Southern California: Difference between revisions
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* [[Victor Valley]] (San Bernardino County) |
* [[Victor Valley]] (San Bernardino County) |
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== How Geography Defines A Community == |
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Geography is the primary definition of the wealth and status of a community, especially in [[Southern California |Southern California]]. The majority of your upper class communities are set up in the hilly terrains of Southern California. Areas such as [[Anaheim Hills, California |Anaheim Hills]], [[Villa Park, California|Villa Park]], [[Bel Air, California |Bel Air]], [[Rolling Hills, California|California]].and [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] are all communities set high up in their counties, and probably because of their elevation isolation they are generally wealthier and nicer places to live. Other cities that are in their counties’ basin (the lower elevated cities) tend not to be as renowned for their wealth and prestige. This is something that is unique to Southern California especially, and is probably due to the master plan scheme to give the wealthier homes the best views of their counties. |
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==Transportation== |
==Transportation== |
Revision as of 07:30, 6 April 2006
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Southern_California.png/250px-Southern_California.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/DowntownLosAngeles.jpg/250px-DowntownLosAngeles.jpg)
Southern California, sometimes abbreviated SoCal or colloquially, the Southland, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the state of California. However, in recent years, even cities outside of the State of California such as Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV and, to some degree, even Tijuana in Mexico, have begun to be included in the SoCal mega-metro. If these cities were to be included, Southern California would be the nation's most populated region. It is home to an estimated 30 million people, over 10 percent of the population of the United States. There are no clear, exact boundaries for this area; instead, residents rely on physical features to establish the boundary. On the west is the Pacific Ocean; to the south is the international border between the United States and Mexico; to the east are the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts and the state border between California and Arizona; and to the north is the Tehachapi Mountain range, located about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, which separates the region from rest of the state.
Significance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Hollywood_Sign_close_up_2006.jpg/250px-Hollywood_Sign_close_up_2006.jpg)
Within its boundaries are two world cities (Los Angeles, the "capital" of SoCal, and San Diego, to the south) and three of the world's one hundred largest metropolitan areas. The region is also home to LAX, the nation's 3rd busiest airport and Van Nuys Airport, the world's busiest general aviation airport, as well as the Port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest commercial port. Also of note in the region is the infamous Los Angeles Freeway System, the world's busiest. Six of the seven lines of the commuter rail system, Metrolink, run out of Downtown Los Angeles, connecting Los Angeles County, Ventura County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Orange County, and San Diego County, with the other line connecting San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties directly: the nation's first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail line.
Southern California is also home to some of the world's most prestigious universites and research facilities, such as UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount, Claremont Consortium of Colleges, Pepperdine University, Cal Tech, five University of California campuses (San Diego, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, the aforementioned Los Angeles campus), and eleven California State University campuses. The Tech Coast is a moniker that has gained popular use as a descriptor for the region's diversified technology and industrial base as well as its multitude of research universities and other public and private R&D institutions.
Southern California is the entertainment (motion picture, television, and recorded music) capital of the world and is home to Hollywood, the motion picture industry center. Headquartered in Southern California are The Walt Disney Company (which also owns ABC), Sony Pictures (parent company of Paramount Pictures), Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, and Dreamworks, as well as Univision, Activision, and THQ.
More controversially, Southern California is also home to the world's largest adult entertainment industry, located primarily in the San Fernando Valley. More than eighty-five percent of all adult film and video production in the U.S. and Canada takes place in Southern California.
Southern California is also the sports and fitness capital of the world, and is home to Fox Sports Net. From high school sports to professional, SoCal numbers some of the most storied and successful sports franchises. Teams located within the region include the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, and San Diego Chargers. Southern California also boasts one of the most successful college football programs, the USC Trojans, and, as measured by national championships won, the best college basketball program in the UCLA Bruins.
With inhabitants that have come from every corner of the world, SoCal has had a major hand in pioneering many different subcultures, including the hippie movement, and music movements such as hardcore punk and conscious underground [hip-hop]]. The underground scene of Los Angeles is renowned worldwide and draws artists who want to get recognition. Record executives have their ears open for what is hip in the scene because they realize the tremendous influence the L.A. underground has on the world's culture.
Southern California is also known for its car culture. The concept of Hot Rodding had its roots in SoCal. The first organized drag racing event took place there and infiltrated throughout the entire country. Lowriders, MiniTrucks, and Sport Compact tuning have all been kickstarted by Southern California car lovers.
