From the intersection with Webb Avenue, Laurel Canyon Boulevard heads due south, cutting through North Hollywood, closely following the Hollywood Freeway (SR 170). Laurel Canyon Boulevard passes through the Valley Village neighborhood, one mile (1.6 km) west of the Hollywood Split (the intersection of the Hollywood (U.S. 101/SR 170) and Ventura (U.S. 101/SR 134) freeways). This would have been the start of the proposed Laurel Canyon Freeway, which would have provided a direct freeway connection from the southeastern San Fernando Valley to the Los Angeles International Airport. The proposed route was along the current routing of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, but the emergence of the Laurel Canyon neighborhood as a movie star enclave doomed the project, as did local opposition.
Laurel Canyon itself found counterculture fame in the 1960s as home to many of L.A.'s top rock musicians, such as Frank Zappa. The bohemian spirit endures; every year, residents gather for a group photograph at the country market. Laurel Canyon Boulevard was also immortalized by The Doors in their 1968 song "Love Street."
Laurel Canyon Boulevard crosses the Laurel Canyon G Line station at its intersection with Chandler Boulevard in Valley Village. Laurel Canyon Boulevard is served by Metro Local lines 218 (south of Ventura Boulevard) and 230 (north of Ventura Boulevard).
Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue to the west between the southern San Fernando Valley and West Hollywood are also popular alternate routes to the Hollywood Freeway (US 101) during rush hour.
Laurel Canyon Freeway
The Laurel Canyon Freeway was to have been a north-south freeway in Central Los Angeles and its suburbs. It derived its name from Laurel Canyon, the proposed route by which the freeway would traverse the Santa Monica Mountains.
However, the emerging popularity of Laurel Canyon as a movie star enclave in the 1960s ultimately doomed the project. The only portion of the freeway that was built was a small section of La Cienega Boulevard through the Baldwin Hills district of southwestern Los Angeles.[2]
History
Early trackless trolley, 1910s
In 1919 Harry Houdini rented the cottage[A] at 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, while making movies for Lasky Pictures. His wife occupied it for a time after his death. As of 2011 that site was a vacant lot.[3] The main mansion building itself was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1959 Laurel Canyon fire,[4] and is now a historic venue.[5] While Houdini did not likely live at the "mansion," there is some probability that his widow did.[6]
References
Notes
^"Not the home, which was sensationally dubbed "the Houdini mansion" when it burned in 1959.[3] It should not be confused with houses of Houdini.
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