Western Avenue is a major four-lane street in the city of Los Angeles (west of
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
) and through the center portion of
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...
. It is one of the longest north–south streets in Los Angeles city and county, apart from
Sepulveda Boulevard. It is about long.
Description
Western Avenue passes through a large diversity of residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. From the south, where it transitions into Paseo Del Mar near White Point and the Pacific Ocean, it begins in
San Pedro, then passes through
Rancho Palos Verdes,
Harbor City,
Gardena and
South Los Angeles. It is also the easternmost border of
Torrance.
Around the
Pico Boulevard,
Olympic Boulevard, and
Wilshire Boulevard intersections, Western Avenue passes through
Koreatown. Further north, Western Avenue passes through the
East Hollywood district. Around the
Santa Monica Boulevard,
Sunset Boulevard, and
Hollywood Boulevard intersections, it passes through the East Hollywood neighborhoods of
Little Armenia and
Thai Town.
The northern terminus of Western is north of
Franklin Avenue
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...
in the
Los Feliz district, at the base of the
Hollywood Hills. The road curves east becoming Los Feliz Boulevard, a major east/west thoroughfare through Los Feliz to the
Golden State Freeway and from there into the city of
Glendale.
Another Western Avenue begins north of
Griffith Park and is located in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
area of Glendale. Its southwest terminus is nearly due north of where Los Angeles' Western Avenue transitions into Los Feliz Boulevard.
California State Route 213 is designated as the portion of Western Avenue from
Interstate 405 to 25th Street, in
San Pedro.
California State Route 258
The following state highways in the U.S. state of California are entirely or partially unconstructed; in other words, their routings have been defined by state law, but no route has been adopted by the California Department of Transportation (Cal ...
is designated as the portion of Western Avenue from Interstate 405 to the
Hollywood Freeway US 101.
History
The street derives its name from its history as the westernmost border of Los Angeles city limits in the 19th century, before annexations in the early 20th century expanded the city westward and onwards.
In 1923, Alejandro Borquez opened the Sonora Cafe on Western. The café, which in 1927
changed its name to
El Cholo Spanish Cafe,
is credited with the invention of the
burrito.
Public transit
Metro subway and at-grade stations
Western Avenue is served by three
Los Angeles Metro Rail
The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County, California, United States. It consists of seven lines, including five light rail lines (the A Line (Los Angeles Metro), A, C Line (Los Angeles Metro), C, E Li ...
stations:
#
Hollywood Boulevard on the
B Line
#
Wilshire Boulevard on the
D Line D Line may refer to: Transportation
* Line D (Buenos Aires Underground), an underground line in Buenos Aires, Argentina
* D Line (Los Angeles Metro), a rapid transit line in Los Angeles County, California
* Line D (Prague Metro), a subway route i ...
#
Exposition Boulevard on the
E Line
Metro Local
*
Metro Local lines 205 and 207, and
Gardena Transit
GTrans is a municipal transit agency that serves Gardena, California and surrounding Los Angeles County neighbourhoods. It was founded on January 15, 1940, as Gardena Municipal Bus Lines. On the agency's 75th anniversary, the agency was renamed as ...
line 2 operate on Western Avenue.
*Metro local line 207 runs between
Hollywood Boulevard and
Imperial Highway.
*Gardena Line 2 runs between Imperial Highway and
Pacific Coast Highway
*Metro line 205 runs between Pacific Coast Highway and 1st Street in San Pedro.
References
External links
YouTube: Western Avenue (Melrose to Pico) Los Angeles
{{coord missing, Los Angeles County, California
Streets in Los Angeles
Streets in Los Angeles County, California
Central Los Angeles
East Hollywood, Los Angeles
Lomita, California
South Los Angeles
Red-light districts in California