West Hollywood North

With a mix of single-family homes, large apartment buildings and even a few high-rises, West Hollywood North covers the area north of Santa Monica Boulevard and south of Sunset Boulevard between San Vicente and La Cienega.

The area is home to both the original West Hollywood Library on the northwest corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Westbourne Drive (a wine-tasting bar, appropriately named The Library, is set to open there in spring 2013) and the original West Hollywood Fire Station (on Palm Avenue, now a four-unit affordable housing building).

“West Hollywood North is a microcosm of the entire city,” said Lynn Hoopingarner, vice president of the West Hollywood North Neighborhood Association. “It’s the most walkable neighborhood within a very walkable city. You have gays, straights, Russian ladies, families, young professionals all coming together here. Where else would you see a Russian lady wearing a babushka walking beside a flaming queen?”

Despite being between Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards, Hoopingarner reports the area is very quiet. “I can sit in my backyard and not hear a sound, but two of the busiest, most famous streets in the world are each a block away,” she said.

While public safety is a concern for the area, residents have also come together to fight a large five-story mixed-use project proposed to cover half a block of Santa Monica Boulevard between West Knoll Drive and the Ramada Inn.