Wilshire Boulevard: The Grand Concourse of Los Angeles

About this book

Wilshire Boulevard is the unofficial Main Street of dreams that flows through Los Angeles history. Like Los Angeles itself Wilshire is an accidental phenomenon created out of civic pride and the yearning of the masses to drive. Its 15-mile route to the sea has been called the Fifth Avenue of the West and the Champs Elysees of the Pacific. Wilshires style architecture and historic prominence are recorded in more than 150 photos so readers understand the fascinating cultural geography of the first auto-dependent metropolis. Wilshire Boulevard details the thoroughfares crucial part in the emergence of Los Angeles as a world city and relates the fascinating story of Gaylord Wilshire the turn-of-the-century social gadfly who never experienced his namesakes enduring fame. Kevin Roderick is a journalist editor blogger and author living in Los Angeles. He is the creator and publisher of LA Observed a widely cited news website that Forbes rated as Best of the Web. He is a Contributing Writer on politics and media at Los Angeles magazine an award-winning radio commentator and is often asked by the media to talk about Southern California issues. In addition to Los Angeles Kevins magazine reporting has appeared in Smithsonian Los Angeles Times Magazine The Industry Standard C L.A. Architect and the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. His latest book Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and Editors Choice as well as a finalist for the Southern California Book Award.