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Silver Lake is a residential and commercial
neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
in the east- central region of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California, United States, originally home to a small community called Ivanhoe, so named in honor of the 1819 novel by Walter Scott. In 1907, the Los Angeles Water Department built the Silver Lake Reservoir, named for LA Water Commissioner Herman Silver, giving the neighborhood its name. The area is now known for its architecturally significant homes, independently owned businesses, diverse restaurants, painted staircases, and creative environment.


Geography and climate

Silver Lake is flanked on the northeast by Atwater Village and Elysian Valley, on the southeast by
Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...
, on the southwest by Westlake, on the west by East Hollywood and on the northwest by
Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
."Central L.A."
Mapping L.A. Mapping L.A. was a 2009 project of the ''Los Angeles Times''. It identified 158 cities and Unincorporated area, unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County, California. It also drew boundary lines for 114 neighborhoods within the Los Angeles, C ...
, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
''Thomas Guide: Los Angeles County'', p. 594. Irvine, California: Thomas Bros. Maps, 2004. Street and other boundaries are: the
Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
between Glendale Boulevard and Fletcher Drive and Riverside Drive on the northeast, the Glendale Freeway on the east, Effie Street, Coronado Street, Berkeley Avenue and Fletcher Drive on the southeast, the
Hollywood Freeway The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California (the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortc ...
on the south, Virgil Avenue on the west and Fountain Avenue and Hyperion Avenue on the northwest."Silver Lake"
Mapping L.A. Mapping L.A. was a 2009 project of the ''Los Angeles Times''. It identified 158 cities and Unincorporated area, unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County, California. It also drew boundary lines for 114 neighborhoods within the Los Angeles, C ...
, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
The prime real estate around the Silver Lake Reservoir is known as Moreno Highlands. It was originally developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Daisy Canfield, wife of silent film star Antonio Moreno. Much of the Silver Lake Residential Historic District is associated with this tract. The Silver Lake neighborhood council has mapped the boundaries of its council region.


History

The area known as Ivanhoe to the north of the current reservoir was originally developed by Byram & Poindexter as early as 1887, named for Sir Walter Scott's book of the same name with many streets in that area referencing other works and characters of British literature such as Herkimer, Rowena, Kenilworth, Locksley, Ben Lomond, Hawick, and St. George. In 1904 the Fletcher Drive Viaduct was constructed at the northeastern boundary of Silver Lake for the Glendale Line of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, connecting the area to Downtown Los Angeles. Originally constructed of timber, the viaduct was replaced in 1928 by a steel span construction to make way for Fletcher Drive underneath it. It was demolished in 1959 and only its concrete footings remain. William Mulholland identified the area as an ideal location to place emergency reservoirs for the rapidly growing city, building the upper Ivanhoe Reservoir in 1906 and the eponymous Silver Lake reservoir in 1907. The reservoir was named for influential former LA City Councilman and then City Water Commissioner Herman Silver, who was instrumental in gaining the approvals to purchase the of land and the funding for the construction of the reservoir. The hills of Ivanhoe and the neighboring Edendale had always attracted bohemians seeking safe haven from the prying eyes of polite society, and the further development of Silver Lake as a lush parkland only increased its appeal. The 1930s and 1940s saw artists, writers, actors and musicians join other progressives such as union organizers, civic activists, and communists flock to the area. With them came the area's modern aesthetics as architects such as
Gregory Ain Gregory Samuel Ain (March 28, 1908 – January 9, 1988) was an American architect active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture to lower- and medium- ...
, Craig Ellwood, John Lautner, Rudolph Schindler, Walter Dorwin Teague, and Raphael Soriano designed their houses and businesses, creating what local realtors now point out as having more architecturally significant homes per square mile in Silver Lake than in other parts of Los Angeles. William Selig set up what may have been the first permanent film studio in Los Angeles in the Edendale neighborhood to the east of Ivanhoe valley in 1909, soon followed by
Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...
in 1912.
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
's first studio was at the corner of Griffith Park Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue, currently the site of Gelson's Market. As a consequence, the name "Hyperion" is used by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
and its subsidiaries, with company entities past and present carrying the name, such as Hyperion Books and the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure Park. The fictional Seattle neighborhood of Hyperion Heights in the final season of the Disney-owned ABC series ''Once Upon a Time'' traces its name to the same origin. William Fox would buy Selig's former Edendale lot on Glendale Boulevard in the 1917, building a 12-acre (4.9 ha)
backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...
called Mixville for
Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...
star
Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...
. The location is now known as the Mixville Shopping Center and occupied by a
Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...
. It is rumored that Mix buried his steed "Old Blue" on the property. The neighborhood is crisscrossed by numerous municipal staircases that provide pedestrian access up and down the neighborhood's signature hills. Among these are the Descanso Stairs, Redcliff Stairs and the Music Box Stairs. The famous flight of stairs in
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
's film '' The Music Box'' is located between lower Descanso Drive and Vendome Street, as it winds up and around the hill. In the 1940s,
Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...
architect Eugene Kinn Choy sought to build a house for his family in Silver Lake, but due to racial covenants still in effect prohibiting the sale of property to "any person not of the Caucasian race," he was prevented from doing so. He went door to door to seek the approval of every house in the neighborhood before he was given approval to build in 1949. Choy's groundbreaking efforts opened the door to the
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...
and Latino communities in the 1950s and 1960s. Beginning in the 1970s, the neighborhood became the nexus of Los Angeles' gay
leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around Human sexual activity, sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, Bondage harness, harnesses, or other items. Wearing le ...
, similar to the SoMA neighborhood in San Francisco. Since the late 1990s,
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
has changed the area by pushing out public sex and " gay cruising" and facilitating the opening of many independent upscale
boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...
s, coffee shops, fitness studios, and restaurants. The community continues to evolve, incorporating its bohemian roots with its racial and sexual diversity of the mid 20th century as architects such as Barbara Bestor and Gustavo Gubel, artists such as cache and Eric Junker, and musicians like
Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
and
Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
continue to define Silver Lake’s environment as a cultural and creative enclave.


