TOUR OF SILVER LAKE & ITS SURROUNDINGS - There's no homeless problem in this area of Los Angeles
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- If you’re looking for a hip and trendy place in Los Angeles, Silver Lake is definitely the place to go to. This area is one of the coolest places to visit with funky blocks lined with boutique coffee shops, vegan eats, many farm to table restaurants, trendy bars and indie music venues.
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If you’re coming to this area the first thing that I’d do is go and visit the Silverlake Reservoir. After all this area of Los Angeles would not be called Silverlake if it wasn’t for the reservoir. The reservoir is actually owned by the Los Angeles department of Water and Power and was put in place in order to bring drinkable water to over 600,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. Back in 2008 they did have to drain the reservoir because it was found to have been contaminated by cancer causing agents, but was quickly filled back up after fixing the whole situation by adding 400,000 black hollow plastic shad balls that actually reduce the likelihood of the sunlight-fueled bromate. Since then there has actually been quiet a movement in order to not just improve the reservoir itself but the area surrounding it. And one of the best things to do once at the reservoir is to walk the 2.2 mile traffic looped trail that goes around the whole reservoir.
Along the reservoir there’s a bunch of really cool houses that have as equally interesting architecture. If you know where to look there are actually houses that somewhat resemble houses that you’d expect to see in early Disney animated Cartoons. This is not a coincidence because the original Disney studio was located in Los Feliz, adjacent to Silver lake on Hyperion Avenue from 1926 to 1940. Now it’s become a Gelson’s and there’s not much to remember the old studio by except for the fact that many of the old Disney houses are actually still standing, and they really are a sight to see when you discover them. Some of these houses are located right on Silverlake blvd around the lake, and notably even more next to the Gelson’s on Hyperion.
Another great place to visit in Silver lake is the Sunset junction which is located on the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. The interesting thing about this strip of Sunset Blvd is that it is actually one of the most pleasant areas to walk in if you’re looking for a city like stroll. This is basically the headquarters for the definition of hipster. The street is filled with many coffee shops and there are numerous health food stores including a bunch of Vegan shops all over the Sunset Strip, and the continuation of store and cafes continues on for a good 1.5 miles, so finding something to your pleasing is very likely. One thing I love about this specific area is that many of the walls have really creative murals, which once again shows how artistic and beautiful this area is.
I did want to highlight that even though there are many beautiful murals, unfortunately many taggers have been destroying them too, which is such a pity.
Another thing that Silver lake is known for is it’s hidden staircases. One of the most popular ones, if not the most popular is the Heart Stairs which I like to call the love Stairs, even though the official name is Heart Stairs. This is a really long staircase that goes up into the Silverlake Hills which was decorated with very colorful hearts. Once you get to the midway point going up the stairs, if you make a right in that street and keep going you will actually see a bunch Spanish-Style houses which are really a sight to see. Looking at them I feel like they belong in a Zorro style movie and bring me back into another era. It actually kind of made me envious of the people living in such gorgeous houses and apartment complex. They just look so quaint and the location is amazing, being in Silverlake and also a little bit secluded from the city. It’s really the best of both worlds. You get the nature but you also get the city at the tip of your fingers.
Close to the Sunset Junction a very important landmark to go visit is the Vista Theatre. Okay, technically it’s not Silverlake anymore since it’s in Los Feliz but I still wanted to highlight it since it’s so close by and Movie theatres having such a hard time this year, I felt that acknowledging it and giving it a shout-out is important. This theatre opened in 1923 as a single screen theatre and has been active ever since. In the past this theatre not only showed movies but was known for it’s Vaudeville acts on Stage. This theatre really is a local landmark and often screens indie films, foreign films and often has midnight screenings of movies such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
#silverlake #silverlakereservoir #heartstairs
I grew up there, lived there for 20 years. My mom had her beauty shop there on Silver Lake Bl. It was actually a stream and the lake was a real lake. That was a very trendy eclectic place. Our kids grew up not too far from there in Eagle Rock, but went to school at Allesandro. We miss it a lot. Oh my goodness!!! I remember that guy walking around reading when I was growing up!!!
