LA To Rename Rodeo Road Obama Boulevard

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles City Council voted 15-0 Tuesday to rename Rodeo Road as Obama Boulevard in honor of former President Barack Obama.

"We're thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President @BarackObama when traveling across L.A.," Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted after the vote.

City Council President Herb Wesson proposed the name change last year and noted that then-candidate Obama held a campaign rally at Rancho Cienega Recreation Center on Rodeo Road in 2007. The 3.5-mile street runs from near the Culver City border east to Mid-City and is not to be confused with upscale Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

The street is in Wesson's council district and his motion mentioned it is home to "president's row," a series of streets named after former presidents which includes Washington Boulevard, Adams Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard. It's not too far from the Beverly Hills home of the sitting president, in fact. President Donald Trump owns a Beverly Hills mansion just off Rodeo Drive.

"President Obama is no stranger to Los Angeles. He began his college education in Los Angeles, as an undergraduate student at Occidental College from 1979 to 1981 before leaving for Columbia University," the motion stated.

Obama made 26 visits to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president.

Also named in honor of Obama are the portion of the Ventura (134) Freeway between Pasadena and Glendale and a charter school in the unincorporated Willowbrook area.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report; Photo: President Barack Obama speaks at Goalkeepers 2017, at Jazz at Lincoln Center on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)