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The Weber House,3923 W. 9th Street, Historic-Cultural Monument #707, Lloyd Wright,architect, 1921

Wilshire Park is a small, historic neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California region of Los Angeles, California. Designated an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) in 2008, Wilshire Park comprises approximately 600 homes, 527 of which are within the HPOZ. Wilshire Park is a neighborhood of one- and two-story historic Dutch Colonial, Spanish Colonial, American Craftsman, Transitional Arts and Crafts, American Colonial Revival, Minimal Traditional, California Bungalow, and Mediterranean style single- and multi-family homes and duplexes on tree-lined streets of mature magnolias, oaks, and sycamores.

Community

Wilshire Park Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3). In recent years, the area has enjoyed highly accelerated increase in property values, fueled not only by Los Angeles' real estate boom but also by buyers attracted to the area's charming old fashioned ambiance and by the historic nature of the homes. Historic preservation and restoration of the urban tree canopy are among the many concerns of the neighborhood residents. By the Spring of 2007, working with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's "Million Trees for Los Angeles" initiative, Wilshire Park had reached the one-third mark in its goal to plant 200 new trees on its public parkways.,

Wilshire Park is racially diverse, including Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American and Korean residents. The neighborhood is part of Council District 4 since redistricting in 2012 under Councilman David Ryu and is a member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council.

Boundaries

Wilshire Park is south of Wilshire, east of Crenshaw, West of Wilton, north of Olympic. While the Los Angeles Times maps Wilshire Park as being within Koreatown, the official western boundary of Koreatown was established as Western Avenue by City Council File 09-0606 on 8/20/2010.

Wilshire Park is within the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. . The Park Mile Specific Plan was instituted in 1987 to protect the residential qualities of the area by controlling elements such as building height and mass and signage.

Nearby areas

Relation of Wilshire Park to nearby places.

Education

Wilshire Park has three elementary schools educating approximately 1500 children: Wilshire Park Elementary, Wilton Place Elementary, and St. Gregory Nazianzen Catholic School.

Wilshire Park School opened in September of 2006. Currently there are 550 students enrolled

Wilton Place School was constructed in 1918 to accommodate the new residents following the post-WWI boom. It has an reported enrollment of 780 students.

St. Gregory School opened in 1925 in association with St. Gregory Church. It enrolls 160 students.

Police and crime

Wilshire Park, with the exception of the block bounded by Wilshire/Crenshaw/8th and Bronson, is covered by Olympic Division, at 1130 South Vermont Avenue.

Notable residents

A few of the notable earlier residents of Wilshire Park include popular star of the silent movie era Mildred Harris (who became notorious as the 16-year-old child bride of Charles Chaplin), headline-making Ziegfeld beauty and screen actress Helen Lee Worthing who appeared with John Barrymore in the film Don Juan, motion picture star Tom Mix, an executive secretary to 29th U.S. President Warren G. Harding, a CEO of finance for the City of Los Angeles, the director of the Los Angeles County Hospital, the performer Ziegfeld Follies, RKO Studios dance director/choreographer Pearl Eaton, and motion picture director and an Academy Awards co-founder, Henry King. Other former residents include Janet Fitch, acclaimed novelist of White Oleander and Paint It Black, Oscar-winning motion picture sound expert Arthur Piantadosi, and Jules Dassin. Another former resident is London, England-born art director, Grammy-winning album cover designer, graphic artist, and documentary film producer-director Kosh, born Arthur Kosh, who created the famed covers for Abbey Road and Who's Next?, and recorded such artists as Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, and Spinal Tap.

Contemporary residents of note include record-breaking long distance swimmer and National Public Radio sports commentator Diana Nyad, Earth, Wind & Fire bass player Verdine White, screenwriter/author Stephen Rebello, and Jennifer Nairn Smith, a former featured ballerina and dancer on stage, Broadway, and in films under the direction of such choreographers as George Balanchine, Michael Bennett, and Bob Fosse.

The area has served as a film and television production location, dating back to the days of the 1925 Buster Keaton comedy classic Seven Chances. With the 1960s, one Wilshire Park home (at 837 5th Avenue) attained TV immortality by serving as the exterior for the Douglas family home on the long-running series, My Three Sons. Since then, Wilshire Park has served as a location for such films, TV shows, and music videos as Cold Case, a PBS documentary on Emma Goldman, and the 2009 feature film Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford and Sean Penn.

External links

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Category:Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Category:Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zones Category:Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles Category:Central Los Angeles Category:1905 establishments in California Category:Populated places established in 1905