Where exactly is "Silver Lake Adjacent"?

April 9, 2008 2:53 PM

I'm relocating to LA from Chicago next month. I've been looking on Craigslist for apartments, and I'm leery of the accuracy of the lister's location descriptions. I've gotten plenty of advice as to what neighborhoods to look in, but I really don't know if I'm actually looking in those places.

I hate looking for apartments from afar. But, this is happening fast and I'm going to need something quick when I get to town.

I've gotten plenty of advice from friends, and from searching here, I'm pretty sure I want to end up in Silver Lake even though I'm not into the hipster scene. I'll be working downtown and I want to stay within a 5-mile radius of the office so I can bicycle commute in a reasonable amount of time. And, I like the hilly-ness. And I need to be close to Intelligentsia to remind me of home.

But, even within Silver Lake, I don't know where I should shoot for. The LAist Neighborhood Project demarcated the official boundaries of the 'hood, but I know that some areas are probably better than others. Is it better to be north or south of Sunset? Is everything centered on the reservioir or is it scattered around? If I end up in Echo Park, is that going to be a problem?

When I first moved to Chicago, I let the "realtor" show me a really cool apartment in an area that had nothing around it. It wasn't a good or bad neighborhood, there just wasn't anything there. I don't want to do that again.

posted by hwyengr to home & garden (18 comments total)

I used to live in Silver Lake and worked downtown. Closer to the reservoir was much nicer than on the other side of Sunset.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 3:03 PM on April 9

And there's a bunch of nice shops and cafes on Silver Lake Blvd between around Berkeley Ave and the Reservoir itself, if you want to be within walking distance of some stuff. As a transplanted Chicagoan, myslef, I was very glad to be able to walk some places.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 3:10 PM on April 9

I don't really think of things as being centered on the reservoir (which is largely residential).

Is it important to be able to walk to a grocery store? Intelligentsia? Do you realize it's a pretty much gonna be an uphill bike ride to get home from downtown?

That laist article is ok, but a little on the dippy side. Half of the places they list aren't in what I think of as being Silver Lake, but what do I know?
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 3:10 PM on April 9

This is a quick and dirty guide of the southern border of what I, personally, would consider an acceptable place to live in Silver Lake or Echo Park.

The most expensive real estate is centered around the reservoir. There are a few restaurants and shops near Silver Lake Blvd. and Effie, plus Spaceland. But if you're looking for lots more stores/restaurants to walk to, concentrate where Sunset, Santa Monica, and Griffith Park come together (Intelligensia is around there).
posted by thebigpoop at 3:29 PM on April 9

Silverlake's a good choice, lots more stuff to do there than, say, downtown. And I'll verify bigpoop's map, looks accurate enough. I'll try not to hit you on your bike when I commute into work.

You can try using the "street view" function in Google Maps to give you an idea of whether or not it looks like the kind of place you'd like to bike through.
posted by jabberjaw at 3:44 PM on April 9

I live in Silver Lake, too. It's a great area. As to thebigpoop's map - I'd say the far west part of that right by Virgil borders on sketchy, but once you get up on the hill there, it's better.

The Sunset Junction area, which thebigpoop referred to, the junction of Sunset, Santa Monica, and Griffith Park, is pretty awesome. I live on the side of a hill here, and can walk to restaurants, the best gelato in L.A., a great comic book shop, etc. etc.

I've seen apartments further west than what thebigpoop showed as a border advertise themselves as Silver Lake, and they're not - they're a bit more in the barrio.
posted by MythMaker at 4:04 PM on April 9

Yeah, heading west from Hoover/Virgil it's less desirable to the south and more desirable to the north. That would start to be considered East Hollywood.

Like lots of LA, within the neighborhood some blocks are great, some are shit. Don't like the area? Walk over one street.
posted by thebigpoop at 4:10 PM on April 9

@Otherworldlyglow: Which neighborhood, if any, would you compare Silver Lake to in Chicago?

