East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

East Hollywood is a community that forms the eastern portion of the Hollywood district in the City of Los Angeles, California.

It encompasses part of Hollywood east of Western Avenue and north of the 101 Hollywood Freeway. The northern border is Hollywood Boulevard, and the eastern boundary is North Hoover Street. [cite web| url=http://www.easthollywood.net/about.html| title= East Hollywood boundaries| accessdate=2008-03-05] This includes the smaller communities of Thai Town, Virgil Village, and Little Armenia, and borders Los Feliz and Silver Lake, about 4 miles from Downtown Los Angeles.

Demographics

According to census data the population of East Hollywood in 2000 was 48,174 (the 2007 figure was 51000 [http://www.easthollywood.net/history.html East Hollywood History ] ] ). Of that 51.32% Latino or hispanic, 24.62% white alone (not hispanic/latino), 15.38% asian alone, 8.37% 2 or more races, 3.58% black/african american alone, 0.14%, hawaiian/other pacific islander alone, 0.88% american indian/alaskan native alone [http://www.laalmanac.com/population/po24la.htm]

The area has an exceptionally diverse population, both in terms of ethnicity and income. Whilst some parts of the district still suffer from the usual inner city problems, residential areas to the east - especially to the north of Melrose Ave and east of Alexandria - are predominantly filled with well kept middle class houses and this is reflected in the high property prices compared to the rest of the district. The 90029 zip code had a median house price of $925,000 in 2007, almost double the $550,000 Los Angeles County average. [ [http://www.laalmanac.com/economy/ec37b.htm Median Home Prices - Los Angeles County Cities ] ]

History

In the early 1900s, the East Hollywood area was a farming village that also encompassed some of what is now Los Feliz. On the site of the current Los Angeles City College was Prospect Park - fields of fruit and vegetables. Late in the decade Prospect Park was renamed “East Hollywood” to bring it in line with its neighbor - the fast growing town of Hollywood.

In 1910, the people of the towns of Hollywood and East Hollywood voted to be annexed to the City of Los Angeles in order to tap into the city water supply. In 1914, Children's Hospital was relocated from downtown LA to Vermont Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. In 1916 steel magnate Andrew Carnegie donated the money to construct the Cahuenga Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library on Santa Monica Boulevard.

In the early 1920s, Barnsdall Park was built. The 20s were also a time of massive immigration into East Hollywood. Russian immigrants fleeing their motherland during the communist revolution came to East Hollywood and survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide made it their new home, establishing the Armenian community that is now Little Armenia.

The University of California Southern Branch, needing more space, moved west at the end of the 20s to a ranch called Westwood and became UCLA. The old UCSB campus then became Los Angeles Junior College which was later renamed Los Angeles City College.

In 1930 Cedars of Lebanon Hospital sprang up in the district when Kaspare Cohn Hospital moved from East Los Angeles to a new building on Fountain Avenue and was renamed.

Kaiser Hospital was built along Sunset Boulevard in 1953

The Los Angeles riots of 1992 forever changed East Hollywood - many businesses were burned or looted, especially around the Santa Monica/Vermont intersection. Then, in 1994, the Northridge earthquake caused further damage, severely damaging several buildings along Hollywood Boulevard.

The 101 Hollywood Freeway - which now describes the southern boundary of the district - was built between 1947 and 1949.

The late '90s saw a period of recovery and growth. Businesses destroyed by the Riots and the earthquake were soon rebuilt or repaired with the assistance of the East Hollywood/Beverly-Normandie Earthquake Disaster Assistance Project. [ [http://www.crala.org/internet-site/Projects/East_Hollywood/about.cfm About the Project Area ] ] In 1996 Cahuenga Library reopened after several years of renovation. That same year, the East Hollywood Community Association was established by concerned residents who wanted to make a difference in improving the neighborhood.

In the summer of 1999, the Metro Red Line subway stations were constructed which gave East Hollywood increased transportation options and a link to the rest of the region via the new Metro Rail system.

East Hollywood Neighborhood Council was established in 2002 and certified as the 89th neighborhood council in the City of Los Angeles on April 19, 2007 [ [http://www.easthollywood.net/ehnc.html East Hollywood Neighborhood Council ] ]

With gentrification and recent injections of funds Kaiser Hospital, Children's Hospital, Los Angeles City College and Barnsdall Park are either expanding or being renovated and new elementary schools are being built along Santa Monica Boulevard. New businesses are moving to East Hollywood, especially around the "Hel-Mel" corner at Heliotrope Drive and Melrose Avenue.

Under the LA City's "Vermont/Western Transit Oriented District" plan, the City will 'encourage sufficient schools, childcare facilities, parks, public pools,soccer fields, open space, libraries and police stations within the Plan Area by the horizon year of 2020' and 'establish a clean, safe, comfortable and pedestrian oriented community environment for residents to shop in and use the public community services in the neighborhood.' [ [http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/specplan/sparea/vermonttodpage.htm Specific Plans Detail ] ]

LACC is currently finishing construction of a $22 million library resource center. The new Martin Luther King, Jr. Library received $18 million in State funding (partially funded by the LACCD's Proposition A/AA Bond Program). It is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

Landmarks

*Barnsdall Art Park, which includes the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House and a city-run arts center. The park, located on small but scenic Olive Hill, was donated to the City of Los Angeles by oil heiress Aline Barnsdall.
*The [http://www.brailleinstitute.org/Centers/LosAngeles.htm Braille Institute]
*Cahuenga Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the oldest branch in the LA system is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
*Charles Bukowski's former East Hollywood residence at 5124 De Longpre Avenue.
*Church of Scientology West Coast headquarters (in a striking blue building, formerly Cedars of Lebanon hospital)
*Griffith Observatory, whilst not actually located in East Hollywood, is a Los Angeles landmark visible overlooking the entire district.
*Immaculate Heart Of Mary Church on Santa Monica Blvd
*Los Angeles City College
*Safari Sam's a popular live music venue
*Self-Realization Fellowship
*Three hospitals at Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenues: Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, Queen of Angels, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
*Zankou Chicken's first American store.

Several environmental demonstration projects are located in or near East Hollywood, including [http://www.ecohome.org/ Eco-Home] , the [http://www.laecovillage.org/ Los Angeles Eco-Village] and the Bicycle Kitchen.

Many of the novels, short stories and poems of Charles Bukowski, a native of East Hollywood, are set in the area.

Transportation

East Hollywood is served by the Red Line subway which runs north-south along Vermont Avenue and east-west along Hollywood Boulevard, with stations at Vermont/Santa Monica, Vermont/Sunset and Hollywood/Western. Over a dozen bus lines run on the major thoroughfares, including Metro's Rapid and Local service lines and Los Angeles Department of Transportation's DASH shuttle lines serving Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory. The freeway U.S. Route 101 cuts northwest from downtown Los Angeles, with all its freeway connections, through Hollywood to the San Fernando Valley.

References

External links

* [http://www.easthollywood.net/ehnc.html East Hollywood Neighborhood Council]
* [http://www.easthollywood.net/ EastHollywood.net]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bw9l91i_Bc "This is East Hollywood"] - Short film spotlighting the diversity and uniqueness of the community.