La Cienega Boulevard

La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood to the north. It was named for Rancho Las Cienegas, literally "The Ranch Of The Swamps," an area of marshland south of Rancho La Brea.

KML is from Wikidata
La Cienega Boulevard
(Spanish: "The Swamp")
South endEl Segundo Boulevard in Del Aire
Major
junctions
I-105 in Los Angeles
I-405 in Inglewod
SR 187 / Venice Blvd near Culver City
I-10 near Culver City
SR 2 / Santa Monica Blvd in Norma Triangle
North endSunset Boulevard in West Hollywood

Route description

From south of Fairview Boulevard and from north of Obama Boulevard (formerly Rodeo Road) La Cienega Boulevard is a regular surface street and one of Hollywood's major thoroughfares. Offices for A&E Network, The History Channel and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are located on La Cienega as were the studios of Citadel Broadcasting flagships KABC and KLOS, two of Los Angeles' biggest radio stations, which were demolished for an apartment and shopping complex, currently under construction. A portion of La Cienega in and adjacent to Beverly Hills is known as "Restaurant Row" for its large number of upscale restaurants. South of Olympic, La Cienega runs through the Pico-Robertson and Crestview neighborhoods in West Los Angeles into Culver City and is known for its large number of automotive-related business including several used car dealerships and many body shops and auto mechanics.[1]

Looking north on La Cienega Blvd. from Santa Monica Blvd.

It continues south passing Interstate 10, and the Metro Expo Line.

It is unusual among Southern California roadways to be built to freeway standards. South of Interstate 10, La Cienega was built to freeway standards in the late 1940s as part of the proposed Laurel Canyon Freeway, part of State Route 170. The SR 170 freeway was never completed south of U.S. Route 101, and the stretch of La Cienega from just north of Fairview Blvd in Inglewood, through Baldwin Hills and along the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area to Obama Boulevard in Los Angeles is a divided, limited access highway with few traffic signals. As such, emergency call boxes like those found along the area's freeways were installed along that stretch in the early 1970s.

South of Fairview Blvd, La Cienega runs parallel to the 405 freeway and terminates at El Segundo Boulevard in Del Aire along the west side of the freeway. A non-contiguous segment also named La Cienega Blvd runs along the East side of the 405 freeway roughly between El Segundo Blvd and Rosecrans Avenue in Wiseburn, another unincorporated area adjacent to Del Aire.

La Cienega Design Quarter

The area of La Cienega Boulevard, from Beverly Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard, and its satellite streets is known as the La Cienega Design Quarter. Its shops and galleries house many antiques, furniture, rugs, accessories and art. Art dealer Felix Landau operated his trend-setting gallery there in the 1960s.

Restaurant Row

Sign at the corner of Wilshire and La Cienega
Looking south down La Cienega Blvd. from the intersection with Sunset Blvd.
The big Randy's Donut shop is at the corner of La Cienega and Manchester Blvd in Inglewood

La Cienega in Beverly Hills, north of Wilshire Boulevard, is known as Restaurant Row because it features many upscale restaurants. From Wilshire in Beverly Hills traveling north the best known establishments include Benihana, The Stinking Rose, Darioush, the original Lawry's the Prime Rib, Hakobe, Tokyo Table - Tokyo City Cuisine, Matsuhisa, Fogo de Chão, Gyu-Kaku, Woo Lae Oak, The Bazaar by José Andrés, and Morton's.[2]

Etymology

La Cienega Boulevard is named after Rancho Las Cienegas Mexican land grant roughly in the region now called "West Los Angeles." The Spanish phrase la ciénaga translates into English as "the swamp" and the area named "Las Ciénegas" was a continual marshland due to the course of the Los Angeles River through that area prior to a massive southerly shift in 1825 to roughly its present course. The difference in spelling in Los Angeles between the Castilian Spanish word ciénaga and the name of the thoroughfare, which is common in other Iberian languages like Extremaduran,[3] originated with the name of the rancho.

Transportation

Metro Local lines 105 and 217 run on La Cienega Boulevard. An elevated light rail station for the Metro E Line is located at Jefferson Boulevard. An underground station for the Metro D Line at Wilshire Boulevard is currently under construction and is due to open in 2023.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Los Angeles County.

LocationmikmDestinationsNotes
HawthorneDel Aire line El Segundo Boulevard to I-405 (San Diego Freeway)South end of La Cienega Boulevard; I-405 north exit 44
Del Aire I-405 south (San Diego Freeway)I-405 south exit 44/El Segundo Boulevard
120th Street
Los AngelesLennox line I-405 south (San Diego Freeway)I-405 south exit 45B/Imperial Highway east
Imperial Highway to I-405 north (San Diego Freeway)I-405 north exit 45B
I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) Long BeachI-405 south exit 45B/Imperial Highway west
I-405 south (San Diego Freeway)Next to I-405 south exit 46/Century Boulevard east
Los AngelesInglewood line Century Boulevard to I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) LAXI-405 north exit 46
I-405 south (San Diego Freeway)I-405 south exit 46/Century Boulevard west
InglewoodArbor Vitae Street
I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) / Olive StreetI-405 south exit 47
Manchester BoulevardFormer SR 42
Florence Avenue
I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) Long BeachInterchange; I-405 south exit 47; no access from La Cienega Boulevard northbound
Los AngelesInglewood lineCentinela Avenue
South end of freeway
Ladera HeightsSlauson Avenue – Ladera HeightsInterchange; former SR 90
Stocker Street
Los AngelesCulver City lineKenneth Hahn State Recreation AreaInterchange
Los AngelesObama BoulevardNorth end of freeway
Los AngelesJefferson Boulevard
Fairfax Avenue to I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway)
Culver CityWashington Boulevard
Los AngelesVenice Boulevard (SR 187)
I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) Santa Monica, Los AngelesInterchange; I-10 exit 7A
Pico Boulevard
Los AngelesBeverly Hills lineOlympic Boulevard
Beverly HillsWilshire Boulevard
Los AngelesSan Vicente Boulevard
3rd Street
Beverly BoulevardCenter of the so-called "studio zone"
West HollywoodMelrose Avenue
Santa Monica Boulevard (SR 2)
Sunset BoulevardNorth end of La Cienega Boulevard
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. "June 9, 2007". Car Talk. Episode 200723. June 9, 2007.
  2. Monreal, Jane (March 20, 2008). "Top 7 restaurant rows in SoCal". ABC 7. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  3. Julyan, Robert (1996). The Place Names of New Mexico. ISBN 9780826316899.
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