El Sereno

Nice and getting nicer.
El Sereno has everything going for it, except it is not widely known.
It's part of North-East Los Angeles, and has beautiful rolling hills with views that would cost twice as much in other parts of Los Angeles. The area is predominately Latino with stable, hard- working families, and is currently transitioning to becoming more ethnically diverse. As the area gentrifies, the beauty intensifies.
The factor making this transition so logical is that El Sereno directly abuts the extremely affluent city of South Pasadena. I used to live in South Pasadena, but couldn't afford to buy a house there. (I am a medical professional with Bachelor's degree). But 5 minutes from my apartment, I found a neighborhood with delightful storybook houses and Spanish colonial/Mediterranean bungalows in the 1920s-1930s style that California does so well. My part of the El Sereno neighborhood is is directly adjacent to the lovely Alhambra neighborhood of Emery Park; our houses were all built as one neighborhood in the 20's and 30's. You can get the houses on this side of the LA/Alhambra border for several hundred thousand less by merely crossing the street into Los Angeles. (I purchased mine for $190,000 in 2002, now worth $550,000-$600,000 in 2017). As an added bonus, it is not as crowded as neighboring hipster hot-spot Highland Park.
There are a lot of historical properties in El Sereno, the neighborhood has charming hills, large regional parks, and upscale shops and areas several minutes away (here's looking at you Old Town Pasadena, South Pas, and San Marino). I find it marvelous that this hidden gem still remains within the reach of a middle class income

El Sereno has everything going for it, but it just doesn't seem to want to be a nice place. It's part of east Los Angeles, in the hills, but the gentrification that has been taking over the surrounding areas hasn't really set foot in El Sereno yet. The community was developed as a suburb in the early 1900's and was very ethnically diverse until after World War 2. Most of the non-latin community moved to other parts of Los Angeles. There has been a lot of gang problems in this neighborhood for the last 40 years.
The thing that makes this phenomenon so bizarre is that El Sereno is directly abutting with the extremely affluent South Pasadena. South Pasadena is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in LA. And, it is extremely gentrified and very upper middle class - upper class. There are a lot of historical properties in El Sereno, the neighborhood is in a hilly area and there is a national park adjacent. With all of these elements in the mix, I find it so bizarre that El Sereno can't get itself together. There isn't much to say about the place except for my recommendation to avoid it.