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Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood &
Highland
Hollywood Boulevard is a
boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles,
California
, United States, beginning at Sunset Boulevard in the east and running
northwest to Vermont Avenue, where it
straightens out and runs due west to Laurel Canyon Boulevard. West
of Laurel Canyon it continues as a small residential street in the
hills, finally ending at Sunset Plaza Drive.
On the east side of
Hollywood Boulevard it passes through the neighborhoods of Little
Armenia
and Thai Town.
The famous
street was named Prospect Avenue
from 1887 to 1910, when the town of Hollywood
was annexed to the city of Los
Angeles
. After annexation, the street numbers
changed from 100 Prospect Avenue, at Vermont Avenue, to 6400
Hollywood Boulevard. In 1946
Gene Autry
rode his horse in the Hollywood Christmas parade and was inspired
by the children yelling "Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa
Claus," to write the song "
Here
Comes Santa Claus" along with
Oakley
Haldeman. Then, the boulevard was nicknamed "
Santa Claus
Lane". The
Hollywood
Christmas Parade passes down Hollywood Boulevard every Sunday
after
Thanksgiving.

Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1958,
the Hollywood Walk
of Fame
, which runs from Gower
Street to La Brea Avenue, was
created. The first star was placed in 1960 as a tribute to
artists working in the entertainment industry.
Joanne Woodward was the first performer to
receive a star. The Walk of Fame recognizes celebrities and icons
such as
Walt Disney,
Paula Abdul,
Hugh
Hefner, and many more. (The walk was later extended onto
Vine Street.)
The Hollywood extension of the
Metro
Red Line subway was opened in June
1999 .
Running from Downtown
to the Valley
, it has stops on Hollywood Boulevard at Western Avenue, at Vine Street and at Highland Ave. Metro Local lines 180, 181 and 217 and
Metro Rapid line 780 serve Hollywood Boulevard.
An
anti-cruising ordinance
prohibits driving on part of the boulevard more than twice in four
hours.
The largest collection of photos of Hollywood Blvd. is on the Bruce
Torrence Hollywood Historical Collection.
Revitalization

Black Dahlia shooting on Hollywood
Boulevard, June 2005.
In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up
Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime
and seediness.
Central to these efforts was the construction
of the Hollywood and
Highland
shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre
in 2001. With many housing and lofts conversions and a
future entertainment complex on the corner of Hollywood and
Vine
owned by W Hotels.
Also various nightclubs have opened up with many celebrities and
Hollywood Starletts coming in to party such as
Paris Hilton,
Lindsay
Lohan, and
Jamie Foxx including a new
Tex-Mex restaurant on the corner of Hollywood and Ivar by
Eva Longoria called Beso. The street remains
one of the major tourist draws in Los Angeles.
In the past several years alone, more than $2 billion has been
spent on projects in the neighborhood, including mixed-use retail
and apartment complexes and new schools and museums. This Hollywood
renaissance represents a potential future for much more of Los
Angeles, a sprawling, horizontal city where vertical, dense and
mostly walkable neighborhoods with public transportation are
increasingly in vogue.
In
February 2006, it was announced that the clothier H&M is opening a location just across the street
from Hollywood and
Highland
, and in May 2007, it was announced that the Spanish
retail chain Zara will be opening
nearby the new Madame
Tussauds
scheduled to
open in 2009.
Landmarks include

The intersection of Hollywood and
Highland, 1907
In popular culture
- Red Hot Chili Peppers'
song "Californication" mentions
Hollywood Boulevard.
- Jackson Browne's album
Hold Out refers to Hollywood
Boulevard in the song "Boulevard".
- The Kinks' song "Celluloid Heroes" is about Hollywood
Boulevard and the personalities engraved therein. A number of
landmarks are referred to.
- The 1979 film Hardcore was shot here as the
first of California's sex districts George C. Scott's Jake Van Dorn looks for his daughter
in.
- The 1984 film Angel
and is about a teenage prostitute who works on Hollywood Boulevard
at night, while attending high school as an Honors student by
day.
- In the film Pretty Woman,
Richard Gere "picks up" Julia Roberts on Hollywood Boulevard.
- In the Black Eyed Peas music
video I Gotta Feeling, the video
starts out with some scenes in Hollywood Boulevard.
- The System of a Down song
"Lost in Hollywood" references
Hollywood Boulevard and the unscrupulous nature of Hollywood
itself.
- Hollywood Boulevard is mentioned in the song "Rock Star" by Nickelback.
- Ryan Adams has a song titled
"Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd" on the album Gold.
- The Boulevard was featured in the film Singin' in the Rain (1952).
- Hollywood Boulevard was featured in an
I Love Lucy episode where Lucy
and Ethel attempt to steal the block with John Wayne's footprints in front of Grauman's
Chinese Theatre
as a souvenir.
- Grauman's Chinese Theatre
, which is a major attraction on the Boulevard, is
also featured in the Walt Disney World
theme park, Disney's Hollywood Studios
.
- Australian singer Tina Arena has sung
a song about Hollywood Boulevard on her French album 7 vies.
- Craig Ferguson often knows where
to get stuff down on Hollywood Blvd for $20, most of the time with
special side deal.
- Danity Kane filmed their music video
for "Show Stopper" on Hollywood Blvd,
which was closed down in order to do so.
- Hollywood Boulevard is mentioned in Melissa de la Cruz's book, Angels of
Sunset Boulevard.
See also
References
- http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/hollywood.php
- Hollywood & Highland Center - Press
Releases