West Los Angeles | |
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Location within the Westside region of Los Angeles County | |
Coordinates: 34°02′47″N118°26′50″W / 34.04639°N 118.44722°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Los Angeles |
City | Los Angeles |
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. 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 different sources. Each lies within the larger Westside region of Los Angeles County.
The West Los Angeles Community Plan area recognized by the city of Los Angeles is generally bounded by Centinela Avenue on the west; Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard on the north; National Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, and Exposition Boulevard on the south; and Durango Avenue, Robertson Boulevard, and Canfield Avenue on the east. Among the neighborhoods included within it are Sawtelle, Rancho Park, Beverlywood, Cheviot Hills, Castle Heights, and Century City. [1] [2] The Community Plan area itself is part of the larger West Los Angeles Area Plan Commission area (i.e., the Westside region). [3]
The Automobile Club of Southern California does not mark boundaries on its map, but centers the neighborhood of West Los Angeles proper as south of Santa Monica Boulevard, west of Interstate 405, north of Olympic Boulevard and east of Barrington Avenue. [4] The borders of the official West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council correspond closely to this definition. Specifically, its district stretches from the 405 freeway in the east to Centinela Avenue in the west and Wilshire Boulevard in the north and the 10 freeway in the south. This is roughly the same area labeled as "Sawtelle" in the Mapping L.A. website of the Los Angeles Times.
In 2003, a Los Angeles Times correspondent noted:
The meaning of the term West Los Angeles varies widely. Some use it to describe the entire Westside including Santa Monica, Venice and stretching east to Western Avenue. More precisely, though, it is the portion of incorporated Los Angeles between the Santa Monica city limits on the west, Wilshire Boulevard on the north, Century City to the east and extending just beyond National Boulevard on the south. Sections of West L.A. run the gamut from stylish Cheviot Hills to a cluster of generic homes east of Bundy Drive. [5]
That report on the meaning of West Los Angeles also included Rancho Park, located at Pico and Beverly Glen, and the Westdale Trousdale area near National Boulevard and Barrington Avenue. [5]
The 2004 City of Los Angeles & Communities map by the Los Angeles Almanac shows West Los Angeles as a neighborhood south of Santa Monica Boulevard and north of Culver City. West Los Angeles is book-ended with Mid-City, Mid-City West and Mid-Wilshire on the east and Sawtelle on the west. Century City, Rancho Park, and Cheviot Hills are shown (without boundaries) as sub-neighborhoods in West Los Angeles. [6]
Together, the areas east and west of Sepulveda Boulevard/I-405 comprise a large portion of the official West Los Angeles Community Plan area. [1]
The Frommer's Guide described West Los Angeles as "a label that generally applies to everything that isn't one of the other Westside neighborhoods." It lies "south of Santa Monica Boulevard, north of Venice Boulevard, east of Santa Monica and Venice, and west and south of Century City. [7]
In 2009, the Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. project defined West Los Angeles as south of Santa Monica Boulevard, west of Beverly Glen Boulevard, north of Pico Boulevard and east of Sepulveda Boulevard. [8] Profiling the neighborhood in 2018, the Times described it as follows:
Nowadays, West L.A. is a marooned rump of the once-mighty West Los Angeles of old, which stretched from Century City to the Santa Monica city limits, and which has atomized over the years into a handful of disparate neighborhoods. ... Many people assume West Los Angeles refers to all that lies between the sea and Robertson Boulevard (or wherever their own arbitrary border of central Los Angeles lies). But it is its own place, not just a toponym to be used interchangeably with "the Westside." [9]
For the area west of the 405 freeway, Mapping L.A. gives the population of the 2.69-square-mile "Sawtelle" neighborhood as 35,844 according to the 2000 U.S. census, with a rise to 38,698 in 2008 as estimated by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Its density of 13,319 people per square mile, about was average for the city of Los Angeles but among the highest densities for the county. The percentage of Asian people is high for the county and the area is highly diverse compared to both City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles averages. Mexico (29.0%) and Iran (13.8%) are the most common foreign places of birth. Notably, 49.8% of residents 25 and older have a four-year degree, which is high for the city of Los Angeles and high for the county. The percentages of never married males and never married females are among the county's highest. [10]
For the area east of the 405 freeway, Mapping L.A. gives the population of the 1.05-square-mile neighborhood as 12,659 according to the 2000 U.S. census, with a rise to 13,582 in 2008 as estimated by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Its density of 12,061 people was about average for the city of Los Angeles. 76.7% of residents were non-Hispanic white, 11.4% were Asian-American; 5.3% were Hispanic or Latino of any race; 2.3% were African American and 4.1% identified themselves with other or mixed race categories. [8]
The median household income in east Mapping L.A. area was $86,403 in 2008 dollars, which was considered high for both the city and the county. The percentage of households earning $125,000 and up was high for the county. Median age of residents was 38, old compared with other locality in the city and the county. The average household size was 1.9, low for both the city and the county. 51% of residents rented their living quarters, and 49% owned them. The percentage of widowed men and women was among the county's highest. Iranian and Russian were the most common ancestries. [8]
The east Mapping L.A. area was highly educated, with 60.4% of residents 25 and older holding a four-year degree, a higher ratio than found in the rest of the city or the county. [8]
In 2022, there were 412 homeless individuals in West Los Angeles. [11]
Neighborhoods include:
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves West Los Angeles. [12]
Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue. Los Angeles Fire Department Station 59 at 11505 W. Olympic Boulevard serves the area. [13]
West Los Angeles is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. [14] Neighborhood elementary schools are Brockton Avenue, Canfield Elementary School, Castle Heights Elementary School, Charnock Road Elementary School, Cheviot Hills Continuation School, Clover Avenue Elementary School, Crescent Heights Boulevard Elementary School, Nora Sterry Elementary School, Overland Elementary School, Shenandoah Street Elementary School and Warner Avenue. Middle schools are Emerson, Palms, and Webster. High schools are Hamilton High School, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, University High School and Indian Springs Continuation, both on the same site.