Silver Lake definitely has a place in my heart. It is changing quiet a bit with gentrification but at the same time it's so pleasant to walk around this area. I wish I could have seen the lake as an actual lake. I always felt it was a pity that it's so gated up, but I understand that it's best to have it this way.
In a few months, I'll be visiting Los Angeles for the first time, so I'm researching things to experience while I'm there. Thanks for this great video!
I'm glad you like the video. My favorite areas in Los Angeles are Silver Lake, Los Feliz including Griffith Park and the observatory, then if you are into hiking I really recommend Eaton Canyon as it has a waterfall and the hike is not too difficult. As for restaurants and historic areas I really recommend visiting Pasadena. You can even go visit the house of Doc Brown in Back to the Future. It's called the Gamble house. Beach wise, Santa Monica and Venice beach are the usual ones that tourists go to, but if you have the opportunity to go a bit more south and visit all the Orange County Beaches such as Huntington, Redondo, San Pedro, you are really in for a treat. Enjoy your visit.
Thanks for sharing this. Make me want to walk there with a coffee in my hand.
Yeah, it's really an awesome place. Even now with many businesses closed, it's still possible to grab a coffee and have a pleasant walk in that area.
Thank you so much for this!
You're welcome, it was my pleasure.
Thank you so much for this The David Neyts Show! Good thing I found your channel. This is a great help for me, hopefully me and my family will be immigrating to LA next year. I am nurse from the Philippines 🇵🇭 and Silver Lake was suggested to me by my bro-in-law. I want a place we can call our second home and most importantly a safe haven for my 2 little daughters. More power to your channel! 🙏🏻
You are right! Silverlake is probably the best neighborhood to live in. It has so many places to walk to, parks, restaurants, and is such a central neighborhood where you have access to many key areas of the city without too much of a commute. Plus, if you are going to work as a nurse it's perfect because there's a ton of big hospitals around there. If you are lucky you might be able to get a job in one of those and then your drive or bus commute will be so short. Wishing you and your family a lot of luck coming to America next year.
@@TheDavidNeytsShow Thank you so much! Really appreciate it. 😊
Thank you for making us travel, David ;-)
Thank you for watching the video. I'm glad I was able to make you discover some on Los Angeles.
Thanks David ! Silver Lake I love it !
Glad you enjoyed it. I hope you got to discover some places that you didn't know in that area.
@@TheDavidNeytsShow Love it because of Silversun Pickups
EXCITED to visit! 😋 California ❤️ has amazing and KIND communities.
Yes, very true. LA is so vast and has many beautiful communities.
Living in Missouri now but a Santa Maria California native I still visit home every year. Visited Silver Lake and Los Feliz last year. Such a cool area. Also across the street from Vista Theater on Sunset Dr. is Fellow Barber Shop. I got my hair cut and beard trim there. Very nice staff there. Did an amazing job. That Barber shop location was the BudaPest Auto Repair shop scene in the 1994 sequel movie My Girl 2. The Uncle Jer's sign is shown on the building in the movie when Cafe Caravan location was actually Uncle Jer's years ago. One of the many neat things in the Silver Lake Los Feliz area.
Oh, that is a really cool piece of trivia about "My Girl 2". I know exactly where that barbershop is. The Vista Theatre was recently bought by Quentin Tarantino. I'm looking forward to what he's going to do with it. Plenty of construction there at the moment.
Cool stuff as always
Thank you buddy 😊
OMG! What a great video and a great place! I loved it so much! These streets, these houses, everything! And as a fan of Disney I was of course charmed by these amazing houses from the fairytales 😉
But I didn't understand what is the reason of this reservoir? Is it to retain rain water or something?
Yes, it's a reservoir for water, that's why they had to add black balls in order to protect the water from carcinogens. California is often in a drought situation because of the lack of rain, so having reservoirs is important.
Bro, there is a HUGE homeless problem in Silverlake.
Drive down Silverlake Blvd and turn left on Virgil.
