Ventura Boulevard
Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it is along the commemorative route El Camino Real. It was also U.S. Route 101 before the freeway was built, and it was also previously signed as U.S. Route 101 Business.
Approximately long, Ventura Boulevard begins near Calabasas in Woodland Hills at an intersection with Valley Circle Boulevard. The Boulevard travels through Tarzana, Encino, and Sherman Oaks before intersecting with Lankershim Boulevard in Studio City, where it becomes Cahuenga Boulevard and winds through Cahuenga Pass into Hollywood.
Historically, the street has been one of the most concentrated location for small businesses and shops in the Valley, while today it has pockets of housing, mini-malls, and shops, along with a wide assortment of businesses, schools, and other establishments. Homes south of Ventura Boulevard are considered to be among the most expensive in Los Angeles County, ranging from $2 million to $50 million and home to numerous executives, celebrities, athletes, and other entertainers.
Name
Ventura Boulevard is named after Saint Bonaventure.History
Ventura Boulevard follows an ancient pre-Columbian trading trail that served the Tataviam and Tongva village of Siutcanga, which is at least 4,000 years old.Due to natural springs in the area, one of the first inhabited areas of the San Fernando Valley was the land around what is now known as Los Encinos State Historic Park, at the corner of Balboa and Ventura boulevards, which was inhabited by the Tongva for thousands of years. This 5-acre park now includes the original nine-room De La Osa Adobe and a reservoir shaped like a Spanish guitar that collects the springwater.
The Valley's first golf course opened at the corner of Ventura and Coldwater Canyon in 1922.
Also in 1922, around the area of Canoga Avenue south of Ventura Boulevard, Victor Girard purchased 2,886 acres of land and planted over 120,000 pepper, sycamore, and eucalyptus trees, later resulting in the appropriately named Woodland Hills.
In 1928, just a couple blocks east of Laurel Canyon, Mack Sennett created his 38-acre Keystone Studios, which produced silent movies with stars such as Fatty Arbuckle, W.C. Fields, Stan Laurel, and the Keystone Cops. After talkies, Keystone became Republic Pictures, and then in 1963 CBS Studio Center. Although closed to the public, this complex, which is located only a few blocks away from Ventura Boulevard, probably makes more TV sitcoms than any other studio.
In 2015 the Studio City section of Ventura Boulevard, along with Lankershim Boulevard, was the site of CicLAvia, an event sponsored by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in which major roads are temporarily closed to motorized vehicle traffic and used for recreational human-powered transport.
A stretch of the former U.S. Route 101 in the Ventura County city of Camarillo paralleling the current freeway route is also named Ventura Boulevard.
Public transportation
Ventura Boulevard carries Metro Local lines 150 and 240.In popular culture
Music
The Everly Brothers recorded a song called "Ventura Boulevard" on their 1968 album Roots.Ventura Boulevard is mentioned in Tom Petty's song "Free Fallin'". When Petty died in 2017, what was intended as a walk by four fans turned into a public memorial as 10 times that many ‘Vampires’ walked west down the Boulevard in memory of the singer.
The Boulevard is also mentioned in Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" a song about a valley girl who lives in Encino and participates in typical Valley Girl activities such as shopping at The Galleria, not wanting to do the dishes, and getting her toenails professionally pedicured.
Guitarist John 5 made a song entitled "18969 Ventura Blvd."
In the documentary Living with Michael Jackson, it is revealed that Michael Jackson wrote the song Billie Jean while riding down Ventura Boulevard in his car.
Haim's music video "Want You Back" is filmed on Ventura Boulevard.
In August 2025, Lil Nas X was filmed walking down the street in the middle of the night, almost completely naked in white underpants and white boots, whilst repeatedly asking the cameraman if they were 'coming to the party tonight'. Lil Nas X was later arrested and ended up in hospital.
Film
The boulevard is a prominent location in the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Much of the films Crash and Transformers were filmed on the boulevard.Television
In the Seinfeld episode "The Trip, Part 2", Jerry and George were said to be calling from a pay phone on Ventura Boulevard. In reality, the pay phone shown was on Ventura Place, about one block away.In the Treehouse of Horror VI episode of The Simpsons, Ventura Boulevard features as the location of the show's first ever live-action scene.
Steve Allen, who lived in Encino, famously joked that "The Valley is the hippest part of town. They even named a boulevard after Charlie Ventura," referring to the renowned jazz saxophonist.