YULA High School, Yeshivat Ohr Chanoch Boys High School, Vista School, Temple Issiah Preschool and Kindergarten, Saint Sebastian School, St. Mary Magdalen Elementary School, Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy, Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, Bais Chaya Mushka Chabad, West Los Angeles Baptist School and First Lutheran School of Venice are nearby private schools. Pacific States University in the Harvard Heights area is a graduate and undergraduate college.
The Los Angeles Public Library operates the West Los Angeles Regional Library. [15]
The Stoner Recreation Center is situated in the area. The center includes a waterpark, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights and a capacity of 300 people, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts. The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, co-sponsored by the West Los Angeles Japanese American Community Center, is held at the park. [16] Other parks and recreations in the area are Cheviot Hills Park, Rancho Park Golf Course and Reynier Park. Sawtelle Boulevard has become one of the most prominent food streets in the city [17] and the entire 90025 ZIP code, encompassing both sides of the 405 freeway, is undergoing more teardowns of old residences than anywhere other in the city.[ citation needed ]
Fox Broadcasting Company maintains studio operations on South Bundy Drive for local stations KTTV and KCOP-TV, as well as national Fox Sports programming. West Los Angeles is also home to The Village recording studio, which has been used for musical projects including albums, motion picture and television soundtracks, and radio programming.
Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south is Westwood Village, a major regional district for shopping, dining, movie theaters, and other entertainment.
Century City is a 176-acre neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of the most prominent employment centers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and its skyscrapers form a distinctive skyline on the city's westside.
Palms is a community in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, founded in 1886 and the oldest neighborhood annexed to the city, in 1915. The 1886 tract was marketed as an agricultural and vacation community. Today it is a primarily residential area, with many apartment buildings, ribbons of commercial zoning and a single-family residential area in its northwest corner. As of the 2000 census the population of Palms was 42,545.
The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has no official definition, but sources like LA Weekly and the Mapping L.A. survey of the Los Angeles Times place the region on the western side of the Los Angeles Basin south of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Beverlywood is a neighborhood in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California.
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.
Pico-Union is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. The name "Pico-Union" refers to the neighborhood that surrounds the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Union Avenue. Located immediately west of Downtown Los Angeles, it is home to over 40,000 residents.
Sawtelle is a neighborhood in West Los Angeles, on the Westside of Los Angeles, California. The short-lived City of Sawtelle grew around the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, later the Sawtelle Veterans Home, and was incorporated as a city in 1899. Developed by the Pacific Land Company, and named for its manager W. E. Sawtelle, the City of Sawtelle was independent for fewer than 30 years before it was annexed by the City of Los Angeles.
Rancho Park is a residential neighborhood in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California with mostly single family homes and tree lined streets. The community is nestled between West Los Angeles and Cheviot Hills. This enclave draws young professionals and families and is home to residents working in a variety of professional occupations. History proves the neighborhood was once a part of Westwood until Olympic Blvd. was placed dividing the area North and South. The Southern section, now known as Rancho Park, felt cut off from its North side lobbying for its own identity in the 1930s.
La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the South. It was named for Rancho Las Cienegas, literally "The Ranch Of The Swamps," an area of marshland south of Rancho La Brea.
Wilshire Boulevard (['wɪɫ.ʃɚ]) is a prominent 15.83 mi (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east–west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary, it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus.
Mid City is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California.
Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. A portion of it is designated as California State Route 2, while the full avenue was Historic Route 66.
South Robertson is an area on the Westside of Los Angeles that is served by the South Robertson neighborhood council. It contains the following city neighborhoods: Beverlywood, Castle Heights, Cheviot Hills, Crestview, La Cienega Heights and Reynier Village. The area is notable as a center for the Jewish community.
Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. It is named after Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California.
Beverly Glen Boulevard is one of six major routes that connect the Westside of Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley (the other five are the San Diego Freeway, Sepulveda Boulevard, Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and Coldwater Canyon Avenue.
Western Avenue is a major four-lane street in the city of Los Angeles and through the center portion of Los Angeles County, California. It is one of the longest north–south streets in Los Angeles city and county, apart from Sepulveda Boulevard. It is about 29 miles (47 km) long.
Sawtelle Boulevard is a north/south street in the Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California. For most of its length, it parallels the San Diego Freeway, one block to the west.
The western border of Santa Monica, California, is the 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Santa Monica Bay. On its other sides, the city is bordered by various districts of Los Angeles: the northwestern border is Pacific Palisades, the eastern border is Brentwood north of Wilshire Boulevard and West Los Angeles south of Wilshire, the northeastern border is generally San Vicente Boulevard up to the Riviera Country Club, the southwestern border is Venice Beach and the southern border is with West Los Angeles and Mar Vista.
Castle Heights is a neighborhood on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California.