Sunset Boulevard
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Dear Joseph Heller, I am a stacked eighteen-year-old blonde on Sunset Boulevard. I am also a writer."--Eve Babitz |
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Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Downtown Los Angeles to Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean between Santa Monica and Malibu.
Approximately twenty-two miles in length, the famous boulevard passes through or near Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. Other than West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, which are independent incorporated cities, the places named above are all districts and neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles. In the Bel-Air/Brentwood area, Sunset Boulevard runs past the campus of UCLA.
The boulevard runs through very rugged terrain and is very winding and treacherous. It is at least four lanes in width for all of its route. Car accidents are common due to its numerous hairpin curves and blind crests, and the lack of a center divider on most sections. Because the Beverly Hills Freeway was never constructed as planned, Sunset (along with Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards) is frequently congested with traffic loads far beyond its design capacity. As a result, it is also notorious for cracks and potholes.
It used to be longer, starting at Alameda Street near Union Station and beside Olvera Street in the historic section of Downtown, but the portion of Sunset Boulevard east of Interstate 110 was renamed César Chávez Avenue, along with Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue, in honor of the late Mexican-American union leader.
Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood has also gained notoriety as a red-light district for its large amount of prostitution, drag queens and other unusual activity, especially at night. Though this type of activity went on for many years,especially around Western Avenue, in the 1970s the area between Gardner Street and La Brea Avenue became seedy and afflicted with street prostitution that continues to a lesser extent to the present day. It was at the corner of Sunset and Courtney Avenue that actor Hugh Grant pulled over and picked up prostitute Divine Brown in the early morning of June 27, 1995. He then drove a few blocks east and parked at the corner of Curson and Hawthorn Avenues. Police arrested him and the prostitute for lewd conduct in a public place and he was later fined $1,200.
That same area of Sunset in Hollywood is sometimes called "Guitar Row" due to the large number of guitar stores and music industry related businesses. Also, many young, struggling actors, musicians, and the like continue to live in the area.
The best-known section of Sunset Boulevard is probably the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The boulevard has been the subject of a famous movie and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (see the disambiguation link above).
Landmarks include
- Beverly Hills Hotel
- Blessed Sacrament Church
- Book Soup
- Chateau Marmont
- Cinerama Dome
- Columbia Square
- Comedy Store
- Crossroads of the World
- Designer Donuts
- Dudley Do-Right's Emporium
- Gower Gulch
- Hollywood Athletic Club
- Hollywood High School
- Hollywood Palladium
- Hotel Bel-Air
- House of Blues
- Hyatt West Hollywood
- KCET
- KTLA
- KTTV
- Rock 'n' Roll Ralphs
- Rock Walk
- Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine
- Standard Hotel
- Sunset Gower Studios
- Tiki Ti
- UCLA
- Viper Room
- Whisky A Go-Go
- Will Rogers State Beach
- Will Rogers State Historic Park
See also