LGBT+ community


Early history

In the 1930s, Silver Lake and Echo Park still comprised Edendale and acted as a space where members of the LGBT community were able to express their identities. Prominent female impersonator Julian Eltinge built his house in Silver Lake and performed until the city passed laws criminalizing cross-dressing, after which he continued to recount his drag performances to audiences. Silver Lake was also home to Harry Hay, credited with founding the first gay organization, the
Mattachine Society The Mattachine Society (), founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, preceded by several covert and open organizations, such as Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Ha ...
, which began as Bachelors' Anonymous. Hay lived and had meetings in Silver Lake at the time the group began in 1950. Kevin Roderick wrote in his eulogy for Hay in ''
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
'' that many consider the house located near Silver Lake to be the birthplace of the gay-rights movement.


Queer liberation

The Black Cat Tavern, a fairly popular bar that has now become a historic-cultural monument, was the site of a police raid in 1967 that spread to adjacent bars, becoming a full-blown riot, which resulted in more than a dozen arrests. The protests in response to the raid predated the
Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...
by two years. Beginning in the 1970s, the neighborhood became the nexus of Los Angeles' gay
leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around Human sexual activity, sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, Bondage harness, harnesses, or other items. Wearing le ...
.


HIV/AIDS epidemic

As the
HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
epidemic gripped the US in the 1980s, tensions between gay men and the
Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
escalated. Several LGBT activists in Silver Lake claimed they felt unsafe reporting hate crimes against them to the police, who they felt harbored anti-LGBT sentiments. Their complaints grew to the point that then-City Council member Michael Woo advocated establishing a hotline to relay information to police indirectly and compile statistics on the frequency of gay-bashings. Some bath houses, which acted as social spaces for gay men, were shut down by the city government in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The ensuing controversy reflected a nationwide debate about whether this type of action constituted public health policy or perpetuation of discrimination against the LGBT community. Circus of Books was a bookstore and gay pornography shop that was notable as a gay cruising spot in the 1980s.


Gentrification

Beginning in the 1990s,
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
changed the area by pushing out
cruising for sex Cruising for sex or cruising is walking or driving about a locality, called a cruising ground, in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety. Published: 11-14-2007 Published: 9-21-2005 Article from NYT about a ...
. In 1992, about 85 activists protested gay-bashing and violent acts against homosexuals in the area, carrying banners emblazoned with “Stop the Violence” along Sunset Boulevard.
Gay bar A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...
Akbar opened on
New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
1995. In 2004, fearing displacement through gentrification, the bar's owners purchased the building and converted the neighboring unit into a
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
floor. Since 2006, Eagle LA has served as a popular gathering point for the local gay
leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around Human sexual activity, sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, Bondage harness, harnesses, or other items. Wearing le ...
. Its location was home to several prior gay bars: Shed (1968-1972), Outcast (1972-1983), and Gauntlet II (1983-2005). Beginning in 2011, the City of Los Angeles removed anti-cruising traffic signs installed in Silver Lake, but additional such signs were identified and removed in 2024. In response to
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
and the closure of several local gay bars, the Off Sunset Festival was launched in 2013 to celebrate the neighborhood's rich LGBT+ history. In 2019, Maebe A. Girl became the first
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
ever elected to public office in the United States, joining the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.


