Surrounded by hills on three sides, it sits in the valley created by the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco.

undergoing rapid to moderate gentrification due to its close proximity to Highland Park, Downtown and various transportation hubs.

The 2000 U.S. census counted 9,764 residents in the 0.72-square-mile Cypress Park neighborhood—or 13,478 people per square mile, among the highest population densities for the city and the county.

[1] The neighborhood was "not especially diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with the number of Latino people considered to be high compared to the city at large—82.1% of the population.

Mexico (73.2%) and China (6.3%) were the most common places of birth for the 52.5% of the residents who were born abroad—which was a high percentage compared to Los Angeles as a whole.

When Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition first encountered the Los Angeles River in August 1769 and described the area of the confluence of the Arroyo Seco as "a very lush green valley".

In 1859, Julio Verdugo sold the southern tip of the rancho to Jessie D. Hunter, who had first arrived in Los Angeles in 1847 as a Captain in the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican–American War.

Hunter had established the first kiln-fired brickyard in Los Angeles, but sold it and took up farming when he acquired the rancho land.

In addition, Cypress Park has access to the southern end of the LA River Bike Path at the intersection of Figueroa and Interstate 5.

During the rainy season this part of the park floods, and during spring it becomes a prime location, in the City of Los Angeles, for wildflower viewing.

Just 8.4% of Cypress Park residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a low figure for the city and the county.

735) was built in 1911 for the brother of James J. Jeffries, boxing heavyweight Champion of the World, and is the last remaining house of this prominent family.

The movies The Fast and the Furious, Catwoman, and Date Night as well as the television series Heroes filmed scenes in the Huron Substation.