Has Echo Park Left 'Alternative Los Angeles'?

That cheeky cheerleader of chic, the London Evening Standard, casts its eye on L.A. and environs in a recent post.

What we learn is the following:

[J]ust half an hour's drive north-east of the city, in the areas of Highland Park, Eagle Rock and Pasadena you'll find another LA where vintage clothes boutiques, cycle shops and tattoo parlours sit amid Moorish Gothic follies and Arts and Crafts bungalows. You'll even find that rare Los Angeles sighting--the non-collagen-implanted, surgically unaltered human being.

Eagle Rock has a history of attracting artists and writers and counts Aldous Huxley, John Steinbeck and Terry Gilliam as ex-residents. Not to mention a certain Barack Obama who studied at the local Occidental College. Along with Highland Park, this is now where artists, bohos and students, priced out of neighbouring areas such as Silverlake, have moved to, attracted by the parks, affordable housing and proximity to downtown LA.

Where does our beloved Echo Park fit into all of this? Does it?

Read the full London Standard posting here.

And check out our still continuing poll here that asks this important question:

Is Highland Park the next Echo Park?  (More than half say "yes.")