Reservoir

The neighborhood was named for Water Board Commissioner Herman Silver, who was instrumental in the creation of the Silver Lake Reservoir in the neighborhood, one of the water storage reservoirs established as part of the controversial
Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...
project in the early 1900s. This is one of ten that still remain in Los Angeles.de Turenne, Veronique (March 13, 2008)
"Silver Lake goes dry"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
In the community of Silver Lake lies the namesake reservoir composed of two
basins Basin may refer to: Geography and geology * Depression (geology) ** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones ** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow ** Drainage basin (hydrology), ...
, with the lower named Silver Lake and the upper named Ivanhoe. The lower body of water was named in 1906 for Herman Silver; the upper body received its name from the 1819
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
novel ''
Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...
''.Rob (June 16, 2009)
"13 Facts About The Silver Lake Reservoir"
Take Sunset. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
In 1989 the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Heritage Commission, Cultural Affairs Department declared both reservoirs Historic-Cultural Monument No. 422. The reservoirs are owned and maintained by the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal Public utility, utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021–2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of wat ...
(DWP) and provided water to 600,000 homes in
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
and
South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...
until 2013 when federal water quality regulations mandated reservoirs be covered;"LADWP Begins Refilling the Silver Lake Reservoir"
(May 7, 2008).
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal Public utility, utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021–2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of wat ...
. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
Th
Headworks Reservoir
complex replaced the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs with two underground reservoirs, Headworks East and Headworks West located north of Griffith Park. Also within the grounds of the reservoir are several popular recreational facilities: the Silver Lake Recreation Center, which includes an adjacent city park; the Silver Lake Walking Path, which circumnavigates the reservoirs; two enclosed dog parks, and the Silver Lake Meadow, modeled after NYC's
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
Sheep Meadow Sheep Meadow is a meadow near the southwestern section of Central Park, between West 66th Street (Manhattan), 66th and 69th Streets in Manhattan, New York City. It is adjacent to Central Park Mall to the east, The Ramble and Lake to the nor ...
. On the northeast corner of the property is the Neighborhood Nursery School, which since 1976 has been at the corner of Tesla Avenue and Silver Lake Boulevard. It is a parent-participation
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
, affiliated with the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools.


Government

As of 2024, Silver Lake is represented by Los Angeles City Council Members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman and the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (SLNC) was formed in the early 2000s and certified as part of the City of Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system in February 2003. Its 21-member governing board is elected for two-year terms in September. Recent projects have included "Street Medallions" created by artist Cheri Gaulke, "ArtCans", the "Electrical Art Box Project", and the second annual "Make Music LA" created by several different artists, groups, and the SLNC Arts & Culture Committee, whose current co-chairs are Renee Dawson and Dulce Stein. The Silver Lake Residents Association,"Welcome to Silver Lake"
Retrieved August 1, 2008.
the Silver Lake Improvement Association, the Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy, and the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce are all active in the area.


Demographics

The 2010 U.S. census counted 37,019 residents in the neighborhood—an average of 11.99k people per square mile, ranking Silver Lake 38th in
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
among 121 Los Angeles Neighborhoods. The median age for residents was 35, about average for Los Angeles, but the percentages of residents aged 19 to 49 were among the county's highest. The neighborhood was highly diverse ethnically. The population was 42.9%
Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
, 35.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asians and Asian Americans, 3.4%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, and 2.7% mixed race or of other origins. The most common foreign place of birth was elsewhere in the Americas, (57.9%), including Mexico, (22.7%); El Salvador, (17.6%); Guatemala, (8.4%); Columbia, (1.7%); and Nicaragua, (1.5%); followed Asia, (32.6%), with the Philippines (19.2%) being the most common Asian place of birth. Residents born in the United States comprised 67.4% of the neighborhood's population, slightly higher than the 64.4% average for Los Angeles County. The median yearly
household income Household income is a measure of income received by the household sector. It includes every form of cash income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, investment income and cash transfers from the government. It may include near-cash gover ...
in 2010 dollars was $74,587, approximately 44.7% higher than the $ 51,538 median household income for Los Angeles. By neighborhood track, medians can range from $42,991 to $135,011 depending on location. The average household size of 2.3 people was low for the city. Renters occupied 64.3% of the housing stock, and house or apartment owners the rest. The percentages of never-married men (55.8%) and women (49.0%) were among the county's highest. Both statistics could be due in part to the large numbers of
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
members in the community or the median age range.


