La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

in the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

that runs from the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

in the south. It was named for

Rancho Las Cienegas Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

, literally "The Ranch Of The Swamps," an area of marshland south of

Rancho La Brea Rancho La Brea was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California, given in 1828 to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez by José Antonio Carrillo, the alcalde of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea consisted of one square l ...

Route description

La Cienega Boulevard's northern terminus is the

. It runs as a surface street in a due south direction through

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

and a section known as "Restaurant Row" for its historic tradition of upscale restaurants. South of Olympic, La Cienega runs through between the

Pico-Robertson South Robertson is an area on the Westside of Los Angeles that is served by the South Robertson neighborhood council. It contains the following city neighborhoods: Beverlywood, Castle Heights, Cheviot Hills, Crestview, La Cienega Heights ...

South Carthay South Carthay is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. Located south of Carthay Circle,''The Thomas Guide,'' 2008, page 633 South Carthay was developed in the 1930s by Spyros George Ponty. Geography The neighborhood is bounded by ...

, and Crestview neighborhoods of

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...

. South of the Santa Monica Freeway, the I-10, it briefly borders

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

, and passes the La Cienega/Jefferson station of the Metro E Line. Between

Obama Boulevard President Barack Obama Boulevard (commonly known as Obama Boulevard, formerly Rodeo Road) is a major thoroughfare in South Los Angeles. It stretches from Baldwin Hills (past Baldwin Village and Crenshaw Manor) to Leimert Park. History Prev ...

and

Manchester Avenue Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, most of La Cienega Boulevard is a divided, limited access expressway with few

traffic signals Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

. In the late 1940s, as part of the proposed ''

Laurel Canyon Freeway Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego ( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel ...

'', La Cienega was constructed to

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

standards with several grade-separated interchanges. Emergency

call box Kutless is an American Christian rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1999. Since their formation, they have released multiple studio albums and one live album, ''Live from Portland''. They have sold over 3 million records worldwide. ...

es like those found along the area's

s were also installed along that stretch in the early 1970s. The ''

'' was never completed. This stretch of La Cienega passes through the

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, or Kenneth Hahn Park, is a state park unit of California in the Baldwin Hills Mountains of Los Angeles. The park is managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. As one of the largest ...

, Baldwin Hills, the

Inglewood Oil Field The Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles County, California, is the 18th-largest oil field in the state and the second-most productive in the Los Angeles Basin. Discovered in 1924 and in continuous production ever since, in 2012 it produced approxim ...

, and Ladera Heights. South of

, La Cienega becomes a surface street once more, running parallel to the San Diego (405) Freeway through

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

. It terminates at

El Segundo Boulevard El Segundo Boulevard is a west-east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County. It has a total length of . At one time, it was named Ballona Avenue. Geography El Segundo Boulevard begins as a minor street in Lynwood, California, Lynwood. When it runs ...

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

and

Rosecrans Avenue Rosecrans Avenue is a major west-east thoroughfare in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California, USA. It has a total length of . The street is named after U.S. Union General William S. Rosecrans, who purchased of Rancho Sausal Redondo ...

in an unincorporated strip of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

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 Felix Landau (May 21, 1910 – April 20, 1983) was an SS Hauptscharführer, a member of an Einsatzkommando during World War II, based first in Lwów, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine), and later in Drohobycz. Landau was a participant in numerous m ...

operated his trend-setting gallery there in the 1960s.

Restaurant Row

La Cienega in Beverly Hills, north of

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

, is known as Restaurant Row because it features many upscale restaurants. From Wilshire in Beverly Hills traveling north the best known establishments include

Benihana is a chain of Japanese restaurants. Originally founded by Yunosuke Aoki as a cafe in Tokyo in 1945, Benihana spread to the United States in 1964 when his son Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki opened its first restaurant in New York City. Benihana Inc., base ...

, The Stinking Rose, Darioush, the original Lawry's the Prime Rib, Hakobe, Tokyo Table - Tokyo City Cuisine, Matsuhisa,

Fogo de Chão Fogo de Chão, Inc. (; ) is a Brazilian culture, Brazilian restaurant chain, chain of Rodízio, ''rodízio''-style steakhouses (''churrascarias'') founded in 1979 by brothers Arri and Jair Coser, along with Jorge and Aleixo Ongaratto. The restau ...

Gyu-Kaku is a chain of Japanese yakiniku restaurants, with headquarters in Torrance, California. History Gyu-Kaku first entered the yakiniku restaurant business in 1996 and opened its first franchised restaurant in 1997 after changing to the current ...

, Woo Lae Oak, The Bazaar by

José Andrés José Ramón Andrés Puerta (; born 13 July 1969) is a Spanish-American chef and restaurateur. Born in Spain, he moved to the United States in the early 1990s and since then, he has opened restaurants in several American cities. He has won a num ...

, and

Morton's Morton's The Steakhouse is a chain of steak restaurants with locations in the United States and franchised abroad, founded in Chicago in 1978. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landry's. History Morton's was co-founded in 1978 by Arnold J. Mo ...

Etymology

Ballona_Road_-_1874_-_Washington_Boulevard_from_roughly_Elenda_Street_to_Hoover_Street

La Cienega Boulevard is named after

Mexican land grant roughly in the region now called "

." The Spanish phrase ''la ciénaga'' translates into English as "the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

" and the area named "Las Ciénegas" was a continual marshland due to the course of the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

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, originated with the name of the ranch.

Transportation

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

lines 105 runs on La Cienega Boulevard. An elevated light rail station for the Metro E Line is located at

Jefferson Boulevard Jefferson Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles and Culver City, California. Its eastern terminus is at Central Avenue east of Exposition Park. At its entrance to Culver City, it splits with National Boulevard. North of Sawtelle Boulevard, ...

. An underground station for the

Metro D Line D Line may refer to: Transportation *Line D (Buenos Aires Underground), an underground line in Buenos Aires, Argentina * D Line (Los Angeles Metro), a rapid transit line in Los Angeles County, California *Line D (Prague Metro), a subway route unde ...

is currently under construction.

Major intersections

References

External links

Southern California Unsigned Freeways – La Cienega BoulevardLa Cienega Design Quarter
{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Boulevards in the United States Southern California freeways Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles Baldwin Hills (mountain range) Inglewood, California Streets in West Hollywood, California Restaurant districts and streets in the United States West Los Angeles Westside (Los Angeles County)