Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in

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, ...

, spanning from the

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 ...

neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Drive in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia *Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre * Glendale, Queensland, ...

to Chevy Chase Drive in

La Cañada Flintridge LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

. The street is named for General

José Figueroa José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California. Background and governorship Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish ...

(1792 – September 29, 1835), governor of

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California. On " Mamba Day", August 24, 2020, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and council member

Curren Price Curren De Mille Price, Jr. (born December 16, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, currently serving as a Los Angeles city council member for District 9. Price was a California State Senator, repr ...

announced plans to rename the segment of Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as

Kobe Bryant Boulevard Kobe Bryant Boulevard is a proposed renaming of a stretch of Figueroa Street by former President of the Los Angeles City Council Herb Wesson and council member Curren Price on August 24, 2020. It would be renamed in honor of professional bask ...

, in honor of professional basketball player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

Route description

Figueroa Street, Harbor Freeway, and S Broadway night aerial

One of the longer streets in the city, it runs in a north/south direction for more than 30 miles (48 km) from its southern terminus at Harry Bridges Boulevard in the Wilmington neighborhood to Chevy Chase Drive in the city of

at the north end. From its south end at Harry Bridges Boulevard to

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 a ...

, Figueroa Street runs north parallel to the Harbor Freeway ( Interstate 110) in South Los Angeles. The only portion of this segment of Figueroa Street that lies outside

city limits is in the city of Carson. South of the Los Angeles Financial District, Figueroa Street passes well-known locations including the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, the

Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest section of downtown Los Angeles. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming location in TV shows and movies. History The convention center, ...

, and

Crypto.com Arena Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it w ...

/ L.A. Live. Between Olympic Boulevard and 3rd Street in downtown Los Angeles, Figueroa Street forms a

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descript ...

with Flower Street, with northbound traffic staying on Figueroa and southbound traffic diverting to Flower. After passing through downtown near Bunker Hill and

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand ...

, the southern portion of Figueroa Street ends near the overcrossing of

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (SR 110) in

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

. The northern portion of the street resumes at

San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Within the Burbank city limits it is signed as San Fernando Boulevard, and north of Newhall Pass it is signed as The Old Road. It was previously designated ...

in Cypress Park. An early routing of Figueroa Street in this area was originally part of U.S. Route 66, today a part of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110). The noted

Figueroa Street Tunnels The Figueroa Street Tunnels are a set of four four-lane tunnels that carry northbound traffic on State Route 110 (the Arroyo Seco Parkway) through Elysian Park in Los Angeles, California, United States. From south to north, the four tunnels mea ...

were once a part of that same stretch of roadway. Aerial photo of Highland Park's Main Street, Figueroa

After resuming at San Fernando Road, Figueroa continues to run roughly parallel to the Arroyo Seco Parkway until it reaches York Boulevard in Highland Park. Afterwards, it heads north to its terminus near the Scholl Canyon Landfill just past its junction with the

Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/ Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura Count ...

(State Route 134) in Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs from a residential area just south of Marengo Drive in

to end at Chevy Chase Drive just over the city limit line in

. Early maps produced by the Automobile Club of Southern California measured distances to Los Angeles from the club's headquarters at the intersection of Figueroa Street with

Adams Boulevard Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States * Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana * Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England t ...

History

Figueroa was originally called ''Calle de los Chapules'' (or Grasshopper Street). Chapules (or chapul in the singular form) is not the standard Spanish word for grasshopper which is saltamonte. Chapul is from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

and

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

(also known as Mexicanero) and means grasshopper. Later in the 1880s it became known as "Pearl Street". Figueroa Street originally was a few blocks west of Pearl but joined Pearl Street further south. Pearl Street was changed to Figueroa and the northern portion of the old Figueroa Street was renamed Boylston. The section of what is now Figueroa in Highland Park above Avenue 39 was known as "Pasadena Avenue" until Figueroa was extended through Elysian Park. The portion of what is now Figueroa between the Los Angeles River and Avenue 39 was originally known as Dayton Avenue until the Arroyo Parkway went through. Prior to construction of the Harbor Freeway, Figueroa St. carried U.S. Route 6 to Pacific Coast Highway south from the Four-Level Interchange. Until 1977, the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

claimed Figueroa as the longest street in the world, at the request of writer Jay Myers, it was supplanted by

