Los Angeles

LA Gives the Green Light to Change Part of South LA Street to Obama Boulevard

Then-Sen. Obama had his first LA presidential campaign rally on Rodeo Road

The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a motion to rename a portion of Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard.

Councilman Herb J. Wesson Jr. introduced the motion earlier this month to change the name of Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard. Wesson notes that his district already has a Presidents Row of boulevards named Washington, Adams and Jefferson, and the new name would recognize the legacy of the nation's 44th president.

The council president said he had received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the name change, with the only dissenters wanting a larger or more significant street to receive the Obama name.

"What I have said to the people is it's not about the length of the street, it's about the significance of the street. It is about what happened on that street," Wesson said before the vote.

As a senator, Obama held his first Los Angeles presidential campaign rally at Rancho Cienega Park on Rodeo Road. Located southwest of downtown Los Angeles and running parallel to the 10 Freeway, Rodeo Road is unrelated to Beverly Hills' famous Rodeo Drive luxury shopping district.

The name change will be displayed along a section of the major corridor between Arlington Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard. The segment passes  Rancho Cienega Park and through the Crenshaw district west toward the Culver City area. 

A vote earlier this year by the California State Senate paved the way for a section of the 134 Freeway to be renamed in his honor. Obama was a student at Occidental College in Eagle Rock in the late 1970s before transferring to Columbia University in New York. The proposed Obama Freeway would be a part of the 134 Freeway between the 210 and 2 freeways.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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