West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip, and located between the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 35,757. Despite its name, West Hollywood has never been part of Hollywood or the City of Los Angeles.
History The land that is now West Hollywood lies within the traditional territory of the Tongva, who inhabited the Los Angeles Basin for centuries before European contact. Spanish colonization of Alta California began in the late eighteenth century; the Portolá expedition of 1769–1770, an overland Spanish reconnaissance from San Diego to Monterey led by Gaspar de Portolá, passed through the Los Angeles Basin in August 1769. Near what would later become West Hollywood, the party collected pitch (Spanish brea) from natural tar seeps, which they used to waterproof gear. The Spanish mission system that followed reclassified the Tongva as "Gabrielinos" after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, and by 1771 introduced European diseases had severely reduced the indigenous population. Here they collected pitch (brea in Spanish) from tar pits which they used to waterproof their belongings and to say Mass. The Gabrielinos are believed to have burned the pitch for fuel.
By 1780, what became the "Sunset Strip" was the major connecting road for El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and all ranches westward to the Pacific Ocean. This land passed through the hands of various owners during the next one hundred years, and it was called names such as "La Brea" and "Plummer" that are listed in historical records. Most of this area was part of the Rancho La Brea, and eventually it came to be owned by the Hancock family.
During the final years of the nineteenth century, the first large land reconstruction of the town of "Sherman" significantly accelerated the development of the region. In what would later become West Hollywood—the town of "Sherman"—was established by Moses Sherman and his partners of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad, an interurban railroad line which later became part of the Pacific Electric Railway system. Sherman became the location of the railroad's main shops, railroad yards, and "car barns". Many working-class employees of the railroad settled in this town. It was during this time that the city began to earn its reputation as a loosely regulated, liquor-friendly (during Prohibition) place for eccentric people wary of government interference. Despite several annexation attempts, the town elected not to become part of the City of Los Angeles. In 1925 Sherman adopted "West Hollywood," a moniker pioneered earlier in the decade by the West Hollywood Realty Board as its informal name, though it remained under the governance of Los Angeles County.
For many decades, the area that is now the City of West Hollywood was an unincorporated area in the midst of Los Angeles. Because gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles, but still legal in Los Angeles County, the 1920s saw the proliferation of many casinos, night clubs, etc., along Sunset Boulevard (which starts near downtown Los Angeles and runs westward). These businesses were immune from the sometimes heavy-handed law enforcement of the L.A. Police Department.
Some people connected with movie-making were attracted to this less-restricted area of the County, and a number of architecturally distinctive apartment buildings and hotels were built. Many interior designers, decorators and "to the trade" furnishing showrooms located in West Hollywood date back to the middle of the century.
Eventually, the area and its extravagant nightclubs fell out of favor. The Sunset Strip and its restaurants, saloons, and nightclubs continued to be an attraction for out-of-town tourists. During the late 1960s, the Sunset Strip was transformed again during the hippie movement which brought a thriving music publishing industry coupled with the "hippie" culture. Young people from all over the country flocked to West Hollywood.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thousands of Russian Jews immigrated to the city. A majority of the 5,000 to 6,000 Russian Jews settled in two major immigration waves, 1978–79 and 1988–92. Other than New York, West Hollywood's Russian-speaking community is the most concentrated single Russian-speaking region in the United States.
The Gauntlet was a body piercing business founded by Jim Ward in West Hollywood that is considered the first business of its type in the United States and was the beginning of the body piercing industry."Running the Gauntlet" , cited in "In the Flesh: Body Piercing as a Form of Commodity-Based Identity and Ritual Rite of Passage," honors thesis by Amelia Guimarin, under the direction of Prof. Teresa Caldiera, Anthropology, UC Irvine, 2005 The Gauntlet began in 1975, with its original location in Ward's West Hollywood home, but in 1978 opened its first commercial location at 8720 Santa Monica Boulevard.
Due to the expiration of rent control protections in LA County, a coalition of gay men, Russian Jews, and the elderly successfully held a vote to officially incorporate the City of West Hollywood in 1984. Voters elected a city council with an openly gay majority and it immediately passed a series of rent control measures to protect its longtime citizens. West Hollywood then immediately adopted one of the strongest rent control laws in the nation.The vacancy-control part of this ordinance has since been rendered null by an act of the state legislature in the early 1990s called Costa-Hawkins that effectively ended "strong" rent control measures in California.
