West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region also called West Los Angeles but often referred to as the "Westside."

Geography and transportation

The district is bordered by Santa Monica on the west, Brentwood on the northwest, the unincorporated Sawtelle Veterans Administration grounds on the north, Westwood on the northeast, Rancho Park on the east and southeast, and Mar Vista on the south and southeast. Its generally accepted boundaries are the San Diego Freeway on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway on the south, the city limits of Santa Monica on the west, and Wilshire Boulevard on the north.

Its major thoroughfares are Olympic, Santa Monica, Pico, Wilshire, and Sawtelle Boulevards, Barrington and Bundy Drive.

Because the Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica's municipal bus network) uses UCLA as one of its terminals, it provides good public transit within the region, especially along east-west routes, as does the LACMTA to a lesser extent. However, public transit from West Los Angeles to other, more distant districts within L.A. is poor.Fact|date=December 2007

This district contains an area of Japanese-American culture along Sawtelle Boulevard which is sometimes called Sawtelle.

History

After the area's colonization by the Spanish, most of what is now West Los Angeles became part of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica. With the arrival of Anglo settlers after the Mexican-American War, the original "Californio" landowners sold out, or were forced from their holdings, and by the beginning of the 20th century the area was mostly bean and wheat fields. Many Japanese immigrants settled in the district, establishing orchards and nurseries in the process. Some of these nurseries are still in business today, along the stretch of Sawtelle Boulevard between Olympic and Santa Monica Boulevards.

The core of what is now West Los Angeles, including the West Los Angeles government center at Santa Monica and Purdue, was incorporated as the City of Sawtelle. In the 1920s, the area was annexed by the City of Los Angeles.

The neighborhood today

As with most parts of the Westside, West Los Angeles is an affluent neighborhood. Its central location has made it a locus of commercial development, with several high-rise office buildings along Olympic, Santa Monica, and Wilshire Boulevards. It also contains a large number of Japanese-owned businesses. A satellite congregation of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, one of the most prominent Reform Jewish congregations in Southern California, occupies the northeast corner of Olympic and Barrington.

Housing in West Los Angeles is a mixture of low-rise apartment buildings, mostly inhabited by young professionals and working-class families, and single-story tract house developments built between late 1920 and 1960.Fact|date=December 2007 Two of Los Angeles' tallest residential towers are at the neighborhood's northern edge, at the intersection of Wilshire and Barrington. There is a trend toward greater density, as single-family houses get replaced by apartment buildings, or apartment buildings by taller ones, as building sites become available through demolition.

Schools in the area, such as Wildwood School, are well-respected and of generally high quality. University High School, a secondary school named for nearby UCLA, is in the district. "Uni" is one of very few older high schools in Los Angeles that have not had to be completely rebuilt following earthquakes over the years, and still has a traditional look to it featuring weathered brick walls and arched entries. As a result, it is a popular with film producers as a shooting location, even when school is in session, much to the chagrin of the students and faculty. The campus also contains within its bounds an artesian well (claimed by the Tongva people as their ancestral home) which has never failed, even in the driest years. Junipero Serra's party is said to have camped there in the course of their journey up and down the state.

West Los Angeles is the home of a Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP). It is part of an initiative by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mail order prescriptions to veterans using computerization at strategic locations throughout the United States. [ [http://www.gla.med.va.gov/pharmacy/rx_info2.htm#cmop Prescription Information] ]

West Los Angeles has a small Hispanic community evident by the authentic Mexican restaurants and a few Mexican shops. Among the area's Latino residents are a large number of immigrants from Oaxaca. [Hanson, Barbard, "The Oaxaca Connection," "Los Angeles Times"1 May 2002: K1.]

Despite having the city's lowest crime statistics, [ [http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_maps_and_compstat LAPD Crime information] ] West Los Angeles houses a small dwindling gang problem which can be seen by graffiti taggings "sotel 13."

Emergency services

Police service

Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood [ [http://www.lapdonline.org/west_la_community_police_station LAPD West LA Station] ] .

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

West Los Angeles is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. [ [http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/la/wlanc/schools.html West LA neighborhood Council Schools] ] Neighborhood elementary schools are [http://www.lausd.net/Brockton_EL Brockton Avenue] , Sterry Elementary, and [http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Warner_EL/ Warner Avenue] . Middle schools are [http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Emerson_MS Emerson] and Webster. High schools are University and Indian Springs Continuation, both on the same site.

Private schools

St. Sebastian School and West Los Angeles Baptist School are nearby private schools.

References

External links

* [http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/la/wlanc/ West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council]
* [http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/communities/2003/la-re-guide19jan19,0,7488432.story?coll=la-realestate-communities-2003 "Los Angeles Times", Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: " [West Los Angeles (neighborhood):] In the vicinity of everything in West L.A." (19 Jan 2003)]
* [http://www.sawtelleblvd.com Sawtelle Blvd.]