There aren't many of them, but there are more than a handful of street names that are extremely evocative.

There's Broadway, of course. There's Peachtree Street in Atlanta, and the Strip in Las Vegas (which is actually Las Vegas Blvd., but who's counting?). There's the Loop in Chicago and then maybe the most evocative name of all.

Sunset Boulevard.

[caption id="attachment_787" align="alignright" width="300" caption="in Beverly Hills"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Sunset_Blvd_sign.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-787" title="Sunset_Blvd_sign" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Sunset_Blvd_sign-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

Even if it hadn't been the name of a 1950 movie starring Gloria Swanson, or a musical starring Glenn Close some 45 years later, Sunset Boulevard just screams Los Angeles.

Actually, L.A. has more than a few names like that. There's Hollywood Boulevard and Mulholland Drive, and if you're a rabid Johnny Carson fan, there the Slauson cutoff.

But Sunset Boulevard is special. You can drive it west through Hollywood and you'll reach the Sunset Strip. Head farther west into Beverly Hills and you'll see the quintessential California landscape -- palm trees, big houses and luxury cars. Farther west through Bel Air (turn left for UCLA) and then on to Santa Monica and the Pacific Palisades.

At the right time of day, you can pull over and see the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.

It's a street and a metaphor, all in one. Where do you go  when your career is over? Sunset Boulevard, but only if you made a ton of money.

Sunset Boulevard, where the sun is always setting.