Venice Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in

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' ...

, running from the ocean in the

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

district, past the

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

intersection, into

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

. It was originally known as West 16th Street under the Los Angeles numbered street system.

Route description

The western terminus of Venice Boulevard is Ocean Front Walk in Venice. Proceeding easterly, it assumes the designation

California State Route 187 State Route 187 (SR 187) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs along Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles from Lincoln Boulevard (Southern California), Lincoln Boulevard (California State Route 1, State Route 1) in Venice, Los A ...

crossing Lincoln Boulevard ( State Route 1). The route then passes through the

Mar Vista Mar Vista is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California. In 1927, Mar Vista became the 70th community to be annexed to Los Angeles. It was designated as an official city neighborhood in 2006. History Mar Vista was called Ocean Par ...

neighborhood. Further east, it briefly forms the boundary between Palms and

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 passes near

Sony Pictures Studios The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...

. Continuing northeast into 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 ...

, the SR 187 designation terminates at the intersection with Cadillac Avenue and the ramp carrying traffic from westbound

. Continuing to parallel Washington Boulevard directly to its south, as it does for much of its length, the route proceeds between the Picfair Village neighborhood in

and Lafayette Square in Mid-City, through the

Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bounda ...

district, through Arlington Heights and Harvard Heights, dips under the

Harbor Freeway A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

, and continues into the heart of downtown Los Angeles, where it turns into East 16th Street at Main Street.

History

street railway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

was built on 16th Street by the Los Angeles Traction Company in 1896. An extra rail was installed in 1905, which created a

dual-gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to ca ...

streetcar thoroughfare which was shared with the

Los Angeles Railway The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...

. The line eventually came under the control of the

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

, which operated it until the end of 1950. The Venice Boulevard Local ran regular service to Vineyard Junction, while the

Venice Short Line The Venice Short Line was a Pacific Electric interurban railway line in Los Angeles which traveled from downtown Los Angeles to Venice, Ocean Park, and Santa Monica via Venice Boulevard. History The part of the line from the Hill Street stati ...

ran the length of Venice Boulevard from Pacific Avenue to Hill Street. The

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Los Angeles Railway A Line ran on Venice between Hill and Burlington Avenue until 1946. Prior to 1932, West 16th Street ended at

Crenshaw Boulevard Crenshaw Boulevard is a north-south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California, that runs through Crenshaw and other neighborhoods along a 23-mile (37.76 km) route in the west-central part of the city. The street extends between Wilshire Boulevar ...

. In that year part of the Pacific Electric right of way was taken and Venice Boulevard was cut through from

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 ...

to Crenshaw. At that time West 16th Street was renamed Venice Boulevard.

Public 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 are ...

line 33 operates on Venice Boulevard. 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, Hennepi ...

serves a rail station at its intersection with

Robertson Boulevard Robertson Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, that also passes through the incorporated cities of West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Culver City. Location Robertson Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfa ...

Landmarks

* Venice High School is located near the intersection with Walgrove Avenue. * Loyola High School is located by Venice and

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length betwe ...

. * The

Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery in Los Angeles at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the Pico-Union district, southwest of Downtown. It was founded as Rosedale Cemetery in 1884, when Los Angeles had a population of approximately 28,000, ...

also lies on Venice.

References

External links