Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles#Oxford Square

According to the city's official community plan, the Wilshire Community Plan Area (CPA), also known as the Wilshire District, "is bounded by Melrose Avenue and Rosewood Avenue to the north; 18th Street, Venice Boulevard and Pico Boulevard to the south; Hoover Street to the east; and the Cities of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills to the west."[https://planning.lacity.org/complan/pdf/wilcptxt.pdf Wilshire Community Plan] (retrieved 2018-08-08)[http://neighborhoods.discoverlosangeles.com/#midcity Discover L.A.'s Neighborhoods: Mid-City], Discover Los Angeles, LA Tourism & Convention Board (retrieved 2018-08-08). "Discover Los Angeles" map can be viewed on sources: [https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d14cb54416595a7567ed0408611a132d 1], [https://adobemax2014.discoverlosangeles.com/file/untitledjpg-5 2]. The adjacent CPAs are Hollywood to the north; South Central Los Angeles and West Adams–Leimert–Baldwin Hills to the south; Silver Lake–Echo Park–Elysian Valley and Westlake to the east; and West Los Angeles to the west.

The Wilshire area includes the neighborhoods of (roughly from east to west) Wilshire Center, Koreatown (part of which extends outside the CPA), Windsor Square, Hancock Park, Larchmont, Mid-Wilshire, Mid-City, Miracle Mile, Beverly–Fairfax, and the Carthay neighborhoods (commonly known as Carthay Circle, South Carthay, and Carthay Square).[http://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/SurveyLAWilshire_SurveyReport_.pdf Historic Resources Survey Report: Wilshire Community Plan Area], SurveyLA, January 23, 2015

Within the Wilshire CPA, the neighborhood of Mid-Wilshire is bounded roughly by Crenshaw Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue, and Wilshire Boulevard. Part of Miracle Mile overlaps with Mid-Wilshire.

File:Map of Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, California.jpg

According to the Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. project, Mid-Wilshire is bounded on the north by West Third Street, on the northeast by La Brea Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, on the east by Crenshaw Boulevard, on the south by Pico Boulevard and on the west by Fairfax Avenue.[http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/region/central-la/] "Central L.A.," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times[http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/mid-wilshire] "Mid-Wilshire," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles TimesThe Thomas Guide, 2006, page 633

Mid-Wilshire is flanked by Fairfax, Hancock Park, and Windsor Square to the north; Koreatown and Arlington Heights to the east; Mid-City to the south; and Mid-City West (Carthay and Beverly-Fairfax) to the west and northwest.

File:Miraclemile1.jpg

File:Highsmithmaycompanywilshire.jpg (now part of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at the intersection of Wilshire and Fairfax in Mid-Wilshire]]

File:2009-0727-CA-ParkLaBrea.jpg

File:Richardson apartments.jpg

File:1262 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles.jpg residence at 1262 South Victoria Avenue, 2012]]

Mid-Wilshire includes the following neighborhoods:

{{main|Little Ethiopia, Los Angeles}}

Little Ethiopia is a block-long stretch of Fairfax Avenue between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive in Los Angeles, California.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-10-et-neighborhood10-story.html|title=NEIGHBORHOODS: Little Ethiopia|last=Levin|first=Rachel|date=2009-03-10|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-02-16|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-re-guide12feb12-story.html|title=To Fairfax and on to Ethiopia|date=February 12, 2006|website=Los Angeles Times}} The area has a high concentration of Ethiopian restaurants, as well as a significant concentration of residents of Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestry.

{{main|Miracle Mile, Los Angeles}}

Miracle Mile is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues. In the early 1920s, Wilshire Boulevard west of Western Avenue was an unpaved farm road, extending through dairy farms and bean fields. Developer A. W. Ross saw the area's potential and developed Wilshire as a commercial district to rival downtown Los Angeles.

