Today, the DIY, bohemian ethos that grew out of Highland Park’s early days is alive in the area again, while its diverse residents are coming to terms with what it means to live here and care for the shared, built environment. Nowadays the neighborhood is filled with artists, musicians, actors and writers who enjoy upgrading their fashionable old homes and walking the main drag of York Boulevard.

Highland Park has a legacy of local Los Angeles businesses; some of them have been a staple in the Highland Park community for over 20 years. The first of such businesses is Galco’s Soda Pop Stop. Galco’s has been family owned and operated for more than 100 years. In addition, another cultural landmark in Highland Park is Avenue 50 Studio. Avenue 50 Studio is a nonprofit community-based organization grounded in Latino and Chicano culture.

Highland Park has two main dynamic and diverse commercial corridors, Figueroa along the east and York to the north. Some would call York the more hipster stretch, welcoming a new bar or vintage store on an almost weekly basis, but could also be seen as a mini-design district with local furniture and home good products.

If York is for the hipster, Figueroa is for the hipster who would not admit to being one. The street is experiencing a renaissance. There is less retail on this street, and historically was more of a muffler shop and dollar store type of strip, but new pop-up shops have introduced a buzz of activity amidst the quality, old-school mom and pops.

The Old LA Certified Farmers Market opened in 2006, operating adjacent to the Highland Park Gold Line Station and providing a new nexus of community activity.

Any weeknight is happening, but weekends are a much different scene from years past i.e. residents out for a stroll and walking their dogs, to grabbing a nightcap, or young hipsters enjoying some food and bar hoping. From taquerias and panaderias to gastropubs and urban coffee klatches, get ready to experience the serious melting pot that is Highland Park, CA.

Highland Park also has more than a dozen eclectic galleries, which showcase art, music and/or performance. The venues range from Rock Rose Gallery, featuring art, music and performing arts, to Pets With Fez, a weaving studio with Kurdish music and fine art exhibits.

There’s plenty of local establishments, like Highland Park Billiards, that are sure to show you a good time into the wee hours of the morn.

The Arroyo Craftsmen, among them Lummis, Judson, and Browne left a legacy that gives Highland Park its own architectural and historical identity. In the early 1900’s the Craftsmen ethic became popular with local residents and the California bungalow translated this ideal into the predominant style and influence of homes in the Highland Park area. Local builders, such as John W. Scott prospered in building bungalows for Highland Park residents. Bungalow court (a series of small detached residences on a parcel normally arranged in a “L” or “U” plan) began to appear throughout Highland Park Real Estate at the turn of the century.

In the 1920’s and the early 1930’s a new architectural style known as the Revival period was introduced. The Revival period was basically the incorporation of foreign and romantic architectural styles into the American fabric. These revival styles included: English Tudor, Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean and Streamline Moderne examples. Ideas for the revival period styles came from fantastic architectural structures shown in the movie houses, generating the first new breeze of architecture since the Craftsman. As a result, the new architecture incorporated 13th century and earlier period architecture into this late 19th and early 20th-century emerging community with its Queen Anne, Turn of the Century, American Foursquare, and Craftsman buildings.

In 1979 the Northeast Los Angeles Plan created a land use dilemma for Highland Park, which led to the demolition of many of the early century styled single-family homes and their replacement by rectangular shaped box apartment buildings, which were out of scale, density, and character with the earlier Highland Park community. Thus, these actions lead to a proposal for the establishment of a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone.

Starting in the early 2000s, a diverse mix of people began arriving at Highland Park to seek out, buy, and revitalize Craftsman homes, and Highland Park Real estate — some which had suffered neglect over the decades. Many of Highland Park’s oldest homes were razed during the 1950s and 1960s. One architecturally significant home made its way to Heritage Square Museum, thanks to the efforts of local activists dedicated to saving Victorian homes scheduled for demolition. Like Echo Park and Eagle Rock, Highland Park has steadily seen some gentrification. People from across the region have been attracted to the historic Craftsman homes that escaped demolition. Its relatively low rents have made it increasingly popular among young people who value the walkable urban lifestyle afforded by the older style of the neighborhood.

Highland Park has experienced economic highs and lows during its first 100 years and most recently is enjoying a renaissance.

In the early 20th century, Highland Park and neighboring Pasadena became havens for artists and intellectuals who led the Arts and Crafts movement. These artists celebrated a return to nature, material, and craft, and rejected the impersonal nature of mass produced goods.  One notable figure and founders of the movement was Charles Lummis, who formed lifelong bonds with local Native Americans and Mexicans he met and was infused with the appreciation of the Southwest and its cultures as well as a spirit of activism of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural place called Highland Park. One can see his legacy in the blueprint for understanding the region that remains relevant to this day.  The ideals of returning to nature and artisan crafts, believing that this was a means of rescuing man from the emerging machine age.

The influence of these maverick artists and luminaries of the day can be experienced in landmarks like Judson Studios and Lummis House, which stand today.