Western Avenue is a major four lane street slightly west of Downtown Los Angeles and the center portion of Los Angeles County. Besides Sepulveda Boulevard, it is one of the longest north/south streets in Los Angeles. The name of the street is derived from its history as the Westernmost border of Los Angeles before annexes in the early 20th century.
Western Avenue passes an incredible diversity of neighborhoods, ranging from the wealthiest to the most economically depressed in Los Angeles. It begins near the Pacific Ocean and passes north through Lomita, Torrance, Gardena, Inglewood, Baldwin Hills, and South Los Angeles. The 1979 film Hardcore was partially filmed here as the first of the Los Angeles sequences, with its then-present sex shops and adult theaters.
Around Pico Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard, and Wilshire Boulevard, Western Avenue passes through the neighborhood of Koreatown. Further north, Western Avenue passes through the eastern portions of Hollywood. Around Santa Monica Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard it passes through the neighborhood of Little Armenia and Thai Town.
Western Avenue eventually ends north of Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. It swerves to become an east/west street, Los Feliz Boulevard, a major thoroughfare for Los Feliz.
The portion from Interstate 405 to 25th Street in San Pedro is State Route 213.
Western is served by two subway stations, Hollywood/Western on the Red Line and Wilshire/Western on the Purple Line and is also proposed for a station on the Expo Line. Metro Local lines 205 and 207, in addition to Metro Rapid line 757 and Gardena Transit line 2 operate on Western Avenue; Metro lines 207 and 757 run between Hollywood Boulevard and Imperial Highway, Gardena line 2 between Imperial Highway and Pacific Coast Highway, and Metro line 205 south of Pacific Coast Highway.