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Eastside refers to a collection of neighborhoods within the city of Los Angeles. The use of the term Eastside should not be confused with East Los Angeles, the unincorporated community east of Los Angeles. The term Eastside was revived in the 1990's.
The Eastside includes Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village and Highland Park. Gentrification has been an issue for all of the Eastside.
The communities that comprised the Eastside, with the exception of Los Feliz went into decline after the Second World War, in part due to the flight of middle class families to the suburbs. Each neighborhood developed a slightly different way; Silverlake became a magnet for the gay community, Echo Park and Atwater Village became notorious for gang related activity. Most of the Eastside became predominately middle and working class Latino however a large ethnic mix eventually settled the area.
Cultural perceptions
In the 1990's modernist homes became in vogue with the many homes in the northern Silverlake hills being very desirable; also many Westside residents became disenchanted with the traffic and density of West Los Angeles. Relatively low real estate costs and an active arts scene made the Eastside attractive to a younger generation of "Hipsters". Angelinos regard the resulting culture they created in the current turn of the century as a reaction to the perceived shallowness of Westside culture; many Eastside residents now perceive themselves as less class and race conscious, more down to earth, and less self centered then the Westside. Some Westside residents regard this attitude as hypocritical they note that many of the Eastsiders are employed in the same industries, shop at the same types of shops and have the same class and ethnic makeup as themselves.
Historically the Eastside used to refer to South Los Angeles, that usage ended after WWII.
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