Melrose Avenue

A view of a part of the eastern end of the Melrose Avenue District, 2004.

Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Beverly Boulevard and south of Santa Monica Boulevard.

Its most famous section, known as the Melrose District, is the West End through West Hollywood and Hollywood.

At the corner of Fairfax and Melrose is Fairfax High School, which marks the start of the Fairfax District.

One of the most famous landmarks located on Melrose Avenue is Paramount Pictures.

Metro Local line 10 operates on Melrose Avenue.

Melrose District

The eastern end of the district, which runs from Fairfax to Highland Avenue, became a popular underground and new wave shopping area in the early 1980s. Pioneered by adventurous independent retailers and restaurateurs, Melrose Avenue captured the global imagination as the birthplace of Southern California's New Wave and Punk cultures. Rapid notoriety quickly lured movie stars, moguls, and style seekers, leading the press to dub Melrose Avenue "the new Rodeo Drive." Ready for its close-up, the avenue enjoyed its share of TV and movie cameos, and appears regularly today in Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segments, in addition to pop culture gems like Entourage and LA Ink.

As a constantly evolving merchant district, it has featured stores such as Vinyl Fetish and Retail Slut, both of which closed several years ago while The Burger That Ate L.A., a landmark fast food stand, was in recent years replaced with a Starbucks. The original Johnny Rockets opened in this end of Melrose in 1986. Long-term stakeholders like The Groundlings, l.a.Eyeworks, Angeli Caffe and Sportie LA have shown continued dedication to the community. In 2005 musician and director Joe Hahn, member of the world-renowned rock band Linkin Park, opened his concept retail store SURU on the 7600 block of Melrose. Canadian designer John Fluevog opened on Melrose in 2003. As one of the city's most walking-friendly neighborhoods, this must-see destination has maintained its reputation for an original, alternative and independent experience for more than three decades.

Another view of Melrose Avenue

At the corner of Highland and Melrose is what has been described by the Los Angeles Times as the "boss of LA's Italian dining scene", Osteria Mozza (See Los Angeles Times, Thursday, August 7, 2007, pg. E46), which marks the eastern end of the Fairfax District.

Melrose Heights

The Western End, popularly referred to as Melrose Heights, runs from La Cienega Blvd. to Fairfax Avenue and features a variety of upscale restaurants, boutiques, and salons such as Elixir (teahouse), The Bodhi Tree (metaphysical and New Age bookstore), Fred Segal, Plush Home, and The Improv (world famous comedy club.) Melrose Heights is also home to some of the most internationally recognized fashion houses, such as Marc Jacobs, Diane von Fürstenberg, Carolina Herrera, Mulberry, Sergio Rossi, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, BCBG Max Azria, Paul Smith, John Varvatos, Balenciaga, and Diesel. Vera Wang is expected to open soon.

Melrose Place

North of the intersection with La Cienega Boulevard is Melrose Place, a branch of the main avenue made famous thanks to the TV show of the same name. However, in actuality, Melrose Place does not feature any residences but has historically been home to antique shops, boutiques and salons.

La Cienega Design Quarter

The area of Melrose Avenue that intersects La Cienega Boulevard and its satellite streets is part of the La Cienega Design Quarter. Its shops and galleries house many antiques, furniture, rugs, accessories and art.

References

Melrose Avenue Merchant Alliance (MAMA) Huffington Post - October 8 2010

Los Angeles portal

Coordinates: 34°05′01″N 118°20′02″W / 34.0835°N 118.334°W / 34.0835; -118.334