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

in Toronto.Zena Cherry, "The Great Canadian Road". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 2, 1977. On April 2, 2011, a portion of Figueroa Street 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 ...

was blocked off for the "Orange Carpet" and the grandstand for the broadcasting of the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. In South Los Angeles, Figueroa Street has the highest number of prostitution-related arrests in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles

Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play thei ...

, the Los Angeles

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

and Los Angeles Rams have used Figueroa as the parade route for their respective championships in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010 for the Lakers, 2012 and 2014 for the Kings and in 2022 for the Rams.

Future

Kobe Bryant Boulevard

On August 24, 2020, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and council member

announced plans to rename the segment of Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as

. It would be renamed in honor of professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player

, who along with his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. The segment of Figueroa between Olympic and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard passes by the

, the home to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

who Bryant played with throughout his entire 20-year career and is dubbed the "House that Kobe built". In October 21, 2020, the vote to consider the proposal was delayed by the council, and a new date has yet to be stated .

"My Figueroa" development plan and 2028 Summer Olympics

The Figueroa Corridor Streetscape project is a city led effort to beautify and improve the boulevard by adding pedestrian friendly amenities. The beautification project began on 7th street in Downtown Los Angeles, by Crypto.com Arena and terminates at Exposition Park at USC. The project began in 2017 and was completed by the end of 2018. It aimed to improve transit and pedestrian access, protected bike lanes totally protected by physical barriers, a more organized and efficient street by adding better signalization and signage, high-visibility crosswalks, transit platforms, more street trees, public art and wider sidewalks. The $20 million Figueroa Corridor Streetscape project was funded by a Proposition 1C grant. After delays, work was expected to commence in the summer of 2016 and was expected to be completed by March 2017, when the prop 1C grant expired. The Los Angeles 2028 organizing committee plan to use this corridor as a planned "Live Site", an area dedicated as a central pedestrian corridor, linking all of the Downtown LA venues together during the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Major intersections

Transportation

The Metro C and J lines operate a station underneath Interstate 105 at Figueroa Street.

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 ...

Line 81 operates on Figueroa Street between Colorado Boulevard and Interstate 105 and

Torrance Transit Torrance Transit is a transit agency primarily serving the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . History Torrance Transit inaugurated service on January 15, 1940 using three ...

Line 1 between Interstate 105 and the Harbor Gateway Transit Center. 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 ...

has 5 stations nearby. Two of which are shared with 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 Height ...

, one being a major hub connecting to the Metro B and D lines. The Metro J Line runs on Figueroa Street in Gardena and between 23rd and 6th Streets in Downtown: Northbound J line trips to El Monte Bus Station continue north on Figueroa Street to serve the 7th Street / Metro Center and finally turn right on 6th street, leaving Figueroa Street. Southbound J Line trips to Harbor Gateway Transit Center or San Pedro run south on Flower Street from 5th Street to the Harbor Transitway. There are 6 J Line street stops located on Figueroa Street: Figueroa/190th/Victoria; Northbound only: Figueroa/23rd, Figueroa/Washington, Figueroa/Pico, Figueroa/Olympic, and Figueroa/7th . In addition, there are 7 Metro J Line Stations served on the Harbor Transitway and Harbor Freeway close to Figueroa Street:

37th Street/USC 37th Street/USC station is a busway station located in Los Angeles, California. It is situated between the LATTC/Ortho Institute and Slauson stations on the J Line, a bus rapid transit route which runs between El Monte, Downtown Los Angele ...

, Slauson,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, Harbor Freeway (with C Line connection), Rosecrans, Carson, and Pacific Coast Hwy. The Harbor Transitway is located on the I-110 freeway, between Figueroa Street and Broadway. There are also three Metro L Line stations near Figueroa Street: Lincoln/Cypress (at Avenue 26),

Southwest Museum The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, above the north-western bank of the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) canyon and stream. The muse ...