@Mandyman: Walking distance for coffee is nice, groceries, probably a drive. And the hills are going to be a challenge, since my current bike commute route has a grand total of 6' of elevation difference, all sloping one direction. (Over 4.5 miles, that makes it an average 0.02% slope)

@poop: That's exactly what I wanted to see. Thanks.

@jabberjaw: Does StreetView make any LA neighborhood look all that good? The sun is so bright, all the pictures seem washed out. I've driven down Sunset once, from around this area to downtown, and it didn't seem so bad. Was I mistaken?

@mythmaker: Stay over the hill. Check. Is the area around the park decent? It looks like a nice enough park, but it's pretty SW in the grand scheme.

Overall, how is parking in the neighborhood? I'm looking for something with parking, but if that doesn't pan out, am I going to be circling for hours to find something?
posted by hwyengr at 4:53 PM on April 9

I'm not from Chicago (in fact, I've never been), but I'd really recommend spending 1-2 weeks in a hotel room, short-term rental, or friend's apartment. It helped me a lot 9 years ago when I moved to the SF Bay Area, and it was worth the money in the long run.
posted by the cake is a pie at 4:54 PM on April 9

This should help you with your search
posted by craven_morhead at 5:07 PM on April 9

Ha, I live literally ON thebigpoop's southern border. It's slightly funky, but there is no crime to speak of or anything to fret over. I saw far more homeless and random street crazies in Westwood than I do in Silverlake. (Once you get over to Vermont though, it does become very clear you are not in Silverlake anymore.)

The area north of Sunset and around the reservoir is a bit cleaner. It's also more of a gay neighborhood. Most of the stuff you'll want to go to is literally ON sunset, so either direction is fine. I personally find most of the places on SL Blvd proper overrated (Michelangelo's = worst italian in the world, Back Door Bakery = how do you make french toast taste like sour milk? they have the secret.)

If you're going to have a car and street parking, it's actually to your advantage not to be TOO close to Sunset. I'm at Lucile and Marathon, and it's just about perfect- I can always find a spot, and I can walk up to Sunset Junction in 10 minutes or so.

(There are actually several open units in my complex right now; it's the best place I've ever lived. Mail me if you want more info.)
posted by drjimmy11 at 5:51 PM on April 9

I live in Echo Park. It's much more gentrified than it was when I moved in four years ago. If you end up there, you'll be fine (though you won't be able to walk to Intelligentsia). In both EP and Silverlake, though, I think it's considered slightly safer to live north of Sunset Blvd., rather than south of it, whenever possible.

For what it's worth, I live at the eastern end of Echo Park, and I can get downtown in about five minutes.
posted by chicainthecity at 6:07 PM on April 9

Hey neighbors! This is like a little meetup of Metafilter Eastsiders!

For me, parking's never too much of a problem. I live on Edgecliffe, just up the road from where the Silver Lake Farmer's Market is on Saturday mornings, and even with all the shops, restaurants and farmer's market, it's rarely a problem to find a parking space.

As for biking from here to downtown, Silver Lake has hills, but Sunset itself is relatively flat (it kind of goes between the hills), and it's not really hills between here and downtown. Now, I drive a car, so there may be an imperceptible incline that I don't notice, but it's not really hilly.

The fact that there's so much in walking distance for me where I live is pretty rare in L.A., generally. It's a huge thing to recommend the area.

drjimmy11, I know where you live! I speed over the speedbumps sometimes cutting through from Virgil to Sunset. You're right across the street from that school, aren't you?
posted by MythMaker at 7:06 PM on April 9

Y'know, the thing to keep in mind about LA is that even a great neighborhood can be really cool on one block but not on another. I have a friend who lives in a GREAT place in Hollywood, but a few blocks away there are crackhouses. Likewise, I used to live in Los Feliz and if I'd lived on the other end of the block I'd have had a whole different quality of life and neighbors. Sure, there are great parts of Silverlake, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Culver City, etc. But each of those neighborhoods also have their share of crapholes.