Geography West Hollywood is bounded by the city of Beverly Hills on the west, and by neighborhoods of the city of Los Angeles: Hollywood Hills on the north, Hollywood on the east, the Fairfax District on the southeast, and Beverly Grove on the southwest. The city's irregular boundary is featured in its logo; it was largely formed from the unincorporated Los Angeles County area which had not become part of the surrounding cities.
West Hollywood benefits from a very dense, compact urban form with small lots, mixed land use, and a walkable street grid. West Hollywood has a Walkscore of 91, higher than neighboring cities in Los Angeles County. Commercial corridors include the nightlife and dining focused on the Sunset Strip, along Santa Monica Boulevard, and the Avenues of Art and Design along Robertson Boulevard, Melrose Avenue, and Beverly Boulevard.
Residential neighborhoods in West Hollywood include the Norma Triangle, West Hollywood North, West Hollywood West, West Hollywood East, and West Hollywood Heights, all of which are only a few blocks long or wide. Major intersecting streets typically provide amenities within walking distance of adjacent neighborhoods.
Climate West Hollywood has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk) with a pronounced Mediterranean influence in its yearly precipitation patterns.
It possesses generally sunny, year-round mild to warm weather with generally moderate humidity moderated by the Pacific Ocean, and occasional spells of high heat and very low humidity from inland Santa Ana winds. The record high temperature of 111 °F was recorded on September 26, 1963, while the record low of 24 °F was recorded on January 4, 1949. Rainfall is sparse (only 13 inches annually) and falls almost entirely during the winter months, with no precipitation for months at a time during summer months being a common occurrence. Snow is extraordinarily rare in West Hollywood, with the last accumulation occurring in 1949.
Demographics
West Hollywood first appeared as an unincorporated place in the 1960 U.S. census as part of the Los Angeles census county division; and then as a census-designated place in the 1980 United States census and as a city in the 1990 U.S. census
Racial and ethnic composition +West Hollywood city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)31,48330,59628,91326,79325,39788.18%84.71%85.41%77.89%71.03%Black or African American alone (NH)1,2271,1552061,0521,3023.44%3.20%0.61%3.06%3.64%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1321054646490.37%0.29%0.14%0.13%0.14%Asian alone (NH)7751,0662,0311,8262,2732.17%2.95%6.00%5.31%6.36%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)3730410.11%0.09%0.11%Other race alone (NH)544379903090.15%0.12%0.23%0.26%0.86%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx7849491,889xx2.32%2.76%5.28%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,0323,1531,7563,6134,4975.69%8.73%5.19%10.50%12.58%Total35,70336,11833,85234,39935,757100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, West Hollywood had a population of 35,757 and a population density of .
The age distribution was 4.3% under the age of 18, 4.4% aged 18 to 24, 48.9% aged 25 to 44, 26.3% aged 45 to 64, and 16.2% aged 65 or older. The median age was 40.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 127.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 129.0 males age 18 and over.
The census reported that 99.6% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 23,576 households, of which 5.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 16.3% were married-couple households, 9.7% were cohabiting couple households, 39.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 59.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.51. There were 5,351 families (22.7% of all households).
There were 25,821 housing units at an average density of . Of all housing units, 8.7% were vacant. Of occupied units, 20.0% were owner-occupied and 80.0% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0%, and the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%.
2023 ACS estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $94,844, and the per capita income was $88,026. About 9.2% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that West Hollywood had a population of 34,399. The population density was . The racial makeup of West Hollywood was 28,979 (84.2%) White (77.9% Non-Hispanic White), 1,115 (3.2%) African American, 103 (0.3%) Native American, 1,874 (5.4%) Asian, 34 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,049 (3.0%) from other races, and 1,245 (3.6%) from two or more races. There were 3,613 residents of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race (10.5%).
The census reported that 34,290 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 109 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 22,511 households, out of which 1,141 (5.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,060 (13.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 852 (3.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 431 (1.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,094 (4.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1,321 (5.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 13,434 households (59.7%) were made up of individuals, and 2,606 (11.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.52. There were 4,343 families (19.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.42.