Echo Park is a Great Neighborhood of America

Don't just take my word for it; the American Planning Association has gone a step beyond and actually declared it:

Great Places in America: Neighborhoods: Echo Park, Los Angeles

Where the Lotus cannot live

One of Los Angeles's first suburbs, the Echo Park neighborhood is a vibrant mix of cultures, incomes, architecture, commercial activity, and social activism that has retained its unique character and charm for more than a century.

Contributing to the neighborhood's eclecticism and unique sense of place — and reasons for its selection as one of 10 APA Great Neighborhoods for 2008 — are its varied topography, historic architecture, and engaged citizens who, over the years, have gone to great lengths to protect and preserve their historic arts community.