For only being a small section of this one mile radius project, the area we surveyed was rather diverse. The below pictures are of Santa Monica Blvd, the south side of our survey. To a large extent it is a rather forgettable section of Santa Monica. A couple car wash businesses. Old office buildings, many of which have tenants of third rate entertainment companies. (Third rate, I'm guessing. My ranking, first rate I say are the major movie studios.) There are a couple interesting highlights. On the south side of Santa Monica (which technically was outside our zone) is the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Also on this street is (I'm assuming) the Los Angeles headquarters for Suicide Girls. If anyone looks through the LA Weekly entertainment listings, you've probably noticed the Suicide Girls -- a goth, punk, young girl outfit that I believe used to have a show on Indie 103.1 and does various shows at Los Angeles music venues.
The below pictures are of Vine St, the western most part of our survey area. I'm again cheating to a degree as the photo of the pawn shop and the Sunset+Vine apartment complex are technically not in our survey area. Vine is getting built up. Awhile back, Vine didn't have the best reputation as a street, but it has improved. What is interesting about this street is that there are two worlds here. On the southern part of Vine (the survey section of Vine, of course) you have a pawn shop and a Goodwill store. So obviously this area still services the needs of the poor and down-and-out. The northern part of Vine is where the well-to-do, Hollywood types hang out. In the Sunset+Vine photo, you can see the cranes, which is where the W Hotel is getting built. If you know the area, you also know that the Arclight is nearby. Interesting contrast.
Sunset Blvd is the northern portion of the survey area. I'd say this section of Sunset is on the edge of the revival area. You have the condo/apartment tower that is being built. (Actually, I believe construction has stopped due to the economic conditions.) You also have a Nickelodeon studio. The further east you go, you'll see a Rite Aid and Denny's. I think the further you go away from Vine, the less Hollywood it gets and you start to run into more of the homeless.
The eastern border is Bronson. This is an interesting street. It is a street that highlights gentrification. The first photo is of a condo complex (assumed). If it is a small condo complex, you know those condos sold for more than $500K. If these are rentals, you are likely looking at $2,000+ a month rents. The second and third pictures have an interesting look of a couple recently build apartments or condos next to a house that looks bordered up. At the end of Bronson is a props shop. With the housing market as it is, gentrification on this street will likely end. The question is will gentrification on this street re-start at some point. Will developers buy up some of these houses and build high end apartments/condos at some point?
The following pictures are of the interior section of our survey area. You'll notice that there is a rather new looking school. This section of Hollywood isn't being ignored by the City Council. Parts of the interior isn't the best neighborhoods. It might be hard to tell, but the next two photos of houses provides you an image of homes that are run down and lawns that just don't look picture perfect. Look closely at the third photo. There is a black burn mark on the garage door. This is something that could easily be fixed, painted over; but is being left as is.
I'd say that the interior of this area is broken into two sections. Fountain Ave is a semi-major street that goes from east to west. I'd say to the south of Fountain you have an area that is poor. To the north-west, you have an area that is middle class. To the north-east, you have some poor areas surrounded by some studios -- Gower Studio. In the area below, I didn't take photos of it, but you had graffiti markings on buildings. People live behind gates, window bars, metal doors.
As mentioned, the north-west portion of this area is rather middle class. The first photo is of a couple apartment and/or condo complexes that look new. Across the street in the second photo are a number of older apartment buildings. Compare these apartment buildings with the photos of the houses above. The houses and apartments were likely built around the same time, but don't the apartments look well maintained compared to those homes? And doesn't the third photo below feel tranquil? One person mentioned that this section probably is better kept due to the Hollywood Community Hospital nearby. We speculated that perhaps this is where some of those working at the hospital live. If true, you have nurses, interns and administrators living in this area so you have a middle class section here.
This last photo is of the Gower Studios. There obviously is a lot of Hollywood Industry buildings in this area.
It is hard to say anything about the neighborhood without doing a random survey of the residents, but here are some thoughts.
1. A very concentrated area. A lot of apartments, condos and small homes (many of the homes being craftsman houses).
2. Latino majority. Likely a decent minority of whites. I did see a few blacks walking around. If the condo/apartment tower on Sunset eventually gets finished, you'll see a high concentration of upper-middle class Hollywood types move in. (Sunset+Vine apartment complex is obviously already filled with this group, but is technically outside our survey area -- though part of another group's.)
3. South of Fountain is poor.
4. North-west section is middle class.
5. A number of entertainment businesses.
6. Some gentrification on Bronson.
7. Likely minor gang problems. The area felt safe enough to walk around, but I suspect there are certain houses and apartments that are gang occupied. I personally wouldn't even think about renting in some of the apartment complexes in this area.
8. Major streets surround the area. Sunset, Gower, Santa Monica. I suspect Fountain gets busy at night. I know I use this street sometimes when I want to avoid traffic on Sunset.
9. With all the apartments, this is probably a transient neighborhood, but with a sizable minority that has lived in the area for years.
10. This is a physically connected section. The 101 Freeway does not run through this area. Admittedly, Gower sort of splits the community east and west. I wouldn't say Fountain creates another split. Gower doesn't have a series of stop signs or stop lights, while Fountain has many stop signs. It physical area is also flat.
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