Approximately 23.6 miles (38 km) in length,[1] the boulevard roughly traces the arc of mountains that form part of the northern boundary of the Los Angeles Basin, following the path of a 1780s cattle trail from the Pueblo de Los Angeles to the ocean.[2]
From Downtown Los Angeles, the boulevard heads northwest, to Hollywood, through which it travels due west for several miles before it bends southwest towards the ocean. It passes through or near Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Holmby Hills. In Bel-Air, Sunset Boulevard runs along the northern boundary of UCLA's Westwood campus. The boulevard continues through BrentwoodtoPacific Palisades, where it terminates at the Pacific Coast Highway intersection.
The boulevard has curvaceous winding stretches, and can be treacherous for unalert drivers in some sections. Sunset Boulevard is at least four lanes wide along its entire route. Sunset is frequently congested with traffic loads beyond its design capacity.
In 1877, Harvey Henderson Wilcox, one of the earlier real estate owners from "back East", decided to subdivide more than 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land (mostly orchards and vineyards) along Sunset Boulevard, including what is today Hollywood and Vine.[3]
According to a 1901 article in the Los Angeles Herald, Sunset only extended from Hollywood in the west to Marion Avenue in the Echo Park district in the east.[6] The Board of Public Works proposed to extend Sunset east to Main Street in the Plaza by routing the road over the existing section of Bellevue Avenue,[7] but the plan was delayed until approximately 1904,[8][9] due to active opposition by affected land owners.[10] According to the 1910[11] Baist Real Estate Survey Atlas, Sunset Boulevard reached the Plaza by that time, but it did so by two short and narrow segments which were not aligned with each other and thus did not provide a proper thoroughfare to it. In late 1912, several properties along the route were condemned so that the boulevard could be changed in both its width and its alignment.[12][13] With these changes completed, Sunset Boulevard now reached North Main Street and continued as Marchessault along the northern end of the Plaza. This section, variously marked and signed as Marchessault Street or East Sunset Boulevard, remained open to traffic until the late 1960s or early 1970s.[14] At that time, Sunset was realigned one block north and Marchessault was closed to motor traffic.
In 1921 a westward expansion of Sunset began, extending the road from the then-current terminus at Sullivan Canyon toward the coast. This land, a portion of the original 1838 holdings of Francisco Marquez, stretched across a mesa and became known as the "Riviera section". Will Rogers, who had bought much of this land as an investment, later donated it to the State of California creating Will Rogers State Historic Park.[15] c. 1931, Sunset was a paved road from Horn Avenue to Havenhurst Avenue.[16]
The Sunset Strip portion of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood has been famous for its active nightlife since at least the 1950s.[17]
In contrast to other American cities where it referred to a concentration of radio retailers, in Los Angeles, Radio Row was understood in the 1940s–1950s as the area around the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine StreetinHollywood, where the broadcasting facilities of all four major radio networks were located.[18]
Part of Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is also sometimes called "Guitar Row" due to the large number of guitar stores and music industry-related businesses,[20] including the recording studios Sunset Sound Studios and United Western Recorders.
The portion of Sunset Boulevard that passes through Beverly Hills was once named Beverly Boulevard.
Metro Local lines 2, 4 and 602 operate on Sunset Boulevard, with Line 2 running through most of Sunset Boulevard between Echo Park and UCLA, Line 4 between Sunset Junction and Downtown LA, and Line 602 from UCLA west. The Metro B Line operates a subway stationatVermont Avenue.
At 4334 W. Sunset Boulevard lies the wall featured on the cover of the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith's 2000 album Figure 8. Since Smith's death in 2003, the wall has become a memorial for the artist; fans have left many personal messages there over the years.
Vermont/Sunset
SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Pacific Palisades
I-405inBrentwood
US 101inHollywood
SR 2inEcho Park
SR 110/Figueroa StreetinDowntown Los Angeles
