Neighborhood Spotlight: Mid-Wilshire is alive with culture and ancient history

"He would buy up land on Wilshire Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax avenues and build the retail hub of the future, one centered around the automobile. Though critics scoffed, he believed he could draw customers from Beverly Hills and Hollywood to what was then the unfashionable hinterland of the city simply by combining luxury department store shopping with plenty of free parking."

"Freed from cramped, trolley-clogged downtown shopping districts, able to blithely flit along Wilshire Boulevard in their cars, bouncing from department store to upscale millinery to fashionable cafe and back again, Angelenos fell in love with mobility. The Miracle Mile changed people's mindset about where and how they could live."

"Today the Mid-Wilshire district is a cultural center, with the Petersen Automotive Museum, the El Rey Theatre, the George C. Page Museum and LACMA soon to be joined by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. And, of course, the endless stream of tour buses that line up outside its wrought-iron fence every day is testament to the"

In 1921, developer A.W. Ross purchased land on Wilshire Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax avenues to create an automobile-centered retail hub. By the late 1920s, the Miracle Mile became a successful shopping destination despite its location near an oil field. The development freed shoppers from downtown's cramped trolley-dependent districts, allowing them to drive between luxury department stores, boutiques, and cafes. This mobility transformed residential patterns, enabling people to live outside the city center. The Mid-Wilshire district subsequently boomed with diverse housing and post-World War II landmarks including office complexes, apartment buildings, and cultural institutions like LACMA, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the George C. Page Museum.

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