Hi Kyle, thanks for the comment. Yes, LA does have a homeless problem in general and there are places in Silverlake where there are homeless people, although in general Silverlake isn't doing too bad honestly. Most of the places are clean and a lot of the people are doing good. I put no homeless in the title because people are so negative about LA on RUclips and I wanted to show the opposite. Yes, I have been on Silverlake and Virgil and there are homeless people there, but there are also a lot of good places left in Silverlake and Los Angeles in general.
@@TheDavidNeytsShow Right on. Yes, the homeless issue is citywide. It's going to take a lot of work to tackle this problem.
A well done video! It brought back several memories as I grew up in that neighborhood. I have a few thoughts that I hope will add to the interesting narrative of the neighborhoods you showed. Do you know the origin of the section "Sunset Junction"? It goes back to the street car era when you had red street cars running up and down Sunset Blvd. to a terminal building in downtown Los Angeles. The tracks were in the middle of Sunset Blvd., and it made a turn just before Glendale Ave. and onto Glendale Ave. to a tunnel which took it downtown. That building still exists, designated a historical monument. The tracks split off at Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd. and Sanborn Ave. onto either Sunset Blvd. to Hollywood Blvd, continuing on Hollywood Blvd. into downtown Hollywood, or Santa Monica Blvd where it went to Santa Monica. The trainman would stop the street car at Sunset Junction and hop off the trolley to manually operate the switch to place the street car on what ever track that the car would go down. The Vista Theater was on an interesting corner. Behind it, and to the east, were empty lots in the very early 20th century where the controversial historical D. W. Griffith "Birth of A Nation" silent movie was filmed before the property was developed in the 1920's. I think one of those wall murals was painted on Micheltorena Street School's wall along Sunset Blvd. If you go east two blocks, you hit Vendome St.. Turn right on Vendome and just where the street splits is "Music Box Lane". This is where the famous Laurel and Hardy stairs are located, where they had quite a time delivering a piano to the top of the steps. It is well identified by the city. Back towards the Sunset Junction is where Griffith Park Blvd. starts off of Sunset Blvd. (present day blocked at the Sunset Blvd. end). A movie, "The New Centurions", was filmed extensively here, and on Lucille Ave., which starred George C. Scott and Stacey Keach. Erik Estrada also had a part in this film. Other movies and TV shows were filmed in this neighborhood as well, such as a scene in "Falling Down" (Michael Douglas) at the surplus store at Sunset Blvd. and Hyperion Ave. If you travel along Silverlake Blvd. to Glendale Ave., you are now in "Mixville", named after a silent screen actor, Tom Mix, who owned a ranch there. Not too far from Rowena Ave., that you featured, is the "Hyperion Bridge", which had scenes in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and one of the W.C.Fields films, although I can't remember which one. The original Disney studio was on Hyperion Ave. and Griffith Park Blvd. The city has marked it on one of the light poles. I have several more memories, but I have said too much already!
Wow, you know so much about the Silverlake neighborhood. I never knew about the street cars running up and down Sunset Blvd. I'll have to check out the historical monument. I love learning about these types of things and visiting them. Thank you so much for your comment and your insight. By the way, I actually have a future video coming out that focuses on the Hidden Staircases of Silverlake and I did film the "Music Box" steps. I've been a fan of Laurel and Hardy since I was a child and seeing these stairs in person was so amazing.
Thank you for your kind reply! The studio lot that existed adjacent to the Vista Theatre was the "Fine Arts Studios", Hillhurst Ave. and Sunset Blvd. A different, but still Silverlake area, staircase that was used in a Three Stooges short, "An Ache In Every Stake" was filmed at Fair Oak Terrace and Edendale Place. A neighbor on the street where I grew up was a silent movie era actress, Carroll Borland. She had a significant role in a Bela Lugosi movie, "Mark of the Vampire" (1935). Her appearance in that movie was the basis for Elvira and Vampira gothic themed persona of 1950s and 1960s local TV. She used to joke, when Elvira and Vampira had lawsuits over the rights to their respective characters, "Imagine that! Elvira and Vampira are suing each other over MY FACE!" Across the street from her house, the actress, Ann Jillian, also lived during her childhood days. Also, I had a paper route customer who lived right at the Sunset Junction on Santa Monica Blvd. who was an old silent movie actor and director, Edwin August.
