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Alternate meaning: West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, a neighborhood within the West L.A. region described below.

West Los Angeles (West L.A. in the short form) or the Westside is generally considered to be the portion of Los Angeles, California and its suburbs that lies east of the Pacific Ocean, west of La Cienega Boulevard (or, occasionally, Fairfax or even La Brea Avenue), south of the Santa Monica Mountains, and north of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). (Compare to East Los Angeles or South Los Angeles. "North Los Angeles" is unknown to locals and would likely refer to the San Fernando Valley.)

Business and Transportation

Many of the major educational, retail, cultural, and recreational attractions of Greater Los Angeles are located in the area, as is a large portion of the entertainment industry. Century City is the major business hub of the Westside, containing many major production corporations, talent agencies, and entertainment law firms. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and new developments near LAX are also important entertainment industry centers. The Westside rivals downtown Los Angeles for the number of people commuting to it from other areas, particularly the San Fernando Valley to the north and the South Bay to the south.

The Westside's traffic congestion is legendary. Although once served by the Pacific Electric Railroad's streetcars, it was the first region of Los Angeles to be developed largely around the automobile, and is notorious for its lack of significant public transportation. Its residents are also noted for their NIMBY attitude toward transportation projects such as the Exposition Boulevard light rail line and the Wilshire Boulevard extension of the Metro Red Line subway, although this has begun to change as traffic continues to attenuate the region's quality of life. The almost transcendently gridlocked San Diego Freeway is the primary transportation corridor in the region, and much of the area's commercial development is along it. The proposed Pacific Coast, Beverly Hills, and Laurel Canyon freeways undoubtedly would have sped up the region's traffic flow, but went unbuilt in the face of massive community opposition. Unfortunately, a great deal of high-density development took place in anticipation of these roadways' construction, resulting in significant congestion on the area's surface streets. Getting to Hollywood from the West Side is particularly difficult, with major east-west streets between the regions jammed during virtually all waking hours.

Culture

The Westside is generally thought of as the white part of the city of Los Angeles, in contrast to Latino-dominated East Side, the Latino and Asian areas such as Pico-Union and Koreatown in and around downtown, and the black and Latino neighborhoods of South Los Angeles.

Those less inclined to view the Westside in racially reductive terms find the community to be quite culturally diverse, with most non-European ethnicities represented in an enclave or small business district somewhere in the region.

Ethnic and Cultural Groups

African-American

The "Westside" was often mentioned in West Coast rap and gangsta rap music, especially during the mid-to-late 1990s. However, this refers to the black-dominated areas of South Los Angeles (such as Crenshaw and Jefferson Park) located west of the Harbor Freeway. While Palms, Culver City, and parts of Venice and Santa Monica have significant black populations, they have always been considered distinct from the traditionally black neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. Culver City's Fox Hills area, which adjoins traditionally upper-class black areas such as Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills, is similarly black and wealthy, although deal-hungry white, Asian, and Latino families are an increasing presence in the neighborhood.

East Asian

Sawtelle Boulevard between Pico and Santa Monica boulevards became a center of Japanese business and culture in the first half of the 20th century, when restrictive covenants and laws made it impossible to purchase property in adjoining incorporated areas. As a particular profession of Japanese in Los Angeles was gardening, the street was filled with plant nurseries and related stores. Today, many of the nurseries have been replaced by shops and offices that still cater to Japanese and Japanese-Americans, including two Giant Robot stores that feature all kinds of Japanese pop culture collectibles.

Hispanic/Latino

Further south on Sawtelle, in the Mar Vista and Del Rey districts, is the traditional barrio of the allegedly defunct Sotel gang, which drew its members from descendants of the Latino farmhands who worked the orchards and bean fields that once covered the area. Today, much of the population immediately to the southwest of the 10-405 junction is now young white and Asian professionals and UCLA students drawn to the area's cheap rents and large UCLA housing complex, but enormous Latino communities are still found in Culver City and Palms. In particular, large numbers of Latino families reside at Mar Vista Gardens, a Del Rey housing project operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Palms also plays host to a small, closely-knit Brazilian community, with several restaurants and shops catering to it.

Middle Eastern/South Asian

Persians

Brentwood, Rancho Park, and Westwood host a large Iranian/Persian exile community that is apparent by the numerous bookstores and restaurants on Westwood Boulevard with signage in both Persian and English. Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood have also become major destinations for upwardly mobile Persians, with ethnic Iranians comprising perhaps as much as a fifth of the population of Beverly Hills. Persians are also a significant presence in Palms, with the Iranian Muslim Association of North America maintaining its headquarters in the district. Ironically, most Persians in Los Angeles belong to the Jewish faith, while Orange County has a Muslim (mostly secular) majority among its Persian population. The Iranian Jewish Federation maintains its headquarters in West LA.

Arriviste Persians on the West Side have often built enormous, ornately decorated two- or three-story pink or white stucco mansions on parcels that previously contained Spanish Colonial bungalows or villas. The proliferation of these "Persian palaces" has generated considerable friction with the area's established European-descended population.

Pakistanis

Further south, Palms is considered one of the major centers of Pakistani life in Los Angeles. Venice Boulevard is lined with numerous Pakistani restaurants and groceries. Hijab-clad Pakistani women are a frequent sight in Palms, particularly in the western blocks of the district.

"The 310"

Area code 310 covers most of West Los Angeles and is commonly synonymous with it: young people often refer to the region as "the 310." Ironically, area code 310 also covers some of the poorer communities in the Los Angeles area, such as Gardena and Compton. In April 2005, local telecommunications providers petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission to overlay area code 424 onto 310, due to a projected shortfall of telephone numbers; this move has drawn considerable resistance from many affluent Westsiders, who consider a 310 telephone number as a sign of prestige.

West Side communities

• Northern West Los Angeles
  • Bel-Air
    • Holmby Hills
    • Roscomare Valley
  • Beverly Glen
    • Benedict Canyon
    • Beverly Crest
  • Beverly Hills
    • Trousdale Estates
  • Beverlywood
  • Brentwood
  • Cheviot Hills
  • Century City
  • Malibu
  • Pacific Palisades
    • Castellammare
    • Huntington Palisades
    • Palisades Highlands
    • Rustic Canyon
  • Rancho Park
    • Home Junction
  • Santa Monica
    • Ocean Park
  • South Robertson
  • Sawtelle
  • Topanga Canyon
    • Topanga
  • West Los Angeles
  • Westwood

• South West Los Angeles
  • Culver City
  • Del Rey
  • Mar Vista
    • Westdale
  • Marina Del Rey
  • Palms
  • Playa del Rey
  • Venice
    • Oakwood
  • Westside Village
  • Westchester
    • Los Angeles International Airport
    • Manchester Square
    • Playa Vista

• Los Angeles County regions