Education

The majority of residents (56.8%) aged 25 years and older have obtained a higher degree, compared to the 38.5% for Los Angeles in general.


Schools

The schools within Silver Lake are as follows: * Allesandro Elementary School,
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
K–5, 2210 Riverside Drive * Bellevue Primary School, public K–1, 610 North Micheltorena Street * Clifford Street Elementary School, public K–5, 2150 Duane Street * Ivanhoe Elementary School, public K–5, 2828 Herkimer Street * Kids' World School, private K–12, 2132 Hyperion Avenue * Micheltorena Street Elementary School, public K–6, 1511 Micheltorena Street * Neighborhood Nursery School, non-profit pre-K, 2700 Tesla Avenue * St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School, parochial K–8, 1550 Maltman Avenue (closed in 2021) * St. Teresa of Avila Elementary School, parochial K–8, 2215 Fargo Street * Thomas Starr King Middle School, public 6–8, 4201 Fountain Avenue


Library

The Silver Lake District is also served by the Silver Lake Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. It is located at 2411 Glendale Boulevard, in northeastern Silver Lake between the reservoir and the I-5 freeway.


Entertainment and nightlife

Silver Lake, known as one of "the city's hippest neighborhoods",Khouri, Andrew (July 13, 2013)
"In urban L.A., developers are building trendy homes on tiny lots"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
has many bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Since the 1990s, the neighborhood has become the center of the alternative and
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
scene in Los Angeles. It was home to two major yearly street festivals: the Silver Lake Jubilee, held in May and the Sunset Junction Street Fair, held in August. The last Sunset Junction festival was held in 2010 and abruptly cancelled in 2011 just days before it was supposed to take place, after years of neighborhood controversy. The Silver Lake Jubilee, the more recent addition, featured
live music A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
by local musicians, local artists and community businesses. It moved to the
Arts District An arts district or cultural district is a demarcated urban area, usually on the periphery of a city centre, intended to create a 'critical mass' of places of cultural consumption - such as art galleries, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and p ...
and changed its name to the Jubilee Music and Arts Festival in 2013. A comparison has been drawn between New York City's Williamsburg neighborhood and Silver Lake, which has been called the "Williamsburg of the West". The Micheltorena Steps draws visitors looking for prime selfie shots since it was painted with hearts and bright colors ("Stair Candy") in 2015.


In popular culture

In addition to being the site of early Western films' star
Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...
's studio on Glendale Boulevard, Silver Lake has been used as the film location for several films and television shows and also shown in some video games. * Silent star Antonio Moreno and his wife Daisy Canfield Moreno's Canfield-Moreno Estate has been frequently used as a filming location. * The
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
film '' The Music Box'' used the neighborhood's municipal
staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...
, now known as the Music Box Stairs, between lower Descanso Drive and Vendome Street. * Sunset Triangle Plaza is featured in
AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...
's ''
Fear The Walking Dead ''Fear the Walking Dead'' is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson for AMC. It is a spin-off to '' The Walking Dead'', which is based on the comic book series of the same na ...
'' pilot episode. In the opening scene Nick Clark ( Frank Dillane) is seen running frantically down a busy street before being struck by a motorist and collapsing at Griffith Park Boulevard and Edgecliffe Drive. When segueing into the show's
title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...
, an aerial high-rise shot of Clark lying in the street shows the pedestrian plaza. * In the summer of 2013, the comedy feature film '' Such Good People'' starring
Michael Urie Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC comedy drama television series ''Ugly Betty'' and Brian on the Apple TV+ series '' Shrinking'', a role for which he won ...
and Randy Harrison was entirely shot in Silver Lake, in and around the home of screenwriter/producer David Michael Barrett. * The movie '' Under The Silver Lake'' ( David Robert Mitchell, 2018) is set in Silver Lake. *
Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...
references the neighborhood in its song "Tiny Vessels": "I spent two weeks in Silver Lake/ The California sun cascading down my face." * '' The L Word: Generation Q'', the sequel to ''
The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...
'', takes place in Silver Lake. * Musician Father John Misty’s album '' I Love You, Honeybear'' contains the song “Nothing Good Ever Happens At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow”, which references a popular
tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
in Silver Lake. *
Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
' album '' Cracker Island'' is based on Silver Lake, with figures like
Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
and references like
Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring ...
. Also the song "Idaho" from '' The Now Now ''supposedly takes place in Silver Lake, despite the name of the song. * In ''
You're the Worst ''You're the Worst'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Stephen Falk. Originally broadcast by FX (TV channel), FX, the series moved to its sister channel FXX beginning with the second season. The series follows Jimmy (Chris ...
'', the scenes of Jimmy and Edgar's house were shot on Redcliff Street. * In '' Dragnet'' (season 3, episode 27), it is revealed that Sergeant Joe Friday lives in Silver Lake. * Much of the second season of ''
You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...
'' on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
was filmed and set in Silver Lake. * In ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'', a Los Santos neighborhood called Mirror Park is based on Silver Lake. * A film adaptation of Steve Martin's novel ''
Shopgirl ''Shopgirl'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. The screenplay by Martin is based on his 2000 novella of the same title. The film follows a ...
'', about a complex love triangle between a bored salesgirl, a wealthy businessman and an aimless young man was shot in Silver Lake starring Martin, Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman. *
Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...
mentions Silver Lake in her 2019 song '' Xanny.''


