Barack Obama might have only lived in Los Angeles for two years, but the 44th president’s name has moved back for good.
On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council voted to rename Rodeo Road, a street running along the northern edge of the Baldwin Hills neighborhood, as Obama Boulevard.
City Council President Herb Wesson first proposed renaming the street in 2017, noting that Rancho Cienega Park off Rodeo Road was the site of a major Obama campaign rally during his presidential run in 2008. The 3.5-mile street is also located in a predominantly African American community, and is near streets named after Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the vote on Twitter shortly after it passed.
It’s official: our City Council has voted to rename Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard!
We’re thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President @BarackObama when traveling across L.A. pic.twitter.com/gnVNgBgndn
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) August 29, 2018
Wesson tweeted on Tuesday that the vote to rename the street occurred on the same day that King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, and that he was “Proud to take this next step on a day that meant so much to so many.”
Also #OTD in 2008, @BarackObama became the first African-American presidential nominee from a major political party. Today our council gave final approval to our motion to rename Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard. Proud to take this next step on a day that meant so much to so many. pic.twitter.com/fpGqikmQtD
— Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (@HerbJWesson) August 28, 2018
Obama attended Occidental College in L.A.’s Eagle Rock neighborhood for two years before transferring to Columbia. But he has also long been a popular figure in Hollywood, with many including John Legend and Ava DuVernay tweeting well wishes on his birthday earlier this month.
