La Brea Avenue is a prominent north/south thoroughfare in the City of Los Angeles and in Los Angeles, County, California.
It is known for having diverse ethnic communities, and many shops and restaurants along its route.
La Brea is the Spanish phrase meaning "the tar." The La Brea Tar Pits, which the 1828 Mexican land grant Rancho La Brea was named for, are to the west of its intersection with Wilshire Boulevard in the Mid-Wilshire area.
In its early history its northern section it originally followed Arroyo La Brea, a former creek fed by springs in the Santa Monica Mountains that flowed south into Ballona Creek. Originally the southern section of La Brea Avenue within Inglewood was named Commercial Street.
La Brea Avenue begins north of Century Boulevard intersection in Inglewood, as a continuation of Hawthorne Boulevard. It passes north through the Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, and Baldwin Hills neighborhoods. It passes through the eastern low Baldwin Hills mountain range, by Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and remnant oil fields.