| Mid-Wilshire | |
| Pushpin Map: | United States Los Angeles Western |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within West Los Angeles |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | California |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Los Angeles |
| Subdivision Type3: | City |
| Subdivision Name3: | Los Angeles |
| Settlement Type: | Neighborhood |
| Timezone: | PST |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Coordinates: | 34.0648°N -118.3614°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Zip Code |
| Postal Code: | 90010 |
| Area Code: | 323 |
Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district.
According to the city's official community plan, the Wilshire Community Plan Area (CPA), also known as the Wilshire District, "is bounded by Melrose Avenue and Rosewood Avenue to the north; 18th Street, Venice Boulevard and Pico Boulevard to the south; Hoover Street to the east; and the Cities of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills to the west."[1] [2] The adjacent CPAs are Hollywood to the north; South Central Los Angeles and West Adams–Leimert–Baldwin Hills to the south; Silver Lake–Echo Park–Elysian Valley and Westlake to the east; and West Los Angeles to the west.
The Wilshire area includes the neighborhoods of (roughly from east to west) Wilshire Center, Koreatown (part of which extends outside the CPA), Windsor Square, Hancock Park, Larchmont, Mid-Wilshire, Mid-City, Miracle Mile, Beverly–Fairfax, and the Carthay neighborhoods (commonly known as Carthay Circle, South Carthay, and Carthay Square).[1] [3]
Within the Wilshire CPA, the neighborhood of Mid-Wilshire is bounded roughly by Crenshaw Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue, and Wilshire Boulevard. Part of Miracle Mile overlaps with Mid-Wilshire.[3]
According to the Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. project, Mid-Wilshire is bounded on the north by West Third Street, on the northeast by La Brea Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, on the east by Crenshaw Boulevard, on the south by Pico Boulevard and on the west by Fairfax Avenue.[4] [5] [6]
Mid-Wilshire is flanked by Fairfax, Hancock Park, and Windsor Square to the north; Koreatown and Arlington Heights to the east; Mid-City to the south; and Mid-City West (Carthay and Beverly-Fairfax) to the west and northwest.[3]
Mid-Wilshire includes the following neighborhoods:
See main article: Little Ethiopia, Los Angeles. Little Ethiopia is a block-long stretch of Fairfax Avenue between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive in Los Angeles, California.[7] [8] The area has a high concentration of Ethiopian restaurants, as well as a significant concentration of residents of Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestry.
See main article: Miracle Mile, Los Angeles. Miracle Mile is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues. In the early 1920s, Wilshire Boulevard west of Western Avenue was an unpaved farm road, extending through dairy farms and bean fields. Developer A. W. Ross saw the area's potential and developed Wilshire as a commercial district to rival downtown Los Angeles.
Oxford Square is an historic neighborhood [9] [10] which, according to the Oxford Square Neighborhood Association, lies between Pico Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard and includes both sides of Victoria Avenue and South Windsor Boulevard.[11]
In 1910 the neighborhood was laid out between Wilshire Boulevard on the north and Pico Street on the south, west of the Los Angeles Country Club. It was served by the Pico Street streetcar line. The unimproved lots offered by developer Emil Firth ranged from 50 to 100 feet on the street and were 171 feet deep. The streets were 70 feet wide, with 15-foot sidewalks and parkways, which were to be planted with palm trees and flowers. Ornamental electroliers were to be placed every 300 feet. Lot prices ranged from $1,000 to $2,500.[12] [13] [14]
Earlier, in 1907. the Harriman interests had begun a four-track subway line across Oxford Square, south of Wilshire Boulevard.[15]
In 1991 the City Council approved a request by Oxford Square - Windsor Village residents to close 10th Street at Victoria Avenue in an effort to reduce crime in the communities after a recent outbreak of burglaries and robberies, as well as one homicide.[16]
In February 2015 the neighborhood association was lobbying to form an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ). That would have put a temporary moratorium on the issuance of city building and demolition permits.[17] Los Angeles City Council approved the HPOZ, adopting its preservation plan[18] effective March 26, 2017.[19]
See main article: Park La Brea, Los Angeles. Park La Brea is an apartment complex bounded by 3rd Street on the north, Cochran Avenue on the east, Sixth Street on the south, and Fairfax Avenue on the west. With 4,255 units located in eighteen 13-story towers and 31 two-story "garden apartment buildings," it is the largest housing development in the United States.[20]
Park Mile is a commercial strip that lies along Wilshire Boulevard between Highland Avenue on the west, Wilton Place on the east, Sixth Street on the north and Eighth Street on the south. Some of the office buildings in the district have been designed to harmonize with the nearby Hancock Park area, with long, horizontal warm look of brick and other textures rather than a vertical high-tech design. Construction is regulated by the Park Mile Ordinance, adopted by the city in 1979.[21] [22] It was designed to protect the single-family nature of the residential area and to promote development that provided Park Mile with an "image and sense of continuity."[23] There is a three-story height limit along Park Mile,[24] as well as a ban on painted signs on the outside of buildings.[25] In 1990 a Park Mile-Wilshire District neighborhood design review board, composed of five to seven volunteers appointed by City Council members, was one of four such local boards throughout the city that oversaw architectural planning.[26]
Sycamore Square is a neighborhood located between Hancock Park to the north, Miracle Mile to the west, and Brookside to the east. It is bordered by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Olympic Boulevard to the south, La Brea Avenue to the west, and both sides of Citrus Avenue to the east.[27] [28] [29]
See main article: Wilshire Vista, Los Angeles.
Wilshire Vista is a neighborhood of 1700 homes.[30] It contains two Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monuments.[31]
The 2000 U.S. Census counted 41,683 residents in the 2.78-square-mile neighborhood—an average of 14,988 people per square mile, among the highest population densities for the city and the county. In 2008 the city estimated that the population had increased to 47,176. The median age for residents was 34, about the city's average.[5]
Mid-Wilshire was said to be "highly diverse" when compared to the city at large. The ethnic breakdown in 2000 was whites, 33.6%; blacks, 22.7%; Latinos, 19.9%; Asians, 19.8%; and others, 3.9%. Mexico (16.1%) and Korea (24%) were the most common places of birth for the 25.1% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure that was considered average for the city as a whole.[5]
The median household income in 2008 dollars was $58,483, average for Los Angeles. The average household size of 2.1 people was low for Los Angeles. Renters occupied 78.3% of the housing units, and home- or apartment owners the rest.[5]
Mid-Wilshire residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 45.2% of the population in 2000, a high rate for both the city and the county. The percentage of residents with a master's degree was also high.[5]
Public facilities are provided by City of Los Angeles: the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Los Angeles Public Library. Public schools are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, The schools operating within Mid-Wilshire are:[32]