Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California that stretches from Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. The street is an icon of Hollywood celebrity culture and the phrase "Sunset Boulevard" is enduring shorthand for the glamor associated with Hollywood.

Approximately 22 miles (35 km) in length, the famous boulevard roughly mimics the arc of the mountains that form 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. From Downtown Los Angeles, it 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, Holmby Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood, and the Pacific Palisades. In Bel-Air Sunset Boulevard runs along the northern boundary of UCLA's Westwood campus.

The boulevard is winding and treacherous in some areas. It is at least four lanes wide along its entire route. Sunset is frequently congested with traffic loads beyond its design capacity.

Sunset Boulevard historically extended farther east than it now does, starting at Alameda Street near Union Station and beside Olvera Street in the historic section of Downtown. The portion of Sunset Boulevard east of Figueroa Street was renamed Cesar Chavez Avenue in 1994 along with Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue in honor of the late Mexican-American union leader and civil rights activist.

In the 1970s the area between Gardner Street and Western Avenue was a center for street prostitution. At the corner of Sunset and Courtney Avenue, actor Hugh Grant pulled over and picked up prostitute Divine Brown in the early morning of June 27, 1995. He then drove a few blocks east and parked at the corner of Curson and Hawthorn Avenues. Police arrested Grant and Brown for lewd conduct. Shortly after this police raids drove out the majority of prostitutes in the area.

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, including the recording studios Sunset Sound Studios and United Western Recorders.

The Sunset Strip portion of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood has been famous for its active nightlife at least since the 1950s.

The portion of Sunset Boulevard that passes through Beverly Hills was once named Beverly Boulevard.

The boulevard is commemorated in Billy Wilder's 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name, and the 1950s television series 77 Sunset Strip. Jan and Dean's 1960s hit song "Dead Man's Curve" refers to a section of the road near Bel Air estates just north of UCLA's Drake Stadium where Jan Berry almost died in an automobile accident in 1966. The Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth" was written about a riot at Pandora's Box, a Sunset Strip club, in 1966.

Metro Local lines 2 and 302 operate on Sunset Boulevard. The Metro Red Line operates a subway station at Vermont Avenue.