Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County,
California, United States. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West
Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The
area's "Platinum Triangle" of affluent neighborhoods is formed by Beverly Hills
and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills. The population
was 34,980 as of the 2006 census. Beverly Hills is home to many Hollywood
celebrities, corporate executives, and numerous other wealthy individuals and
families.
Beverly Hills contains some of the largest homes in Los Angeles County and in
the nation. In 2007, Coldwell Banker lists Beverly Hills as the most expensive
housing market (second year in a row) in the United States, with a median home
price of over $2.2 million. These homes range from the extravagant and luxurious
in size, to the more elegant and modern homes, and then to the many small duplex
rental units and detached homes with less than 2,000 sqft.
Beverly Hills is bordered on the north by Bel-Air and the Santa Monica
Mountains, on the east by West Hollywood, the Carthay neighborhood of Los
Angeles, and the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, and on the south by the
Beverlywood. Beverly Hills is nearly entirely surrounded by the city of Los
Angeles, sharing only a portion of its eastern border, primarily along Doheny
Drive, with West Hollywood. The precise limits of Beverly Hills are complex, and
therefore hard to describe; however, the city limits can be roughly described as
the area surrounded by the Los Angeles Country Club and Century Park Drive to
the Southwest, Whitworth Drive to the South, variously Doheny Drive/Robertson
Blvd/San Vicente Blvd to the East, and the Hollywood Hills to the North.
Major east-west thoroughfares in Beverly Hills include Wilshire Boulevard,
Santa Monica Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard. Shopping is prevalent along
Beverly Drive and the world-famous Rodeo Drive. Coldwater Canyon Drive is the
main road out of Beverly Hills to the north into the San Fernando Valley.
Beverly Drive and Roberston Blvd exit to the south into the city of Los
Angeles.
In spite of the city's name, most residents live in the "flats" of Beverly
Hills, a relatively flat land that includes all of Beverly Hills south of Sunset
Blvd. The homes in the hills north of Sunset Boulevard have a much higher value
than average homes in the rest of Beverly Hills, and the most expensive homes in
Beverly Hills are all in the hills. Santa Monica Boulevard divides the "flats"
into two areas, locally known as "North or South of the tracks," referring to
the train tracks that were once used by the old Pacific Electric streetcar line
that traversed Beverly Hills along Santa Monica Blvd. Homes south of Wilshire
have more urban square and rectangular lots, generally smaller than those to the
north. There are also more apartment buildings south of Wilshire Blvd than
anywhere else in Beverly Hills, and the average home value south of Wilshire is
the lowest in Beverly Hills.
Nearly all businesses and government offices in Beverly Hills are located
south of Santa Monica Boulevard, two notable exceptions being the Beverly Hills
Hotel and the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Just outside the city limits to the west
lies the Los Angeles Country Club. Other locations commonly associated with
Beverly Hills include the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Beverly Center,
just outside city limits to the east.
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