"Commercial follows residential" is a saying in the trade.
Basically, as residents start flocking to new neighborhoods because they're priced out of other ones, home values go up. Shortly after, the body shops and hair salons get replaced with clothing stores and mom-and-pop coffee shops. This is first-gen gentrification.
Then, home values go up even more, and those first-generation businesses are pushed out by the likes of Whole Foods, national ice cream chains and brand-name coffee shops, who have the market research to show this is the next place to be. Home values skyrocket.
This next step in the neighborhood's lifecycle is when the area can turn ultra-luxury. Think Montana in Santa Monica, Abbot Kinney in Venice, or Old Town Pasadena.
This ultra-luxury third-gen gentrification is not guaranteed. Highland Park, for example, will likely retain its charm - local codes forbid anything higher than two stories on York Blvd, so it will never be super-dense.
But it looks like another iteration of gentrification is descending upon Sunset Blvd in Los Feliz/Silver Lake, where we already have an Erewhon, Whole Foods and Shake Shack. A massive burst of retail and apartment development is currently underway that once complete (around 2025), will skyrocket the value of nearby homes.
Here is a partial list of all the things to come in our neighborhood:
