Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States.

South Broadway's southern terminus is Main Street just north of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Carson.

After crossing the US-101 (Santa Ana Freeway), signs read "North Broadway" as it enters Chinatown.

The names of Buena Vista and Downey were then changed to North Broadway,[7][8][9] but not without significant objections from affected residents and landowners.

Some of the movie theaters on the street fell into disuse and disrepair, some were replaced with parking lots, but many have been repurposed and/or restored.

The department stores closed in the 1970s and 1980s, but Broadway has been the premier shopping destination for working class Latinos for decades.

"[23] The Downtown's real estate revitalization, using the City's adaptive reuse ordinance that makes it easier for developers to convert outmoded and/or vacant office and commercial buildings into residential buildings, has reached the Broadway Historic District.

It includes the transformation of the United Artists Theater office tower into the Ace Hotel Los Angeles, and restoration of its movie palace.

The Bringing Back Broadway commission is working on further reviving the landmark Los Angeles boulevard in the historic district.

Led by City Councilman Jose Huizar, the commission has recommended widening sidewalks, eliminating traffic lanes, constructing new parking structures, and bringing back streetcar service reminiscent of the street's past.

[24] A pedestrian-friendly project finished up in December 2014 that widened the sidewalks and replaced the parking lane with planters, chairs and round cafe tables with bright-red umbrellas.

The Great Streets Initiative seeks to bolster the street-level health of the city by making several dozen boulevards more hospitable to pedestrians, cyclists and small businesses.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said the effort represents "a shift from the way that our neighborhoods have been planned in Los Angeles," with a new focus on "walkability and transit.

[26] Retail in and around the Eastern Columbia, located at the intersection of 9th Street & Broadway, has proliferated in recent years with the opening of Acne Studios, Oak NYC, Aesop, Tanner Goods, BNKR, Austere, A.P.C., and Urban Outfitters located in the Rialto Theater (Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No.

Further south on the west side of Broadway, was 207–211, location of the: The YMCA Building was demolished to make way for the: The adjacent Potomac Block and Bicknell Block originally housed prominent retailers of the day, then were joined together in 1906 by Coulter's department store to form a complex, opening it as a new, 157,000 sq ft (14,600 m2) store in June, 1905.

It was designed in 1888 by Block, Curlett and Eisen in Romanesque architectural style[53] and opened on July 17, 1890.

Lettering covered the face of the building from top to bottom through the end of the 1950s: "THE LARGEST SHOE DEPT.

[60] After a fire at the Irvine Byrne Building destroyed its store on February 16, 1911, Myer Siegel moved further south on Broadway.

[127] Metro J Line bus rapid transit (BRT) has 5 stations adjacent to Broadway in South Los Angeles: 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester/I-110, Harbor Freeway, and Rosecrans.

Metro Local bus line 45 serves most of the length of Broadway, between Lincoln Heights through Downtown to the Harbor Freeway Station.