Florence Avenue is a major east–west street in central

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

and

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. 150px, The oldest operating McDonald's is on Florence Ave at Lakewood, in Downey, California.

Route

It is bounded in the east by Mills Avenue at Janine Drive in Whittier. At Telegraph Road, it changes to Florence. West of

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/ Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood to the north. It was named for Rancho Las Cienega ...

, it swerves into Aviation Boulevard, which is a north–south street, in the City of Inglewood. Florence Avenue runs through the cities of Inglewood,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Huntington Park Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside th ...

(where it intersects

Pacific Boulevard Pacific Boulevard is a street and principal commercial thoroughfare in the city of Huntington Park, California and the Los Angeles County neighborhood of Walnut Park. It runs from Vernon and Santa Fe Avenues in Vernon to Cudahy Street in Walnut Pa ...

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

Bell Gardens Bell Gardens is a city in the U.S. state of California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Located in Los Angeles County, the city's population was 42,072 at the 2010 census, down from 44,054 at the 2000 census. Bell Gardens is part of the ...

Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses *W. & D. Downey, photographic studio *Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools * ...

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 16,223 at the 2010 census, down from 17,43 ...

, and unincorporated Los Angeles County bordering the City of Whittier. Florence Avenue also crosses the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110), Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710), San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605), and Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5). An unconnected portion of Florence Avenue is located in

La Habra La Habra (archaic spelling of ''La Abra'', ) is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California, United States. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. A related city, La Habra Heights, is located to the north o ...

and has similar west–east coordinates to the main Florence Avenue.

Public transit

Metro Local Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . , there ar ...

Lines 111 and 120 run through Florence Avenue; the former runs through most of Florence starting at Studebaker Road and the latter east of Studebaker Road.

Rapid transit

The

Metro A Line The Metro A Line is a bus rapid transit line in the Twin Cities, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The A Line operates primarily along the Snelling Avenue corridor and travels through the cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Falcon Heights, ...

light rail serves the Florence station, at the intersection of Graham Avenue and Florence Avenue in the unincorporated community of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. The Metro K Line serves three light rail stations on Florence Avenue, the Fairview Heights station at West Boulevard in the Hyde Park district, the

Downtown Inglewood station Downtown Inglewood station is an at-grade light rail station on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located alongside Florence Avenue between Market and Locust Streets in the central business district of the city of Inglew ...

La Brea Avenue La Brea Avenue is a prominent north-south thoroughfare in the City of Los Angeles and in Los Angeles County, California. La Brea is known for having diverse ethnic communities, and many shops and restaurants along its route. History ''La Br ...

in Downtown Inglewood and the

Westchester/Veterans station Westchester/Veterans station is an at-grade light rail station on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located alongside Florence Avenue near its intersection of Hindry Avenue, located in the Westchester neighborhood of Los A ...

at Hindry Avenue near the border adjacent to the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles.

History

The roadway was formerly known as Redondo Boulevard westward from West Boulevard at the Inglewood-Los Angeles city boundary."How to Get There," ''Los Angeles Times,'' February 18, 1934, image 60
/ref> Land developer George E. Longan in 1927 established a new business center on Redondo Boulevard near Hillcrest Avenue, Inglewood, a Spanish stucco structure "in harmony with the nearby Inglewood Woman's Club." In 1931 West Boulevard was extended south to Florence Avenue and intersected Redondo Boulevard at the latter's easterly end. In 1934, the ''Los Angeles Times'' noted that "Florence Avenue runs into Redondo Boulevard." East–west Redondo Boulevard turned north–south to traverse between Inglewood and Redondo Beach. The intersection of Florence and Normandie is noted for an attack during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles when several black men pulled white driver Reginald Denny from his truck and beat him in the intersection. The attack was televised.

References

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Streets in Los Angeles Bell, California South Los Angeles Downey, California Huntington Park, California Inglewood, California Santa Fe Springs, California