Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard stretches just under 5 miles from where it splits off from Sunset Blvd in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles at its eastern origin to where it peters out in the Hollywood Hills in West Hollywood. The most famous stretch of Hollywood Boulevard is the 1.3 mile stretch from La Brea Avenue on the west to Gower on the east, where you'll find the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a passel of Hollywood landmarks.

History and Evolution

Hollywood Boulevard is in constant evolution, with businesses and attractions coming and going. Nearly half of the 110 Hollywood businesses and landmarks I photographed for the City of LA in 2004 are gone or transformed. All of the following is subject to change at any moment. In the 1930's, Hollywood Blvd was the center of glamour, lined with palatial stage and movie theaters like Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theaters near Hollywood and Highland and the Pantages Theatre at Hollywood and Vine. In the 1960s, the area declined, and was known more for sleazy strip shows, prostitution and drug culture through the 1990s. Turn-of-the-millennium redevelopment breathed new life into the Boulevard, anchored by the Hollywood & Highland Center, which opened at that intersection in 2001. At the same time, a crime crackdown moved most of the prostitutes and drug dealers out of the neighborhood, making it reasonably safe to walk around, even at night.