Northern boundary
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wpdms_shdrlfi020l_tehachapi_mountains.jpg/250px-Wpdms_shdrlfi020l_tehachapi_mountains.jpg)
The region's northern boundary is subject to a broader degree of interpretation than those of the West, East, and South. The most commonly used "physical" boundary between Southern California and the rest of the state is the Tehachapi Mountain range, located about 70 miles north of Los Angeles . A less inclusive boundary is the San Gabriel Mountain range, located 10 to 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but this boundary is generally not accepted due to the fact that land north of the San Gabriel Mountain Range but south of the Tehachipi Mountain Range is still inside Los Angeles County. Depending on which of the two mountain ranges is used for the northern boundary of the region, different communities/cities and counties are included in, or excluded from, the area called "Southern California".
- Using the San Gabriel Mountain range as the boundary, the following six counties (in descending order of population) are included: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Imperial.
- Using the Tehachapi Mountain range as the key to a northern boundary, the southern parts of Santa Barbara and Kern Counties should be included. The city of Santa Barbara is widely held to be in Southern California, due to the mild climate and the westerward alignment of the coastline, but Bakersfield and most of Kern County are usually regarded as a part of the Central Valley.
Urban landscape
Southern California is a heavily developed urban environment. It is the second largest urbanized region in the United States, second only to the Washington, D.C./Philadelphia/New York/Boston megalopolis (BosWash). Whereas the BosWash cities are dense, with major downtown populations and significant rail and transit systems, much of SoCal is famous for its large, spread-out, suburban communities and use of automobiles and highways. The dominant areas are Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County, each of which is the center of its respective metropolitan area, which all comprise numerous other cities and communities.
Traveling south on Interstate 5, the main gap to continued urbanization is Camp Pendleton. The communities along Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 are so inter-related that Temecula has as much connection with San Diego County as it does with the Inland Empire. To the east, the United States Census Bureau considers the San Bernardino and Riverside County areas as a separate metropolitan area from Los Angeles County. While many do commute to LA and Orange Counties, there are some differences in development, as most of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties was developed in the 1980's and 1990's.
Regions
Major cities
All population information is from the 2005 estimate of the State of California.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Sandiego.arp.750pix.jpg/250px-Sandiego.arp.750pix.jpg)
- Anaheim - 345,317
- Burbank - 106,739 (Airport: Bob Hope Airport)
- Chula Vista - 217,543
- Glendale - 207,007
- Irvine - 180,803
- Long Beach - 491,564 (Airport: Long Beach Municipal Airport)
- Los Angeles - 3,957,875 (Major airport: Los Angeles International Airport)
- Oceanside - 175,085 (Airport: Palomar Regional Airport)
- Ontario - 170,373 (Major airport: Ontario International Airport)
- Oxnard - 188,849 (Airport: Oxnard Airport)
- Palmdale - 136,734 (Airport: Palmdale Regional Airport)
- Riverside - 285,537 (Airport: Riverside Municipal Airport)
- San Bernardino - 199,803 (Airport: San Bernardino International Airport)
- San Diego - 1,305,736 (Major Airport: San Diego International Airport))
- Santa Ana - 351,697 (Major Airport: John Wayne-Orange County Airport)
Principal cities (over 100,000 inhabitants)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Venturacityhall.jpg/220px-Venturacityhall.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Santa_Monica_Downtown.jpg/220px-Santa_Monica_Downtown.jpg)
- Corona - 144,070
- Costa Mesa - 113,440
- Downey - 113,607
- East Los Angeles - 124,283
- El Monte - 125,832
- Escondido - 141,350
- Fontana - 160,015
- Fullerton - 135,672
- Garden Grove - 172,042
- Huntington Beach - 200,763
- Inglewood - 118,164
- Lancaster - 133,703
- Moreno Valley - 165,328
- Norwalk - 110,178
- Orange - 137,751
- Pasadena- 146,166
- Pomona - 160,815
- Rancho Cucamonga - 161,830
- Santa Clarita - 167,954
- Simi Valley - 121,427
- South Gate - 102,165
- Thousand Oaks - 127,112
- Torrance - 147,405
- Ventura - 106,096
- West Covina - 112,417
Counties
- South of the San Gabriel mountains
- North of the San Gabriel mountains
- Parts of Los Angeles
- Santa Barbara
- San Luis Obispo
- Kern
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura are also counties in the Central Coast.