Oxford Square is an historic neighborhood {{Cite news|title=Immigration Changes the Old Political Patterns|first=Bill|last=Boyarsky|date=September 3, 1986|page=B1|work=Los Angeles Times |id={{ProQuest|154842134}}}}{{Cite news |last=Verrier|first= Richard |work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 13, 2013|page=B3 |title=Company Town; On Location; 'Bukowski' plays role in rise of L.A. filming|id={{ProQuest|1286906343}}}} which, according to the Oxford Square Neighborhood Association, lies between Pico Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard and includes both sides of Victoria Avenue and South Windsor Boulevard.[http://www.oxfordsquare.org] Oxford Square Neighborhood Association website

In 1910 the neighborhood was laid out between Wilshire Boulevard on the north and Pico Street on the south, west of the Los Angeles Country Club. It was served by the Pico Street streetcar line. The unimproved lots offered by developer Emil Firth ranged from 50 to 100 feet on the street and were 171 feet deep. The streets were 70 feet wide, with 15-foot sidewalks and parkways, which were to be planted with palm trees and flowers. Ornamental electroliers were to be placed every 300 feet. Lot prices ranged from $1,000 to $2,500.{{Cite news|title=By Owners and Dealers: Comparative Quiet Marks Week's Business in Real Estate--Most Buyers of Lots Will Build Homes at once--Confidence of Dealers in the Future Is Unshaken|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 12, 1910|page=VI6|id={{ProQuest|159414758}}}}{{Cite web|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1909-04-18/ed-1/seq-22/|title=Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, April 18, 1909, Image 22|first=National Endowment for the|last=Humanities|date=April 18, 1909|pages=2|via=chroniclingamerica.loc.gov}}{{Cite web|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1907-11-26/ed-1/seq-7/|title=Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, November 26, 1907, Image 7|first=National Endowment for the|last=Humanities|date=November 26, 1907|pages=7|via=chroniclingamerica.loc.gov}}

Earlier, in 1907. the Harriman interests had begun a four-track subway line across Oxford Square, south of Wilshire Boulevard.{{Cite news|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Real Estate Notes.|date=September 1, 1907|page=I12|id={{ProQuest|159168912}}}}

In 1991 the City Council approved a request by Oxford Square - Windsor Village residents to close 10th Street at Victoria Avenue in an effort to reduce crime in the communities after a recent outbreak of burglaries and robberies, as well as one homicide.{{Cite news|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Los Angeles City Hall Journal|first=Lee|last=Harris|date=August 29, 1991|page=WSJ5|id={{ProQuest|1639620933}}}}

In February 2015 the neighborhood association was lobbying to form an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ). That would have put a temporary moratorium on the issuance of city building and demolition permits.{{Cite news |last=Groves|first=Martha|date=February 24, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B2|title=Surroundings; Overgrowing pains; Attempt to tighten 'McMansion' law prompts complaints that some developers have undue influence at City Hall |id={{ProQuest|1657489343}}}} Los Angeles City Council approved the HPOZ, adopting its preservation plan{{cite web|url=https://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/Preservation%20Plan%20Oxford%20Square.pdf|title=Oxford Square preservation plan, published by the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources}} effective March 26, 2017.{{cite web|url=https://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz|title=Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs) - Office of Historic Resources, City of Los Angeles|website=preservation.lacity.org}}

{{main|Park La Brea, Los Angeles}}

Park La Brea is an apartment complex bounded by 3rd Street on the north, Cochran Avenue on the east, Sixth Street on the south, and Fairfax Avenue on the west. With 4,255 units located in eighteen 13-story towers and 31 two-story "garden apartment buildings," it is the largest housing development in the United States.R. Daniel Foster, [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2012/02/park-la-brea-reviews.html "Park La Brea, 70-year-old design still feels the love (and hate)"], Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2012. (In February 25, 2012 print edition, p. E5, under headline "Park La Brea: monster or jewel?")