Vista Theatre was just bought by Tarantino.
YES! I read that. It's pretty exciting. I've always loved the Vista theatre and I'm glad it was bought by a film afficionado like Tarantino. I'll definitely be watching films there!
When you are tired of being cool in Silverlake people move east to Atwater Village and Glendale. I'm sort of half ass watching this. Dont know if you covered the Music Box stairs featured in the 1931 Laurel and Hardy shot The Music Box. The stairs are still there almost a hundred years later
Thank you for the comment. I actually live in Glendale. I did a video covering that area too. As for the music box stairs. I love those stairs too as it reminds me of the Laurel and Hardy movie. I also made a video covering them. ruclips.net/video/FihgGkyvPTA/видео.html
@@TheDavidNeytsShow I live in Glendale a well and have also lived in Silverlake, Atwater and Echo Park. During Covid I wrote a murder mystery and set it in Glendale. It's called "What You Wish For. Silverlake is where author James Elroy (LS Confidential) lived for a while and set some of his early novels. Just off Hyperion as you leave Atwater is the home of Lino LaBainca the owner of Beaches market in Atwater who was murdered by the Manson clan. On the other side of Rowena is a great old German restaurant thats been there since the 50s on Glendale Blvd. The Red Lion. Also in the sixties kids used to drag race along the straight by the reservoir. Really pissed off the home owners. Also racing along Riverside drive between Fletcher and Glendale Blvd. On Sunset there used to be the Pioneer Market, famous for being the first market in LA open 24 hours. My family temporarily lived in a big brick apartment building on Sunset about 1956. I hated it. No other kids around. Later moved to Echo Park. Back in the late 50 early 60s, kids used to drive down on to the LA river bed and race when the water level was down. My friends were raised Catholic and instead of going to confession in Atwater we went to a church in Silverlake where the priest only spoke Hungarian I believe. heh.
I lived in Sunset Junction back In the mid 70's for a couple of years. Back then it wasn't called Sunset Junction and it definitely wasn't trendy. The only 'restaurant' in that area was a Tommy's knock off and the only bars were a coupled of gay dive bars.
I love hearing all of these stories from the old Silverlake. I feel that this area has a big place in many people's heart. Definitely Silverlake wasn't as trendy in the past. Now it has become the hipster central of Los Angeles and a great place to have a stroll and grab a coffee or lunch.
I think I like it. I like LA but Silver Lake is cool. 👍😂
Definitely, Silver Lake is beautiful.
The grotesque gentrification of once-great Silverlake by wealthy white transplants are the very REASON homelessness got out of control starting in 2010. It is tragic as of 2023.
I'm sorry you feel this way. I hope you find a place in America or the world that you can enjoy.
Vista theatre is owned by Quentin Tarantino i believe.
Yes, Quentin Tarantino recently bought the Vista theatre. You are correct!
Dude go under any freeway underpass.
The ducks 🦆:)=yay
You noticed the ducks, lol. They're one of my favorite animals so whenever I see some I try to include them in my travel videos ;-)
Good place to take a date in silver lake ? Nice drinks/atmosphere but not too romantic/serious if that makes sense lol
Definitely a perfect place for a date! Silverlake is very artsy and has a good relaxed atmosphere, plus there's definitely a ton of places to walk to.
The homeless are not a problem. They are your brothers and sisters.
Yes, they are my brothers and sisters. The problem is more the government and also healthcare that isn't being provided. They need help but are bound to the streets. It's a very complicated issue.
