| La Cienega Boulevard (Spanish: "The Swamp") | |
| Metro: | La Cienega/Jefferson |
| Direction A: | South |
| Terminus A: | El Segundo Boulevard in Del Aire |
| Junction: | in Los Angeles in Inglewod in Los Angeles in Los Angeles in West Hollywood |
| Direction B: | North |
| Terminus B: | Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood |
La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne to the Sunset Strip 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.
From south of Fairview Boulevard and from north of Obama Boulevard (formerly Rodeo Road), La Cienega Boulevard is a regular surface street. 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. La Cienega Boulevard was formerly the location of the headquarters of the defunct book publisher Price Stern Sloan. 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 through between the Pico-Robertson and South Carthay neighborhoods in West Los Angeles and through the Crestview neighborhood 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]
It continues south passing Interstate 10, and the Metro E Line.
Unusually for Southern California, south of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, 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 expressway 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 Boulevard, La Cienega runs parallel to the San Diego (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 Boulevard runs along the east side of the 405 freeway, roughly between El Segundo Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in Del Aire.
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.
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]
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 ranch.
Metro Local lines 105 runs 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.