Is is possible that one day you would drive across Sepulveda Boulevard into East Manhattan... and the next day you'd drive the same way across Pacific Coast Highway into Manhattan Knolls? Yes, it's possible, if local groups proposing name changes have their way.

A proposal to change the name of Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach has been drawing lots of attention, as the city grapples with the implications for residents and businesses.

Proponents cite the fact that calling it "Pacific Coast Highway" will keep it consistent with other neighboring cities, including El Segundo, which has recently changed to the PCH moniker. Many businesses also that it will bring prestige to the address. 

Traditionalists, however, argue that the name "Sepulveda" is deeply rooted in history - and that the change would be unnecessary and expensive. 

At its August 7 meeting, the Manhattan Beach City Council discussed the proposed name change and directed staff to move forward with conducting outreach to all affected property/business owners along Sepulveda Boulevard. Additionally, the city created a survey on its “Open City Hall” forum. Click here to take the survey. 

According to city officials, the earliest the name change would occur is January, 2019. The post office would provide a transition period of 18 months for the address change to allow for proper notifications to customers, transition of stationary, etc., and planning for other financial considerations. This means it would not be permanently effective before June, 2020.

"Manhattan Knolls" is a proposed name change that would refer to what is now known as East Manhattan, or the portions of Manhattan Beach that are east of Sepulveda Blvd. (A "knoll" is a gently rolling hill.)

The effort to rename East Manhattan Beach was launched by George Reppucci, a 30 year East Manhattan Beach resident, a published Manhattan Beach history researcher, and a retired Northrop Grumman/TRW program manager, and local real estate agent Ed Kaminsky of Strand Hill Properties.

In deciding to find a more descriptive name for the neighborhood, Reppucci and Kaminsky did historical research to learn that a large property East of Meadows Ave. once owned by the Kuhn family was called The Knoll but was never officially named as such.

"Because all the [Manhattan Beach] neighborhoods have been mainly named after a physical characteristic, it only seemed right to choose the dominant topographical feature of East Manhattan Beach and use that as it its proposed name," they wrote in the website promoting the name change.

Reppucci and Kaminsky acknowledge that neighborhood naming is not official city business or politics; it's simply a nickname that is earned over time. The most common way neighborhoods get named is by the real estate industry when real estate professionals create descriptive ways to identify the differences of each area within a city (i.e. the Hill Section, the Tree Section, and the Tree Section).

Currently, three distinct neighborhoods in East Manhattan are known as Mira Costa (south of Manhattan Beach Blvd.), Manhattan Heights (north of Manhattan Beach Blvd., south of Redondo Ave.), Liberty Village (north of Manhattan Beach Blvd., north of Redondo Ave.), and Manhattan Village (the gated community north of Marine Blvd.).

Reppucci and Kaminsky are surveying residents and asking them to give feedback and vote on the proposed name change at their website www.manhattanknolls.com.

In the meantime, our colleagues at Manhattan Beach Confidential are curious about who supports the various name changes, and/or what other name changes you would propose. Weigh in (and give your suggestions) at the Manhattan Beach Confidential survey here.