Whittier (California)



Whittier is a city of 86,000 (2018) in Los Angeles County in Southern California. It was founded by Quakers in 1887 and incorporated in 1898.

Get in
Although bordered on the west and north by freeways, Whittier is harder to get to by car than most of the Gateway Cities. This gives parts of the city a secluded feel, but what residents gain in peace and quiet they pay for in long commutes.

From Downtown L.A. take the Pomona Freeway (60) east. Merge onto the San Gabriel River Freeway (605) south and exit at Whittier Boulevard. Turn left at the off ramp onto Whittier Boulevard. (Exiting at Beverly Boulevard East is faster, but it's more confusing.)

Whittier can be reached by Montebello Bus Lines 10, 40 and 50 from the West, Metro Line 270, Foothill Transit lines 274 and 285 from the North, and Metro Lines 120 and 270 from the South.

Get around
To get to Uptown Whittier, the city's historic business district, turn left onto Hadley Street and then right onto Greenleaf Avenue. The majority of Uptown's small businesses are on Greenleaf between Hadley and Mar Vista Streets, but you'll find other shops and restaurants a few blocks east and west of Greenleaf.

If locally owned small businesses aren't your thing, continue to head south on Greenleaf and turn left onto Whittier Boulevard. At the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Painter Avenue, you'll find The Quad, a formerly indoor mall. After years of being a ghost town, it was completely redone after the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. It's now like every other strip mall in suburbia, which means there's plenty of parking and chain restaurants.

Still haven't had your fill of cookie-cutter corporate America? Continue southeast on Whittier Boulevard until you come to the Whittwood Town Center. Formerly called the Whittwood Mall, this outdoor strip mall was built as an outdoor strip mall. Following the trend of the time, they enclosed it in the late 1970s. The roofed part of the mall ran from the eastern entrance of Sears (formerly the Broadway) to the western entrance of JC Penney. Where Target now stands used to be more parking, a gym, and a tire shop. After years of empty storefronts, a plan was hatched to &mdash; (are you sensing a trend here?) &mdash; tear down the indoor part of the mall.

Bus lines 270, Montebello 10 and Montebello 50 serve uptown Whittier. Line 270 continues south on Santa Fe Springs Road, while Lines 10 and 50 continue south on Painter Avenue.