was considered "the overlooked, nondescript part of Hollywood,” said resident and historian Elson Trinidad.

A surge of development has brought new apartments, restaurants, shops -- and concerns about rising rents and gentrification. The L.A. Times list of 101 Best Restaurants in L.A includes five neighborhood spots. Even newly elected Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez calls East Hollywood home. L.A. magazine dubbed the neighborhood "EaHo."

“I no longer get the ‘Where is East Hollywood?’ [question] when I tell people what part of town I'm from,” Trinidad said.

Despite the changes, East Hollywood’s population has remained highly diverse, with concentrations of Armenians, Thais and Filipinos. The Latino population is around 50%, according to recent Census numbers.  

This diversity may be a legacy of racist redlining early in the 20th Century, when the area was considered “undesirable for investment,” according to blogger J.T. the Storyteller.

Already the city's third-most densely populated neighborhood, East Hollywood is becoming even more dense thanks in part to TOC projects close to major transit hubs, such as the Metro subway stations along Vermont Avenue. At least 664 so-called TOC residential units were planned or under construction near the Santa Monica-Vermont Metro station as of last summer, and more have been added since.

Despite new construction, affordable housing isn’t coming in fast enough, though, Trinidad said. 

East Hollywood housing prices are still lower than neighboring Silver Lake and Los Feliz, said real estate broker Clint Lukens.  But the median home price of $1,250,000 is still 50% higher than five years ago, according to Redfin. Rents have also climbed from an average of $1,600 to $1,925 for a one-bedroom, according to Zumper.

The 90029 ZIP code has seen a wave of gentrification. J.T. the Storyteller notes that about 500 rent-controlled units have been taken off the market through Ellis Act conversions since 2000, which puts a squeeze on lower-income renters.

On Virgil Avenue, new businesses have replaced immigrant-owned shops one by one. Sqrl was the trendsetter, opening its doors in 2012 where a taqueria and La Raza Market once stood. Melody wine bar, across the street, replaced Amala’s Guatemalan cuisine. Courage Bagels took the corner in place of an old panadaria.

But even here, the changes have been slow and uneven.

Ken’s Raman appeared a couple of years ago in a former Latino church before disappearing without fanfare. Cha Cha Cha restaurant, which operated for about three decades before being torn down for condominiums, didn’t do much to attract upscale businesses.

“There are definitely pockets of visible gentrification in East Hollywood, but I haven't seen any of them take over the neighborhood to the scale of what has happened to Silver Lake and Echo Park,” Trinidad said.

Some mainstays have survived. “Before you go to Saffy’s  and get your gram pic and delish meal, please go to Marouch first,” said Lukens, referring to a stalwart Lebanese/Armenian spot on Santa Monica Boulevard that dates back at least to the 1980s.

New places continue to open and trendy hot spots emerge on Melrose, Fountain and Hollywood. “But how long will they last?” said Trinidad. “Not only are residential rents pricey, but so are commercial rents.”

One thing Trinidad knows for sure. Unlike the L.A. Magazine article, “nobody here calls the neighborhood 'EaHo.'”