Park Mile is a commercial strip that lies along Wilshire Boulevard between Highland Avenue on the west, Wilton Place on the east, Sixth Street on the north and Eighth Street on the south. Some of the office buildings in the district have been designed to harmonize with the nearby Hancock Park area, with long, horizontal warm look of brick and other textures rather than a vertical high-tech design. Construction is regulated by the Park Mile Ordinance, adopted by the city in 1979.{{Cite news|last=DeWolfe|first=Evelyn|date=June 23, 1985|page=1|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Mid-Wilshire Office Sites Regain Favor Study Shows New Tenant Mix Brings Increase in Leases|id={{ProQuest|292144363}}}}{{Cite news|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Split by Redistricting, S. Wilshire Groups Unite in Suit|first=Tracey|last=Kaplan|date=August 31, 1986|pages=WS1|id={{ProQuest|154745308}}}} It was designed to protect the single-family nature of the residential area and to promote development that provided Park Mile with an "image and sense of continuity."{{Cite news|date=April 17, 1994|last=Seo|first=Diane|page=12|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Hancock Park As Urban Woes Threaten, Residents of This Exclusive Enclave Are Fighting To Preserve The Status Quo|id={{ProQuest|282264718}}}} There is a three-story height limit along Park Mile,{{Cite news|date=April 9, 1987|page=1|last1=Gordon|first1=Larry

|last2=Simon|first2= Richard|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Council Redistricting Poses Little Threat to Incumbents Despite an Early Scare, Ferraro Appears Secure|id={{ProQuest|292502944}}}} as well as a ban on painted signs on the outside of buildings.[https://www.proquest.com/docview/292573147 `Visual Pollution' in L.A.-There's No Discernible Sign of a Reduction: [Home Edition] - ProQuest] Richard Simon, "'Visual Pollution' in L.A.—There's No Discernible Sign of a Reduction," ''Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1987, page 1 In 1990 a Park Mile-Wilshire District neighborhood design review board, composed of five to seven volunteers appointed by City Council members, was one of four such local boards throughout the city that oversaw architectural planning.{{Cite news|date=June 24, 1990|page=7|last=Lake|first=Laura|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Perspectives on L.A. Architecture Do the 'Art Police' Have a Role? When politics mixes with design review, too often the developers win. A proposed law threatens to skew the balance even more|id={{ProQuest|281168403}}}}

Sycamore Square is a neighborhood located between Hancock Park to the north, Miracle Mile to the west, and Brookside to the east. It is bordered by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Olympic Boulevard to the south, La Brea Avenue to the west, and both sides of Citrus Avenue to the east.{{cite web|url=http://greaterwilshire.org/map/|title=Map}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sycamoresquare.org/|title=Sycamore Square Neighborhood Association|website=www.sycamoresquare.org}}[https://la.curbed.com/2017/7/28/16059422/los-angeles-neighborhoods-map Which LA neighborhood do you really live in?] (using maps by [https://ericbrightwell.com/ Eric Brightwell])

{{main|Wilshire Vista, Los Angeles}}

Wilshire Vista is a neighborhood of 1,700 homes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilshirevista.org/about|title=About|publisher=Wilshire Vista Neighborhood Association}} It contains two Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monuments.{{Cite web|url=https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/24f6fce7-f73d-4bca-87bc-c77ed3fc5d4f/Historical%20Cultural%20Monuments%20List.pdf|title=List of Cultural Historic Monuments}}

The 2000 U.S. Census counted 41,683 residents in the 2.78-square-mile neighborhood—an average of 14,988 people per square mile, among the highest population densities for the city and the county. In 2008 the city estimated that the population had increased to 47,176. The median age for residents was 34, about the city's average.

Mid-Wilshire was said to be "highly diverse" when compared to the city at large. The ethnic breakdown in 2000 was whites, 33.6%; blacks, 22.7%; Latinos, 19.9%; Asians, 19.8%; and others, 3.9%. Mexico (16.1%) and Korea (24%) were the most common places of birth for the 25.1% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure that was considered average for the city as a whole.

The median household income in 2008 dollars was $58,483, average for Los Angeles. The average household size of 2.1 people was low for Los Angeles. Renters occupied 78.3% of the housing units, and home- or apartment owners the rest.

Mid-Wilshire residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 45.2% of the population in 2000, a high rate for both the city and the county. The percentage of residents with a master's degree was also high.