Notable residents

* Fred Armisen, actor * Skylar Astin, actor/singer * David Michael Barrett, screenwriter/producer *
Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
, musician * Amir Blumenfeld, comedian * David Edward Byrd, graphic artist * Eddie Cahill, actor * Joey Castillo, musician/drummer * Sal Castro, educator/activist * Eugene Kinn Choy, architect * Rob Corddry, comedian * Ernest E. Debs, Los Angeles politician * Zach de la Rocha, singer * Mac DeMarco, musician * Lisa Edelstein, actor * Jack Falahee, actor *
Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
, musician, co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music *
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...
, actor *
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...
, actor * Mike Gatto, politician *
Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...
, actor *
Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...
, musician/comedian/actor * Joseph Gordon-Levitt, actor *
Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...
, actor. Westmoreland Lofts. Archived from on May 22, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2011. * Kevin Griffin, musician * Christopher Guanlao, musician * Hannah Hart, internet personality *
The Haxan Cloak Bobby Krlic (born 20 December 1985), known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician. He has released two full-length albums (2011's ''The Haxan Cloak'' and 2013's '' Excavation''). As a prod ...
(real name Bobby Krlic), musician * Harry Hay, gay-rights activist * Grace Helbig, internet personality, comedian * James Leo Herlihy, novelist and playwright * Sandrine Holt, actor * James Eads How philanthropist, social activist, hobo unionist * Mikel Jollett, musician * Gilbert Leong, architect and banker *
Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...
, actor/singer-songwriter * Anna Lunoe, musician * Janet MacLachlan, actor * Ann Magnuson, actor *
Ricardo Flores Magón Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón (; known as Ricardo Flores Magón; September 16, 1874 – November 21, 1922) was a Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique Flores Magón, Enrique and Jesús Flores Magón, Jesús were ...
, Mexican anarchist and social reform activist *
Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress, singing, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also perf ...
, actor * Effa Manley, Negro League sports executive *
Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for th ...
, musician * Rachel McAdams, actor *
Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...
, actor *
Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
, musician and owner of Little Pine * Antonio Moreno, silent movie star *
Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Napolitano was born and r ...
, singer *
Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; 8 April 1892 – 16 April 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most ...
, architect * Anaïs Nin, author * William H. Parker, Los Angeles police chief * Cassandra Peterson, actor *
Maria Rasputin Maria Rasputina (born Matryona Grigorievna Rasputina, ; 27 March 1898 – 27 September 1977) was the daughter of Grigori Rasputin and his wife Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina. She wrote three memoirs about her father, dealing with Nicholas II ...
, memoirist *
Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge. Ricci works mostly in Independent film, independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is ...
, actor * Arabella Page Rodman (1868-1955), civic leader * Rob Schnapf, producer *
Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring ...
, actor * Randy Sklar, actor/comedian *
Joey Soloway Joey Soloway (born Jill Soloway; September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent'', winnin ...
, TV and film writer and director *
Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama series ''24 (TV series), 24'' (2001–2010, 20 ...
, actor * Alberto Valdés, painter *
Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...
, musician and record producer *
Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the Rock music, rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitan ...
, musician and comic book artist * Kristen Wiig, actor * Delbert E. Wong, LA Superior Court Judge * Dan C. Wright, musician and producer * Constance Wu, actor * Benjamin Wynn, composer and music producer * Milo Yiannopoulos, writer, speaker * Rob Zabrecky, performer"Biography for Rob Zabrecky"
Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
. Retrieved April 1, 2011.


See also

* List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Silver Lake, Angelino Heights, and Echo Park


References


External links


Silver Lake Neighborhood Council

LA City Council District 13

Silver Lake Forward

Comments about living in Silver Lake

Silver Lake crime map and statistics
{{Authority control Central Los Angeles Gay villages in California LGBTQ culture in Los Angeles Silver Lake Northwest Los Angeles Populated places in the Santa Monica Mountains