La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south
arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in
Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88, ...
on the south and the
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverl ...
/
Sunset Boulevard in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...
to the north. It was named for
Rancho Las Cienegas
Rancho or Ranchos may refer to:
Settlements and communities
*Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad
* Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California
** List of California Ranchos
* Ranchos, Buenos ...
, literally "The Ranch Of The Swamps," an area of marshland south of
Rancho La Brea.
Route description
From south of Fairview Boulevard and from north of Obama Boulevard (formerly Rodeo Road) La Cienega Boulevard is a regular surface street and one of Hollywood's major thoroughfares. Offices for
A&E Network
A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational ent ...
,
The History Channel and the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
are located on La Cienega as were the studios of
Citadel Broadcasting flagships
KABC and
KLOS, two of Los Angeles' biggest radio stations, which were demolished for an apartment and shopping complex, currently under construction. A portion of La Cienega in and adjacent to
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
is known as "Restaurant Row" for its large number of upscale restaurants. South of Olympic, La Cienega through between the
Pico-Robertson and
South Carthay neighborhoods in
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
and through the
Crestview neighborhood in
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
into
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
and is known for its large number of automotive-related business including several used car dealerships and many body shops and auto mechanics.
It continues south passing Interstate 10, and the Metro Expo Line.
It is unusual among
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and 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 populous urban ...
roadways to be built to freeway standards. South of Interstate 10, La Cienega was built to
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
standards in the late 1940s as part of the proposed ''
Laurel Canyon Freeway
Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego ( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel Ca ...
'', part of
State Route 170. The SR 170 freeway was never completed south of
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
, and the stretch of La Cienega from just north of Fairview Blvd in
Inglewood Inglewood may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Inglewood, Queensland
* Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area
*Inglewood, South Australia
*Inglewood, Victoria
*Inglewood, Western Australia
Canada
* Inglewood, Ontario
*Inglewoo ...
, through
Baldwin Hills and along the
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area to
Obama Boulevard in Los Angeles is a divided, limited access highway with few
traffic signals
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
. As such, emergency
call box
A call box or callbox is a (usually metal) box containing a special-purpose direct line telephone or other telecommunications device which has been used by various industries and institutions as a way for employees or clients at a remote locat ...
es like those found along the area's
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s were installed along that stretch in the early 1970s.
South of Fairview Blvd, La Cienega runs parallel to the
405 freeway and terminates at
El Segundo Boulevard in
Del Aire along the west side of the freeway. A non-contiguous segment also named La Cienega Blvd runs along the East side of the 405 freeway roughly between El Segundo Blvd and
Rosecrans Avenue
Rosecrans Avenue is a major west-east thoroughfare in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California, USA. It has a total length of 27.5 miles (44.3 km). The street is named after U.S. Union General William S. Rosecrans, who purchased of R ...
in the section of Hawthorne also known as Wiseburn, another unincorporated area adjacent to Del Aire. If you look where it curves into 142nd street, the street sign is mislabeled E 142nd street, which is one block north of Rosecrans
Many years ago, the south end of La Cienega was Anza Avenue.
La Cienega Design Quarter
The area of La Cienega Boulevard, from Beverly Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard, and its satellite streets is known as the La Cienega Design Quarter. Its shops and galleries house many antiques, furniture, rugs, accessories and art. Art dealer
Felix Landau operated his trend-setting gallery there in the 1960s.
Restaurant Row
La Cienega in Beverly Hills, north of
Wilshire Boulevard, is known as Restaurant Row because it features many upscale restaurants. From Wilshire in Beverly Hills traveling north the best known establishments include
Benihana
is an American restaurant company founded by Hiroaki Aoki in New York City in 1964 and currently based in Aventura, Florida. It owns or franchises 116 Japanese-influenced restaurants around the world, including its flagship Benihana Teppanya ...
, The Stinking Rose, Darioush, the original
Lawry's the Prime Rib
Lawry's is an upscale gourmet restaurant chain specializing in prime rib and the brand name of a seasoned salt blend spun off by the restaurant founders that evolved into a food products company today owned by McCormick & Company.
The original ...
, Hakobe, Tokyo Table - Tokyo City Cuisine, Matsuhisa,
Fogo de Chão,
Gyu-Kaku, Woo Lae Oak, The Bazaar by
José Andrés, and
Morton's.
Etymology
La Cienega Boulevard is named after
Rancho Las Cienegas
Rancho or Ranchos may refer to:
Settlements and communities
*Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad
* Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California
** List of California Ranchos
* Ranchos, Buenos ...
Mexican land grant roughly in the region now called "
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
." The Spanish phrase ''la
ciénaga'' translates into English as "the
swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
" and the area named "Las Ciénegas" was a continual marshland due to the course of the
Los Angeles River through that area prior to a massive southerly shift in 1825 to roughly its present course. The difference in spelling in Los Angeles between the Castilian Spanish word ''ciénaga'' and the name of the thoroughfare, which is common in other Iberian languages like
Extremaduran,
originated with the name of the ranch.
Transportation
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 a ...
lines 105 runs on La Cienega Boulevard.
An elevated light rail station for the
Metro E Line
The Metro E Line is a planned bus rapid transit route in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Edina. The route will operate from Southdale Center Transit Center in Edina, Minnesota to Westgate station in St. Paul. Running mostly on France Avenue, Hennepin ...
is located at
Jefferson Boulevard
Jefferson Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles and Culver City, California. Its eastern terminus is at Central Avenue east of Exposition Park. At its entrance to Culver City, it splits with National Boulevard. North of Sawtelle Boulevard, it ...
.
An underground station for the
Metro D Line at
Wilshire Boulevard is currently under construction and is due to open in 2023.
Major intersections
References
External links
Southern California Unsigned Freeways – La Cienega BoulevardLa Cienega Design Quarter
{{Streets in Los Angeles
Streets in Los Angeles
Streets in Los Angeles County, California
Boulevards in the United States
Southern California freeways
Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
Baldwin Hills (mountain range)
Inglewood, California
Streets in West Hollywood, California
Restaurant districts and streets in the United States
West Los Angeles
Westside (Los Angeles County)