Welcome to L.A. Street Names, the origin stories of street names across Los Angeles County, from the shortest cul-de-sacs to the longest boulevards. Mysteries solved, myths debunked, scandals exposed, history revealed. This is an ongoing project with more than 1,900 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.
Featured Major Street
Buena Vista Street
Because of Buena Vista’s long association with Walt Disney Studios, which is headquartered on the street, some may wonder: did Disney name the street? Nope. This street’s name – which means “good view” in Spanish – was coined by 1916. (It wasn’t the Southland’s first Buena Vista Street, either: part of L.A.’s Broadway went by that name in the 19th century.) Walt Disney moved his animation studio here from Hyperion Avenue in 1939, after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He didn’t establish the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company – the first of Disney’s many Buena Vista-branded entities – until 1953. It was a means of releasing Disney films autonomously after the termination of the studio’s distribution deal with RKO Radio Pictures.