, and Highland Park (at Avenue 57).

Notable landmarks

* Automobile Club of Southern California *

Banc of California Stadium Banc of California Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC. Opened o ...

Bob Hope Patriotic Hall Bob Hope Patriotic Hall is a 10-story building that was dedicated as Patriotic Hall by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors in 1925 and was built to serve veterans of Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, World War I and to support the Grand Ar ...

* Bonaventure Hotel *

* Eagle Rock Historical Landmark * Engine Co. 28 (1912 fire station) * Exposition Park, including an historic palm tree moved there in 1914 * Hotel Figueroa (opened 1926, originally for women only) * Flower Drive Historic District * Galen Center *

The Grammy Museum The Grammy Museum is any of a group of museums containing exhibits relating to winners of the Grammy Award for achievement in recording. The museums in this group include: *The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, which opened in 2008 in Los Angeles, Calif ...

* Highland Park Adult Senior Citizen Center *

Jonathan Club __NOTOC__ Jonathan Club is a social club with two California locations—one in Downtown Los Angeles and the other abutting the beach in Santa Monica. The club is routinely ranked as one of the top clubs in the world by Platinum Clubs of Americ ...

* L.A. Live *

* Los Angeles County Health Department *

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a me ...

* Original Pantry Cafe * St. Vincent de Paul Church *

Stimson House Stimson House is a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Built in 1891, it was the home of lumber and banking millionaire Thomas Douglas Stimson. During Stimson's lifetime, the house survived a dy ...

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

* Variety Arts Center Building * Wilshire Grand Tower

Education

* Luther Burbank Middle School *

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

Middle School * Optimist High School * Sycamore Grove School *

Buildings on Figueroa

File:Westin_Bonaventure_Hotel.jpg, Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa File:Jonathan_club_1.jpg, Jonathan Club, 545 South Figueroa File:Engine_Co._No._28,_Los_Angeles.JPG, Engine Co. 28, 644 South Figueroa (1912 fire station) File:HSBC Building, 7th and Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA, 2012.jpg, HSBC Building at Seventh Street, 2012 File:Original_Pantry_Cafe_Los_Angeles.jpg, Original Pantry Cafe, 9th Street and Figueroa File:Friday Morning Club, 938-940 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County, California).jpg, Variety Arts Center Building, 938-940 South Figueroa, 1980, ''Julius Shulman photo'' File:The_Figueroa_Hotel._Los_Angeles_California_-_panoramio.jpg, Hotel Figueroa, 939 South Figueroa (photo 2009) File:Los_Angeles_Convention_Center.JPG, Los Angeles Convention Center at Pico Boulevard and Figueroa File:Patriotic_hall_4_full.jpg, Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, 1816 South Figueroa File:Stimson_house_los_angeles_2008-07-31.jpg, Stimson House (1891), 2421 South Figueroa File:St._Vincent_de_Paul_Catholic_Church_(Los_Angeles).jpg, St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Figueroa at Adams Boulevard (NorthWest corner) File:Automobile_Club_of_Southern_California.jpg, Automobile Club of Southern California, Figueroa at Adams Boulevard (SouthWest corner) File:Felix_Chevrolet,_Los_Angeles,_California_LCCN2017707650.tif, Felix Chevrolet (iconic neon sign), Figueroa at Jefferson Boulevard (photo: John Margolies, 1977) File:Galencenter2007.jpg, Galen Center on the USC campus at Jefferson Boulevard, 2007 File:Palm_tree_expo_park_banc_california_stadium.jpg, Banc of California Stadium, Exposition Park, and historic palm tree

Appearances in popular culture

The Figueroa corridor was featured by

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing '' California's Gold'' and his human interest s ...

in ''Road Trip'', episode 103.

References

External links

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Downtown Los Angeles South Los Angeles Carson, California U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 66 in California Venues of the 2028 Summer Olympics