Wilshire Center, Los Angeles, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wilshire Center is a district part of Mid-Wilshire in the region of the City of Los Angeles, California.
While in the last few decades most of its area has been transformed into the community of Koreatown, the two are not synonymous, and Wilshire Center maintains several parts of its district that are distinct from Koreatown to this day. Especially on the border with Hollywood and southern Silver Lake and Westlake.
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[edit] Geography
Wilshire Center boundaries are Arlington Avenue/Wilton Place on the west, Melrose Avenue on the north, Hoover Street on the east, and Pico Boulevard on the south.
Hollywood lies to the north, Westlake and Pico-Union lie to the east, Harvard Heights lies to the south, and Country Club Park and Hancock Park lie to the west.
While the main thoroughfare is Wilshire Boulevard, other major thoroughfares include Beverly, and Olympic Boulevards, Western Avenue, Normandie, and Vermont Avenues, and 3rd, 6th, and 8th Streets.
The Hollywood Freeway runs through the district's northeast corner.
[edit] History
Prior to the 1960s, Wilshire Center was a wealthy commercial and residential district. As Los Angeles rapidly decentralized along newly constructed freeway corridors, Wilshire Boulevard and the areas surrounding it went into a lengthy decline. With property values drastically diminished, the area saw a heavy influx of Koreans during the 1960s, after restrictions on immigration to the United States from East Asia were lifted in 1965.
This lead the transformation of most of the district into what is today Koreatown.
Today, along with Koreatown, the area blends in characteristics with East Hollywood on the north, and Westlake on the east.
[edit] Education
Wilshire Center is zoned to the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Some areas of Wilshire Center are zoned to Los Angeles Elementary School. Some areas are zoned to Wilton Place Elementary School [1].
Some areas of Wilshire Center are zoned to Berendo Middle School, while some are zoned to Borroughs Middle School.
All areas are zoned to Los Angeles High School.