Geographical regions
Southern California is also divided into the Coastal Region (Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County) and the larger, more sparsly populated, desert Inland Empire (San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Imperial County). The division between the Coastal Regions and the Inland Empire winds along the backs of the coastal mountain ranges such as the Santa Ana Mountains. A related geographical term is cismontane Southern California, which refers to the portion of California on the coastal side of the Transverse and Peninsular mountain ranges. The term "Southern California" often refers to this region specifically, as opposed to largely desert areas comprising the rest of the southern portion of the state, which are referred to as transmontane Southern California.
Geographic features
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Telegraph_Cucamonga_and_Ontario_Peaks.jpg/300px-Telegraph_Cucamonga_and_Ontario_Peaks.jpg)
- Antelope Valley (Los Angeles, Kern Counties)
- Ballona Wetlands (Los Angeles County)
- Coachella Valley (Riverside County)
- Conejo Valley (Ventura County)
- Channel Islands (Ventura County)
- San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County)
- San Gabriel Valley (Los Angeles County)
- Pomona Valley (Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties)
- Cucamonga Valley (San Bernardino County)
- High Desert (Los Angeles, Kern, and San Bernardino Counties)
- Imperial Valley (Imperial County)
- Inland Empire (Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties)
- La Jolla Cove (San Diego County)
- Lake Casitas (Ventura County)
- Lake Castaic (Los Angeles County)
- Lake Piru (Ventura County)
- Los Angeles Basin (Los Angeles County)
- Los Angeles River (Los Angeles County)
- Low Desert (Imperial, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties)
- Mojave Desert (Los Angeles, Kern & San Bernardino Counties)
- Mugu Lagoon (Ventura County)
- Orange Coast (Orange County)
- Oxnard Plain (Ventura County)
- Palos Verdes Peninsula (Los Angeles County)
- Palomar Mountain (San Diego County)
- Pyramid Lake(Los Angeles County)
- Saddleback Valley (Orange County)
- Salton Sea (Imperial and Riverside Counties)
- San Bernardino Mountains (San Bernardino County)
- San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County)
- San Gabriel Mountains (Los Angeles County)
- San Gabriel Valley (Los Angeles County)
- San Gabriel River (Los Angeles County)
- San Jacinto Mountains (Riverside County)
- San Pedro Bay (Los Angeles County)
- Santa Ana Valley (Orange County)
- Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
- Santa Clara River (Ventura County)
- Santa Clara River Valley (Ventura County)
- Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles and Ventura Counties)
- Santa Monica Bay (Los Angeles County)
- Santa Susana Mountains (Ventura County)
- Ventura River (Ventura County)
- Victor Valley (San Bernardino County)
How Geography Defines A Community
Geography is the primary definition of the wealth and status of a community, especially in Southern California. The majority of your upper class communities are set up in the hilly terrains of Southern California. Areas such as Anaheim Hills, Villa Park, Bel Air, California.and Beverly Hills are all communities set high up in their counties, and probably because of their elevation isolation they are generally wealthier and nicer places to live. Other cities that are in their counties’ basin (the lower elevated cities) tend not to be as renowned for their wealth and prestige. This is something that is unique to Southern California especially, and is probably due to the master plan scheme to give the wealthier homes the best views of their counties.
Transportation
Southern California freeway system
- File:Interstate 5 (California).svg Golden State Freeway/Santa Ana Freeway/San Diego Freeway/Montgomery Freeway (Interstate 5)
- File:Interstate 8 (California).svg Ocean Beach Freeway/Mission Valley Freeway (Interstate 8)
- File:Interstate 10 (California).svg Santa Monica (Rosa Parks) Freeway/Golden State Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10)
- File:Interstate 15 (California).svg Mojave Freeway/Barstow Freeway/Ontario Freeway/Corona Freeway/Temecula Valley Freeway/Escondido Freeway (Interstate 15)
- File:Interstate 105 (California).svg Century (Glenn Anderson) Freeway (Interstate 105)
- File:Interstate 110 (California).svg Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110)
- File:Interstate 210 (California).svg Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210)
- File:Interstate 215 (California).svg Barstow Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway/Moreno Valley Freeway/Escondido Freeway (Interstate 215)
- File:Interstate 405 (California).svg San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405)
- File:Interstate 605 (California).svg San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605)
- File:Interstate 710 (California).svg Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710)
- File:Interstate 805 (California).svg Jacob Dekema Freeway (Interstate 805)
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California State Routes
- Note: highway segments with names listed in italics are surface streets and not freeways.
Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)/Lincoln Boulevard/Sepulveda Boulevard/Oxnard Boulevard/Coast Highway/Camino las Ramblas (California State Route 1)
Angeles Crest Highway/Glendale Freeway/Santa Monica Boulevard (California State Route 2)
Antelope Valley Freeway (California State Route 14)
Rosemead Boulevard/Lakewood Boulevard
Seventh Street/Garden Grove Freeway (California State Route 22)
Decker Road/Mulholland Highway/Westlake Boulevard
Topanga Canyon Boulevard
Highland Avenue
Ojai Freeway (California State Route 33)
San Gabriel Canyon Road/Azusa Avenue/Beach Boulevard
Manchester Boulevard
Terminal Island Freeway/Seaside Avenue/Vincent Thomas Bridge
Soledad Freeway
South Bay Freeway/2nd Street
Costa Mesa Freeway/Newport Boulevard (California State Route 55)
Orange Freeway (California State Route 57)
Pomona Freeway/Moreno Valley Freeway (California State Route 60)
Foothill Boulevard
Julian Road/San Vicente Freeway
Corona Expressway/Chino Valley Freeway (California State Route 71)
Firestone Boulevard/Whittier Boulevard
San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor (toll road) (California State Route 73)
Ortega Highway/Palms to Pines Highway (California State Route 74)
San Diego-Coronado Bridge/Silver Strand Boulevard
Mission Avenue/Pala Road/Cuyamaca Highway
unnamed freeway/San Pasqual Valley Road
Winchester Road
Euclid Avenue
unnamed highway
Marina Freeway/Imperial Highway/Richard Nixon Freeway (California State Route 90)
Artesia Boulevard/Gardena Freeway/Artesia Freeway/Riverside Freeway (California State Route 91)
Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway/Campo Road
Hawthorne Boulevard
Pasadena Freeway (California State Route 110)
unnamed highway
Ronald Reagan Freeway (California State Route 118)
Santa Paula Freeway (California State Route 126)
Eastern Transportation Corridor (toll road)/Laguna Canyon Road (California State Route 133)
Ventura Freeway (California State Route 134)
Carbon Canyon Road
Cabrillo Freeway (California State Route 163)
Hollywood Freeway/Highland Avenue (California State Route 170)
Catalina Boulevard/Canon Street/Rosecrans Street
Western Avenue
Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor (toll road) (California State Route 241)
Balboa Avenue
3rd/4th Street
Cahuilla Road
Otay Mesa Freeway/Otay Mesa Road
Major public transit organizations
- Metrolink
- Los Angeles County MTA, or Metro
- San Diego trolley and San Diego County MTS
- Orange County Transportation Authority
- OmniTrans (San Bernardino County)
- Santa Barbara MTD
- South Coast Area Transit (Ventura County)
Metrolink commuter lines
- 91 Line (Union Station - Riverside-Downtown)
- Antelope Valley Line (Union Station - Lancaster)
- Inland Empire-Orange County (IEOC) Line (San Bernardino - San Juan Capistrano)
- Orange County Line (Union Station - Oceanside)
- Riverside Line (Union Station - Riverside-Downtown)
- San Bernardino Line (Union Station - San Bernardino/Riverside-Downtown)
- Ventura County Line (Union Station - Downtown Oxnard)
Communication
Telephone area codes
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Los_Angeles_area_codes.png/220px-Los_Angeles_area_codes.png)
- 213 - Downtown L.A. - originally covered all of Southern California.
- 323 - Doughnut-shaped area surrounding downtown, including Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, East L.A., northern South L.A.
- 310 - West L.A., Santa Monica, and the South Bay
- 424 - West L.A., Santa Monica, and the South Bay
- 562 - South-West L.A. County, Whittier, Long Beach area, and Northern Orange County.
- 619 - San Diego including downtown, East County and The South Bay
- 626 - Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley
- 661 - Antelope Valley including Palmdale, Lancaster; Santa Clarita
- 714 - North Orange County (Anaheim, Santa Ana & Huntington Beach
- 760 - North County San Diego (Oceanside, Escondido, San Marcos); Palm Springs
- 805 - All of Ventura County as well as Santa Barbara County
- 818 - The San Fernando Valley, Glendale
- 858 - Some northern neighborhoods of San Diego (Clairemont, Mira Mesa, La Jolla)
- 909 - Inland Empire North (Pomona & San Bernardino)
- 949 - Southern Orange County (Irvine, Laguna Niguel & San Clemente)
- 951 - Inland Empire South (Riverside, Temecula, & Murrieta)