The Child Business Boom in Highland Park

There's a new industry popping up in Highland Park, one that capitalizes on the willingness of young parents to pay to give their children the opportunity to sing, dance, play or karate-chop.

With the neighborhood's reasonably priced housing and thriving arts community making the neighborhood an increasingly attractive location for families to settle, the area is now undergoing a baby business boom, with new kid-centric services popping up to meet the needs of the area's influx of young parents.

Longtime neighborhood resident Kay Osorio opened The Awesome Playground, an indoor and outdoor play center for children between the ages of nine months old and 10-years-old, in October. 

“I’m a mom. My son is almost four now and I wanted to do something where I could work, but he could also be with me if needed. I thought it would be a nice community space as well as a neighborhood program,” Osorio said. “Other neighborhoods that are a little bit more affluent already have places like this for the kids. Some kids just need a little exercise instead of watching TV, so I thought this would be good.”

Osorio said the local community was really supportive during the initial couple of months, which was very helpful.

“It lifted our spirits, if you will, and made us feel like it's going to work out in the long term,” she said. “My vision when we first opened was to have a bigger space with a separate classroom area, but you know initial investments are kind of rough.”

The first class offered at The Awesome Playground is Twinkle Twinkle Baby Rock Star, a half hour music class designed for kids one to 4-years-old, taught by Highland Park resident Marc Diamond and his wife Sunny.

“We started doing it out of our house as a way for kids in the neighborhood to come sing and touch instruments, learn songs and get to know each other. And then we met Kay and we started doing a class here,” Diamond said.

Diamond, who is a substitute teacher and has been playing music for years, said he started Twinkle Twinkle Baby Rock Star about a month and a half ago and did it mostly because of his daughter.

“I usually play guitar and will bring a bunch of percussion instruments for them to bang on. We go through a list of the classics like "Wheels on the Bus," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and the little ones learn them,” Diamond said. “At that age it’s pretty much about repetition and structure, so the more they do it, the more they know it, the more they start to like it.

Local Realtor Meredith McKenzie said the recent boom in baby biz is driven by all the young families that are now settling in the area.

“For a long period of time, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, and Glendale have been bedroom communities that young people like to raise their families in, but they were totally priced out,” said Meredith McKenzie, a realtor who has sold real estate in Highland Park on and off for approximately 20 years. “But here, just next door, was sweet Highland Park.”

McKenzie said she began seeing young families, singles, and artists move in approximately five years ago and said it might be because of the affordability factor. She also said there are a lot of things in place that will keep attracting people to Highland Park, such as the development plan for York Boulevard.

According to McKenzie, the area north of York Boulevard and west of Figueroa Avenue is a hot spot. She also mentioned that the neighborhoods close to Occidental College and Eagle Rock are considered the “in” neighborhood in Highland Park.

“I think that from a location standpoint, Highland Park is on its way to re-establishing itself as a very solid community,” McKenzie said.

1st Defense Mind Body Studio opened its doors seven months ago and offers kids martial arts classes.

"Martial arts is really to teach kids how not to be OCD or ADHD,” said 1st Defense owner and Highland Park resident Dr. Kelvin deWolfe. “What we do is work on your conscious of awareness and conscious of focus at the same time. Every kid needs to pay attention more and also be aware simultaneously.”

Eagle Rock resident Randy Levine’s son Gabriel has participated in martial arts classes at 1st Defense for several months and said the classes have been beneficial.

“He definitely seems more focused, more calm, and able to take on some other things,” Levine said.

Karen Hayes launched Twinkle Toes Dance Company a couple of years ago in the valley before bringing her program to Highland Park.

The former professional modern dancer noticed the lack of dance classes in the neighborhood, in addition to the lack of kids classes in general.

“I walked by 1st Defense during the farmer's market, saw an ad that they were looking for teachers, and within two weeks I started teaching a class,” said Hayes, who began teaching this past summer. “My vision is to create classes that are very exciting, interesting, creative, fun, and whimsical, but at the same time teaching proper technique.”

Hayes said she sought out to create a children’s program that was a different than what everybody else offered.

“I found that in most dance studios, a lot of times they had a really great dance program, but then they didn’t pay any attention to the young children. And that’s really where the seed begins.”

According to Hayes, her business is doing well. The Highland Park resident and mother of a 4-year-old girl said the marketing she did in the recent months—which consisted mainly of posting fliers around town, is starting to pay off.

Hayes said, “I do think that I’m on the forefront of something that’s really great. Along with a bunch of other businesses that have opened such as 1st Defense and Awesome Playground, businesses you wouldn’t have seen in Highland Park a few years ago.”