North Figueroa St, Highland Park

Figueroa St. winds out of downtown Los Angeles and reaches a cute old town that has been a very Hispanic neighborhood although signs of ethnic diversity are taking hold.
The metro Gold Line runs directly through downtown Highland Park and with it brings diversity and access.
With amazing Victorian and Craftsman homes available for comparatively little, neighborhoods are gentrifying. But, no one wants Highland Park to become the next Silverlake, it's personality is rooted in it's cultural diversity.
Along this strip the places to go are the Little Cave, a great dive bar that caters to a young crowd. A great jukebox and cheap beer make it a great time every weekend.
Cute shops an boutiques abound and the original Forever 21 (actually Fashion 21) is right here. Super deals are available as this store serves as almost an outlet location.
The movie theater across the street has $3 Tues and Wed showings. El Pescador has wonderful Mexican Seafood and across the way Chico's is a mandatory stop for vitamins and fish burritos.
The best adddition to the area has to be the new Vietnamese Comfort food restaurant Good Girl Dinette. This cute little restaurant has original and delicious food with my personal favorite being the chicken curry pot pie. The Vietnamese sandwich is next to none and actually, I have never had anything there that wasn't simply delicious.
Also every Tuesday there is a Farmers Market. And the new Flying Pigeon bikes not only sells Chinese traditional bikes, they do a monthly Dim Sum ride where they take bicyclists on a ride downtown for a Dim Sum breakfast.
It is that kind of community initiative that makes Highland Park a great place to get to know.