A lot of it is intuition, but I'd recommend looking at an apartment both during the day and walking around/viewing it at night before you decide to take it. Try to talk to a neighbor or two too, see what they're like and ask them what they think of living there. Having a nice, relaxing place to come home to and decompress makes ALL of the difference when it comes to enjoying living in LA. Last thing you need is a stressful situation with crazy neighbors.

About six years ago I was looking at an apartment off Pico that a friend had given me the scoop on. It was gorgeous. It was rent controlled and huge and I loved it. Then I started asking about if I could plant anything in the yard... I was told "You probably shouldn't. That's Elizabeth's territory." I was like, "Elizabeth?" Come to find out the downstairs neighbor was under house arrest for pulling a gun on a former tenant and making terrorist threats against government officials. Needless to say, I didn't move in even though I loved it. It was tough but I learned a long time ago to pay attention to any and all red flags.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:09 PM on April 9

Which neighborhood, if any, would you compare Silver Lake to in Chicago?
Wicker Park, perhaps? My baseline for Chicago neighborhoods is from about 10 years ago so the way I remember them is probably nothing like they are now. Besides in no part of Chicago can you recreate the Mediterranean feel of the area around the reservoir. But if you go by the type of people that live (or lived, when I was there) in Silver Lake, I'd say it's close to Wicker Park/Bucktown.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 7:15 PM on April 9

Oh yeah, and pay attention to what the landlord/apartment manager is like. I found another great apartment I considered, but when I turned in the application and the landlady started grilling me on "These are new hardwood floors. If you have rugs, could you tell me exactly where you'd be placing them and where you'll be walking if you move here?" and "You said this room would be great for dinner parties. Could you tell me how many people you'll be inviting and how long they'll stay in the evening?" I realized that she wasn't someone I wanted to be living next door to.

Not to make LA folks sound crazy (I love the place!) but it's a melting pot filled with all sorts of eccentrics. My time-tested rule of thumb has always been this:  be entertained by the nutjobs you discover, but always avoid setting up camp with 'em.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:26 PM on April 9

Definitely stay north of Sunset, if possible. Actually, south of Sunset is okay for most of Silver Lake but gets a little hairy in parts of EP.

I am a transplant (from St. Louis) and really lucked out with my current place. I live behind a barbershop and movie theatre off of Sunset and my street is quaint and all of the neighbors are very welcoming. (My neighbors and I are in our 30s and we sit in the hallway with our pets and yap like it's a dormitory. Teehee.) FWIW, my landlord owns quite a few properties in Los Feliz/Silver Lake/Echo Park. Your bike downtown on Sunset would be a breeze (no serious inclines.) If you ever tire of Intelligentsia, you can cruise by Casbah Cafe or Cafe Tropical (both on Sunset en route to downtown.)

If you would like the number to my landlord, just email fiercemodular at gmail...seriously, if you ever need anything fixed, it'll be resolved within 24 hours. My old Westinghouse fridge stopped working. One phone call in the evening = one new fridge in the morning. Whee!

Anyway, blahblahblah, but I think you'll like living out here. The weather alone is worth it!
posted by pea_shoot at 8:11 PM on April 9

My boyfriend used to live on the border of Los Feliz and Silverlake (right at St. George and Griffith Park) and it was GREAT. If I didn't work in Santa Monica, we would've shacked up there instead of Sherman Oaks.

For the record, Sherman Oaks is fabulously walkable (I can walk to 2 movie theaters, 4 grocery stores, coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and there's a heated Olympic-sized pool across the street from my apartment), and pretty much every cool restaurant/bar/store in WeHo has an outpost there. It's comparatively inexpensive, full of apartments modern enough to have central air conditioning and just old enough to be under rent control, and has a lot of amenities. However, the hipster density is a lot lower than Silverlake, which is a plus or minus depending on who you are. We're minus one Intelligentsia, but we've got an Arclight, so I think we're a little ahead.
posted by rednikki at 1:34 PM on April 10