Public facilities are provided by City of Los Angeles: the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Los Angeles Public Library. Public schools are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, The schools operating within Mid-Wilshire are:[http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/mid-wilshire/schools]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} "Mid-Wilshire Schools," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times

• Los Angeles Senior High School, LAUSD, 4650 West Olympic Boulevard
• Los Angeles Community Adult School, 4650 West Olympic Boulevard
• Hancock Park Elementary School, LAUSD, 408 South Fairfax Avenue
• Wilshire Crest Elementary School, LAUSD, 5241 West Olympic Boulevard
• Queen Anne Place Elementary School, LAUSD, 1212 Queen Anne Place
• Queen Anne Recreation Center, Recreation and Parks, 1240 West Blvd

• The Wilshire Ebell Theater, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #250.{{NRISref|2008a}}
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Page Museum, Hancock Park and the La Brea Tar Pits on the north side of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Curson avenues.
• The Miracle Mile, a commercial strip on Wilshire Boulevard east of Fairfax Avenue designed in the 1920s by developer A. W. Ross to attract and serve automobile traffic rather than pedestrian shoppers.
• Petersen Automotive Museum, on the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. One of the world's largest automobile museums, the Petersen is a nonprofit organization specializing in automobile history and related educational programs.
• Olympia Medical Center, formerly Midway Hospital Medical Center, between Olympic and San Vicente boulevards.
• Harold A. Henry Park, named after the former city councilman, at Ninth Street and Plymouth Boulevard.
• Los Angeles High School Memorial Park, with its associated Memorial Library, dedicated to the L.A. High graduates who took part in World War I. It is on Olympic Boulevard between Mulllen and Muirfield avenues, facing Los Angeles High across the street.[http://www.lausd.net/Los_Angeles_HS/Archives/Memorial%20Library/LAMemorialLibrary.htm] Los Angeles Unified School District
• Queen Anne Recreation Center, at 12th Street and West Boulevard, with an auditorium, barbecue pits, a baseball diamond, basketball courts, children's play area, picnic tables, and tennis courts.[http://www.laparks.org/dos/reccenter/facility/queenAnneRC.htm] Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks
• Town and Country shopping center, on the southeast corner of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue.[http://california.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,2,fid,1732835,n,town%20and%20country%20shopping%20center.cfm] California Home Town Locator
• William Grant Still Residence, located at 1262 South Victoria Avenue; Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169.{{Cite web|url=http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/HCM/dsp_hcm_result.cfm?community=Wilshire|title=Monument Search Results Page|date=August 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817090923/http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/HCM/dsp_hcm_result.cfm?community=Wilshire|archive-date=2011-08-17}}

• Christian Audigier – French fashion designer{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/2014-02-26-ed-hardy-designer-selling-house.html|title=For Sale: Ed Hardy Designer's Boldly Redone Tudor Home|last1=Vecsey|first1=Laura|publisher=Yahoo!|quote=According to the Los Angeles Times, the Mid Wilshire area abode was purchased by the creator of the Ed Hardy brand in 2007 for $2.695 million.|date=February 26, 2014|accessdate=January 14, 2022}}
• Leonard Cohen – Canadian singer and novelist
• William Grant Still – African-American composer, known for Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American"

• List of districts and neighborhoods of Los Angeles
• Boyle Workman, representing the Wilshire Ward on the City Council, 1925–27

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles}}

{{Wikivoyage|Los Angeles/Wilshire|Wilshire}}

• Seal, Kathy. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-11-we-12084-story.html MID-WILSHIRE : Minorities' Private School Connection]." Los Angeles Times. June 11, 1995.
• Doherty, Jake. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-16-ci-13138-story.html Lawmaker Opposes Site for School : Education: Density that would result from a Temple-Beaudry facility is 'not good planning,' Assemblyman Richard Polanco says.]" Los Angeles Times. January 16, 1994.
• [http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/specplan/pdf/parkmile.pdf Los Angeles City Park Mile ordinance.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140625122031/http://larchmontchronicle.com/letters-park-mile-specific-plan/ Letters in the Larchmont Chronicle concerning the Park Mile Specific Plan, May 29, 2014]
• [http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/mid-wilshire/crime/ LA Times: Mid-Wilshire crime map and statistics]
• [http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/pdf/wilcptxt.pdf Wilshire Community Plan] Los Angeles Department of City Planning, April 2005

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Category:Wilshire, Los Angeles

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