Interesting. I was born on Hyperion, about 200ft up from sunset Bl. in 1966. I remember the laundromat on the corner, and it was next to the "Black Cat" bar. across the street, where "Pazzo Gelato" , is now, was a gas station run by bikers. So this old woman was raped,, and was a baby sitter of one of the bikers when he was a kid. She was raped and brutally beaten. Rumor has it, that the LAPD knew who did it, but due to circumstantial evidence, they couldn't make the case. He was accused of several other rapes. So, supposedly, the LAPD tipped off the bikers as to who and where the guy was. They hunted him down, and he disappeared. When I was older, I asked my dad, what happened, and he told me, that he had spoken to one of the bikers, and that they "put him in the dirt"(out by Palmdale somewhere). The bikers were always polite to my mom while we were at the RTD bus stop. I remember our landlord was this nice, older Armenian guy. We used to take my grandmother to "El Cid" to watch the Flamenco shows(Our family was Spaniards). My grandmother used to take me up the hill(down by Hollywood and Sunset) to Barnsdall Art Park. Where the Rite AID and Fat Burger are now, was a Woolworths and she would take me to eat at the lunch counter after our time at the park. My sister and I, went to "Micheltorena School", and our church was St. Francis of Assisi, over on Sunset Bl., till we moved away in 1972, to Pico Rivera. Many, fun and great memories of that time and place....
Wow, I love the story, even though it's a little bit scary to hear about that rapes and the bikers putting him 6 feet under. When I first moved to LA in 2000 the laundromat was still there. LA is an everchanging city but I always am fascinated to hear about its history and the stories that people have to tell about the different areas. Thank you for sharing.
i dont know something about this area ist just weird for me. It has a strange vibe and I cant explain it. Weird structures, dry nature, filthy old streets, do love the liberal peeps though. Just not my cup of tea! Thanks for sharing. peace
Thank you for the comment. California and Los Angeles is definitely an acquired taste. I can understand that it's not your cup of tea. Either way, if you do come to Los Angeles it's one of the most pleasant places to visit out here.
No homeless problem...YET. However, it was only a handful of years ago that I could walk around various parts of LA at 3 AM alone with no trouble, with clean sidewalks and not a homeless person in sight. Now those areas are filled with filth and homeless camps. Between the combination of new LA laws where police can no longer force homeless to move off public sidewalks, and the tens of thousands of illegals at the border who are about to pour into California (which will eventually turn into hundreds of thousands, then millions, if not stopped), eventually places like Silverlake will also be filled to the brim with trash and homeless. Sell your property while it's still worth something and get out, because things are going to get A LOT worse before they get better -- if they ever do.
I see your point. I really hope things will not get as bad as you say. With the pandemic the police is not enforcing many of the laws that would normally not let so many homeless people stay in all of these parks and on the side of the street. California will always be a sort of magnet for the homeless because of it's great weather and the fact that showers, toilets, food is so readily available, especially around the beach areas. For the moment Silverlake and many other areas in LA and its surrounding are still very clean. Now I cannot foretell the future. Just trying to stay positive and give a smile to people since there's so much negativity as of late.
There are homeless in silver lake in sunset bl in places
You are the exact kind of person that has moved in during the past decade who come in with their jaw dropped but doesn't actually understand Silverlake. Also, there have alwaus been homeless people in Silverlake, STOP BASHING THEM, a lot of them have called Silverlake their home for a lot longer than the 7 years you spent there before you went to stale Glendale.
Dude, I’ve lived in Los Angeles since 2000, and I lived in Silverlake for 7 years in the early 2000s. All I do in this video is praise Silverlake. I don’t even talk about the homeless…I only put "there is no homeless in this area" in the title of the video because it ranks higher in the RUclips search engine...it’s nice to insult people on the internet simply because you are behind your phone/computer. At the place of being a troll, why don’t you make a video about your Silverlake and how you feel about it? Afterall you are mister know it all! I literally say all nice things about this area...so I don't know what video you watched but obviously not mine. I guess you've had a bad day. Do you need a hug? All I can do is send you love buddy.
Ric R, people always judge the new people that move in, but they always make allowance for themselves.
@@yahwehagape Don’t move in, you’re taking up valuable space. You do not belong here.