Lost in LA: Silver Lake

The hills of Silver Lake (March 2025)

Located in northeast Los Angeles County, the neighborhood of Silver Lake is a small, but trendy place known for its eponymous reservoir and notable bohemian community. It is an area popular with young professionals and artists to live in and hang out among the numerous cafés, boutique shops, and comedy clubs in town. Silver Lake offers a lot to do, all the while being tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Originally called “Ivanhoe,” Silver Lake was first developed in the 1880’s and named after Sir Walter Scott’s novel of the same name. The area was used as the site for building emergency reservoirs as Los Angeles was rapidly growing at the turn of the century. This contributed to the development of Silver Lake reservoir, named after LA City Councilman Herman Silver, and the neighborhood soon was renamed to Silver Lake in 1907.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Silver Lake attracted a flock of artists, actors, and writers to the area– as a result, it grew into a bohemian and creative community that soon led to film studios being built, including Walt Disney’s first film studio on Hyperion Avenue. In the 1950s and 1960s, the neighborhood saw an influx of Asian Americans and Latinos moving in, following the end of racial laws prohibiting minorities to buy homes before eventually spreading out to neighboring quarters like Echo Park and Los Feliz.

Silver Lake has also been a notable LGBTQ community since the 1930s, offering a safe haven for individuals to express themselves freely. The Black Cat Tavern is a now-historic gay bar that was subjected to a police raid in 1967, giving rise to the Stonewall Riots in New York City just two years later. Silver Lake remains a LGBTQ hub today, and it has even elected its first drag queen and transgender person, Maebe A. Girl, to its City Council in 2019.

As a result of its history, Silver Lake is an ethnically and culturally-diverse neighborhood, home to people from all walks of life. It is also a high-income, higher-education community, having been gentrified since the 1990s. It is a hip and trendy spot, and it is highly-desirable to live in, with real estate prices way above the city’s average.

As mentioned, Silver Lake has its eponymous reservoir; it is a popular spot to take a stroll along the water, and it has a few green spaces (including Silver Lake Meadow) to sit down, picnic, and enjoy during warmer months. Although the “lake” was artificially-made, it still offers a slice of nature away from urban concrete.

Silver Lake Reservoir

Silver Lake Meadow

Much of the neighborhood is hilly, with many homes built up and alongside the cliffs. Due to its geography, staircases were built to connect residents who lived uphill to public transport at the base. These stairs are quite steep and narrow and fairly hidden from street view– however, they are open to the public to walk up and down and otherwise get a good exercise in. Many of these staircases have transformed into colorful murals as well, making for popular Instagram spots.

Some well-known staircases include the Stair Tempo Staircase (aka “the Piano Steps”), consisting of 90 steps. It is a whimsical one, and my personal favorite– if only the steps played actual music!

The Piano Steps

Other notable staircases are the Micheltorena Stairs, vibrant and the most-recognizable staircase in Silver Lake (at 205 steps), as well as the Swan Stairs, which are divided into three levels at 287 steps total. You could easily spend a whole day just walking up and down these various staircases, admiring the different murals, and even get a skyline view of downtown Los Angeles!

Micheltorena Stairs

Swan Stairs (level 2)

“Je t’aime LA” at the Swan Stairs

Skyline of Downtown LA from Swan Stairs

Despite being born and growing up in Los Angeles, I did not live close to Silver Lake to make any visits until I was an adult, when I spent some time exploring the reservoir and its food scene. The neighborhood has plenty of solid cafés serving well-crafted coffee, and it can be fun to shop at the hip and trendy stores on Silver Lake Drive afterwards. I have not checked out all that the neighborhood has to offer, but I hope to make it back soon for more.

Taiwanese food

Matcha latte (feat. frog statues)

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great day! 🙂

— Rebecca