Five Los Angeles neighborhoods to watch in 2014

Urban Outfitters? Check. Acne Studios? Check. These are just two of the brands calling DTLA’s Broadway home as of late, thanks to a massive campaign helmed by Los Angeles City Council Member Jose Huizar. The initiative, which launched in 2008, aims to restore Historic Broadway between Second Street and Olympic Boulevard to its former glory as a glittering mecca for movies and entertainment—twelve theaters, in varying states of disrepair, are still standing in the nine-block area. Revamped adaptive reuse guidelines have paved an easier way for developers and investors to fill Broadway’s vacant, historic structures. In January, the boutique Ace Hotel chain made its official Los Angeles debut on the corridor, occupying the former United Artists Theatre building, the studio’s 1927 flagship movie palace. Also on tap: a proposed four-mile streetcar system along with a Whole Foods on nearby Grand Avenue, set to open in 2015.

Location, location, location. In a city as sprawling as Los Angeles, that’s what counts. When it comes to neighborhoods, it doesn’t get more central than the Pico-Robertson area, which sits at the intersection of two of the city’s most central corridors. The area has always held its ground in the housing market, but recent additions to the culinary scene are upping the 'hood’s desirability factor. "Top Chef" contestant Alex Reznik opened the doors to his first solo LA venture, Ditmas Kitchen and Cocktails: part communal dining, part white-tablecloth service, and all kosher. Popular Chicago-style pizza joint Hollywood Pies also calls Pico Boulevard home and boasts a recent kitchen revamp after a brief hiatus, much to the delight of pizza lovers. And, newcomer A Food Affair also holds serious sway on the Robertson side of things, boasting American dishes with Francophile flair. Add in neighboring Picfair Village and you can expect plenty of people to follow the good eats to this bustling on-the-rise nabe.

We can almost see you rolling your eyes here, but wait. Santa Monica has always been one of the LA area’s most desirable neighborhoods, but proposed developments and one spectacular public park are shining a whole new light on bustling Ocean Avenue. The year 2013 saw the arrival of Tongva Park, a six-acre gem between Ocean and Main Street complete with lush gardens, seaside views and a whopping sculpture by artist Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle. The park rubs up against the new Ocean Avenue South mixed residential and retail development, which includes two luxury condo buildings stocked with yoga studios and a pet spa, natch. Also in Ocean Avenue's future: a proposed 125-room Frank Gehry-designed hotel that will include 22 condos, a public rooftop viewing deck and a subterranean garage. The project also calls for an adjoining museum campus—which reuses two existing landmarked structures and adds a Gehry-designed exhibition space—to widen Santa Monica’s cultural footprint, after it was turned down as the home for the Broad Museum. Take that, DTLA. Looking a little past 2014, the Expo Line will reach its seaside terminus at nearby Colorado and 4th Street in 2015, opening up the Westside to so much of LA via public transit. Just sayin'.