Wilshire Boulevard
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Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile District, looking east toward Downtown Los Angeles |
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Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, looking east toward the "Millionaire's Mile" |
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west
arterial roads in
Los Angeles, California. Running 16 miles from Grand Avenue in
Downtown Los Angeles to
Ocean Avenue in
Santa Monica, it has been called "the backbone of Los Angeles." Many of the post-1956
skyscrapers in Los Angeles are located along Wilshire; indeed, one of the oldest and tallest is known simply as "One Wilshire."
Aon Center, at one point Los Angeles's largest tower, is at 707 Wilshire Bl. in Downtown Los Angeles.
One particularly famous stretch of the boulevard between
Fairfax and
La Brea Avenues is known as the
Miracle Mile. The area just to the east of that is referred to as the
Park Mile.
All of the boulevard is at least four
lanes in width, and most of the portion between Hoover Street and
Robertson Boulevard has a raised center median. The widest portion is in the business district of central
Westwood, where mobs of pedestrians crossing Wilshire at Westwood Boulevard must traverse ten lanes (including two left-turn pockets). This and the nearby intersection of Wilshire and Veteran are among the busiest in Los Angeles.
The
Los Angeles Metro Red Line subway runs along Wilshire Boulevard from just past the 7th/Figueroa Street stop to its western terminus at
Western Avenue in
Koreatown; the
Hollywood spur splits off from the main line at Vermont Avenue. Considerable discussion is underway to extend the Red Line to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, following Wilshire for most of its route: during the
2005 campaign for
Mayor of Los Angeles, ultimately victorious candidate
Antonio Villaraigosa pledged to begin construction of the Wilshire Boulevard subway.
The
Metro Rapid line 720 operates along Wilshire and has been the object of considerable attention due to its significant growth in ridership since it started operating June 24, 2000.
Wilshire Boulevard was named by
H. Gaylord Wilshire, a real estate developer from
Ohio who also owned a lucrative
gold mine in
Aspendell, near
Bishop, California. An historic apartment building, the Gaylord, across from the site of the
Ambassador Hotel carries his first name.
Traveling on Wilshire Boulevard (with the exception of late nights and Sundays) is difficult, as it passes through the busiest sections of Los Angeles. The Santa Monica and
Brentwood portions are relatively tame, but the Westwood and
Beverly Hills portions are almost guaranteed to have thick traffic. There are traffic lights on every block in Beverly Hills and the Miracle Mile.
The boulevard's widest portion is in Westwood and
Holmby Hills, where it expands to six, and briefly, eight lanes. Several glitzy condominium buildings overlook this part of Wilshire, hence earning its title of Millionaire's Mile.
*
Downtown Los Angeles*
Westlake*
Koreatown (also known as
Wilshire Center)
*
Larchmont*
Country Club Park*
Wilshire Park*
Hancock Park*
Miracle Mile*
Carthay*
Beverly Hills*
Holmby Hills*
Westwood*
Sawtelle*
Brentwood*
West Los Angeles*
Santa Monica*
Third Street Promenade (
Santa Monica)
*
Wadsworth Theater*
VA Hospital (Veterans Affairs Medical Center West Los Angeles, in
Sawtelle)
* Los Angeles
National Cemetery*
University of California, Los Angeles (nearby)
*
Armand Hammer Museum* Beverly Hills Ritz Hotel
*
Los Angeles Country Club* Beverly Hilton
*
The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel*
Rodeo Drive*
Canon Theater*
Wilshire Theater*
Petersen Automotive Museum* Hancock Park
*
Los Angeles County Museum of Art*
La Brea Tar Pits*
George C. Page Museum*
Wiltern Theatre* Radisson Wilshire Plaza Hotel
*
Southwestern University School of Law (in the former
Bullocks Wilshire department store complex)
*
MacArthur Park* Good Samaritan Hospital
*Wilshire Boulevard: The Grand Concourse of Los Angeles By Kevin Roderick and J. Eric Lynxwiler (Los Angeles, CA: Angel City Press, 2005)
