[1] In the late 20th century, the hill was lowered in elevation, and the entire area was redeveloped to supplant old frame and concrete buildings with modern high-rises and other structures for residences, commerce, entertainment, and education.

[2] In 1867, two wealthy developers, Prudent Beaudry, a French-Canadian immigrant, and Stephen Mott purchased a majority of the hill's land.

Beaudry employed surveyor George Hansen to help divide up the land into 80 plots to sell to individual buyers.

[5] Beaudry developed the peak of Bunker Hill with lavish two-story Victorian houses that became famous as homes for the upper-class residents of Los Angeles.

Some notable residents[7] during these times are: After the introduction of the horse carriage to the Bunker Hill neighborhood, the iconic Angel's Flight was proposed.

Colonel J. W. Eddy petitioned the Los Angeles City Council to establish an electric cable railway, which was approved ten days later signed by the mayor, Meredith P. Snyder.

Around the 1920s and the 1930s, with the advent of the Pacific Electric Railway and the construction of the freeway, and the increased urban growth fed by an extensive streetcar system, its wealthy residents began leaving for enclaves such as Beverly Hills and Pasadena.

[11] In 1955, Los Angeles city planners decided that Bunker Hill required a massive slum clearance project.

The creation of the Public Works Administration and the 1949 U.S. Federal Housing Act helped quickly to clear and acquire the land on which "slum and blighted" areas of Downtown's Bunker Hill were situated.

[19] While developers are primarily building market-rate housing on Bunker Hill today, Los Angeles has very strict laws, rules, and ordinances established that promote the inclusion of all income levels into the residential mix.

It physically and symbolically connects the main entrance of the Los Angeles Public Library at Fifth Street with Hope Place and the Kechum-Downtown YMCA to the north.

The double stairs flank a cascading river rock "stream" that flows from the pool surrounding Robert Graham's 1992 public art sculpture Source Figure, and terminate at Fifth Street with a fountain element and seating.

[24] Contributing to the resurgence of Bunker Hill has been the construction of public venues, such as Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

[26][27] It was used extensively in such crime films as Cry Danger (1951), Kiss Me Deadly (1956), Criss Cross (1949), Joseph Losey's M (1951), and Angel's Flight (1965).

[31][32][33] Another film by Mackenzie that was set in the area —his neo-realist and semi-documentary feature The Exiles (1961) — depicts the lives of a tribe of urban Indians on Bunker Hill in the late 1950s.

On April 8, 2010, the day of the 101st anniversary of the writer's birth, John Fante Square was inaugurated at the intersection of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue.