Boulevard
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For the alcoholic beverage, see Boulevard Brewing Company
Boulevard (French, from German Bollwerk – bulwark) has several generally accepted meanings.
In this case, as a type of road, a boulevard usually consists of a wide, multi-lane arterial divided thoroughfare, often with an above-average appearance in terms of landscaping and scenery.
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France
Baron Haussmann made such roads well-known in his re-shaping of Second Empire Paris between 1853 and 1870. The French word boulevard originally referred to the flat summit of a rampart (the etymology of the word distantly parallels that of bulwark). Many Parisian boulevards replaced old city walls.
Boulevard, is sometimes used to descibe an elegantly wide road, such as those in Paris, approaching the Champs-Élysées.
United States
In many places in the United States, particularly California, developers have adapted the term to refer to any arterial roads, not necessarily boulevards in the conventional sense. Many so-called "boulevards" in California extend into the mountains, with narrow, winding road segments only two lanes in width. However, boulevards can be any divided highway with at-grade intersections to local streets. They can commonly be abbreviated Blvd.
Some examples include:
- Sunset Boulevard in San Francisco. Sunset Blvd. has rows of trees on both sides of the highway with a median. Also, Sunset Blvd. connects to local roads through the Sunset District.
Throughout the United States, The Boulevard can refer to many things. The Cross Bay Boulevard in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, or Roosevelt Boulevard in the Northeast section of Philadelphia is a typical example of a boulevard. In Chicago, the boulevard system is a network of wide, planted-median boulevards that winds through the south, west, and north sides of the city and includes a ring of parks. Most of the boulevards and parks are 3-6 miles from the Loop.
Some people also use the term boulevard to refer to the division or central reservation in such a road, whether specifically in a "boulevard" in the above sense or not. It can consist of anything from a simple thick curb of concrete, to a wide strip of grass, to a thoroughly landscaped space of trees, shrubs, and other foliage; in urban areas, boulevards can also contain public art or memorials. Wide boulevards also sometimes serve as rights-of-way for trams or light rail systems.
Australia
Melbourne has at least 4 roads named "the Boulevard", generally being long, curvy two-lane roads in prestigious suburbs such as Ivanhoe.
The Rest of the World
Boulevards appear throughout the world as well. These include but are not limited to Cambodia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>, and China<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>.