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Greater Los Angeles

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Greater Los Angeles Area
Map
Population
CSA - 17,775,984[1] MSA - 12,923,547[2]

The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, (not to be confused with the Los Angeles Metro Area which only includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties) is the agglomeration of urbanized area around the county of Los Angeles, California, United States. Greater Los Angeles includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area (Los Angeles & Orange Counties) as well as the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Area, and the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metro Area. San Diego and Imperial Counties, while a part of Southern California, are not included in this agglomeration.

It is the most commonly used term for the Combined Statistical Area (a group of interacting metropolitan areas) sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County. A common unofficial definition includes the region ranging from Ventura County to the southwestern area of San Bernardino County. It is not always meaningful to refer to Los Angeles as a distinct city, and people outside of Southern California often refer to the entire region as L.A. even though it includes five counties, more than 100 distinct municipalities, and more people than any individual state except for Texas, New York, Florida, and California itself.

The region contains some of the most affluent areas of the country. It has been one of fastest growing regions in the United States for decades, first in Los Angeles County, then Orange County, and now in the Inland Empire. As of 2005, the official estimate of the population of the Los Angeles metropolitan area is more than 12.9 million, while the larger five-county region has a population of over 17.6 million. Either definition makes it the second-largest core-based statistical area[4] in the country, behind the New York metropolitan area.

The U.S. Bureau of the Census has designated the five county region as the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area, with a July 1, 2006 population estimate of 17,776,000[5]. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Los Angeles metropolitan area has a total area of 4,850 square miles (12,562 km²), while the wider combined statistical area covers 33,954 square miles (87,941 km²), but more than half of this is the sparsely populated eastern areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.


Components of the metropolitan area

The counties and county groupings comprising the Los Angeles metropolitan area are listed below with 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates of their populations.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (12,950,129)

  • Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division (9,948,081)
  • Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division (3,002,048)

In addition to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the following Metropolitan Statistical Areas are also included in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA Combined Statistical Area (total pop. 17,775,984):

Urban areas of the region

The combined statistical area is a multicore metropolitan region containing several urban areas.

Population
Rank 		Urbanized Area State(s) 2000
Population
2 Los Angeles—Long Beach—Santa Ana CA 11,789,487
25 Riverside—San Bernardino CA 1,506,816
68 Mission Viejo CA 533,015
91 Oxnard California 337,591
123 Lancaster—Palmdale CA 263,532
125 Indio—Cathedral City—Palm Springs CA 254,856
131 Temecula—Murrieta CA 229,810
143 Thousand Oaks CA 210,990
150 Victorville—Hesperia—Apple Valley CA 200,436
176 Santa Clarita CA 170,481
227 Hemet CA 117,200
238 Simi Valley CA 112,345
368 Camarillo CA 62,798


Principal cities

The following is a list of principal cities in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside Combined Statistical Area with 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates of their population:

Geography

Urban Form

The Los Angeles Basin, looking south from Mulholland Drive. Palos Verdes peninsula lies across the basin on the Pacific coast; Catalina Island lies beyond PV.

Los Angeles has a long-standing reputation for sprawl; however, this reputation is undeserved. As of the 2000 Census, The "Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana" Urbanized Area had a population density of 7,068 people per square mile (2,730/km²), covering 1,668 square miles (4,320 km2) of land area, making it the most densely-populated Urbanized Area (as defined by the United States Census Bureau) in the United States.[6] For comparison, the "New York-Newark" Urbanized Area as a whole had a population density of 5,309 people per square mile, covering 3,353 square miles (8,684 km2) of land area.

The popular misconception of Los Angeles as a sprawling city may originate in the region's decentralized structure. Rather than being concentrated in a single downtown area, the region's major cultural, commercial, residential, political, industrial, and institutional resources are dispersed over an intricate, interconnected network. While the overall density of the city (municipality) of Los Angeles is low compared to some other large American cities (less than one-third the density of New York City, for instance),[7] this figure is deceiving in part because the region includes largely uninhabited areas such as parts of the Santa Monica Mountains and because many of the city's suburban satellites have densities among the highest in the nation.[8] The population density of the central area was more than 13,500 per square mile in 2000[2]. Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for small lot sizes, low vacancy rates, and general lack of large exurban spreads. In inner areas, its not uncommon for people to share rooms or rent their living room to strangers. However, even in inner areas, buildings tend to be of very low height compared to other extremely large cities in part because of stringent earthquake buildings codes which increase costs and also because of mini-clusters of buildings spread throughout greater LA. Los Angeles became a major city just as the Pacific Electric Railway spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense but separated cities linked by rail. The ascendance of the automobile helped fill in the gaps between these commuter towns with lower-density settlements.

Suburban areas surround the city of Los Angeles on all sides. Starting in the early twentieth century, there was a large growth in population on the western edges of the city moving to the San Fernando Valley and out into the Conejo Valley which comprises Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Agoura, Oak Park, Westlake Village, Lake Sherwood, Hidden Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park which was formerly an unincorporated area that is now the most westerly part of Thousand Oaks, and into the rest of Ventura County. Much of the working class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles.[9] As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US 101 corridor. Making the US 101 a full freeway in the 1960s and expansions that followed helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. Development in Ventura County and along the US 101 corridor remains controversial, with open-space advocates battling those who feel business development is necessary to economic growth.[10] Although the area still has abundant amount of open space and land, almost all of it was put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of the master plan of each city. Because of this, this area which was once a relatively inexpensive area to buy real estate, has seen rising real estate prices.[11] Median home prices in the Conejo Valley for instance, now range from $700,000 to $2.2 million.[12]

The Los Angeles area continues to grow, principally on the periphery where new, cheaper, undeveloped areas are being sought. As such, in these areas, populations as well as housing prices have exploded. Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, which contain large swaths of desert, attracted most of the population increase between 2000 and 2006. Growth continues not only outside the existing urbanized area, but also adjacent to existing development in the central areas. As in virtually all US core cities, there is now vigorous residential development in the downtown area, both new buildings and renovation of former office buildings. The Los Angeles Downtown News keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter, [3].

See also: Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California

Identity

From a height, a flat area completely filled with houses, buildings, roads, and freeways

The term "Greater Los Angeles" can be used to denote the metropolitan area or the consolidated area. The term "Southland" is more nebulous and can refer to either. As is the case in virtually all major metropolitan areas, most employment is now outside the downtown core and many people commute and conduct all of their daily activities in suburban areas, such as the large counties and the municipalities that are outside the city of Los Angeles.

Boundaries

Los Angeles Basin at dawn

Some areas are bounded by natural features such as mountains or the ocean; others are marked by city boundaries, freeways, or other constructed landmarks. For example, Downtown Los Angeles is the area of Los Angeles roughly enclosed by three freeways and one river: the Harbor Freeway to the west, the U.S. Route 101 to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and the Santa Monica Freeway to the south. Or, the San Fernando Valley: lying north-northwest of downtown ("The Valley") is a 15 mile (24 km) wide basin ringed by mountains.

Some other areas of Los Angeles include the Westside; South L.A. (formerly known as South Central L.A.); and the San Pedro/Harbor City area. Adjoining areas that are outside the actual city boundaries of the incorporated city of Los Angeles include the South Bay, the Gateway Cities, the San Gabriel Valley and the Foothills. The San Pedro/Harbor City area was annexed by the city of Los Angeles so the city could have access and control over the Port of Los Angeles, and is connected by only a narrow Corridor, which follows the Harbor Freeway for the most part, with the rest of L.A. Many Angelenos consider the Eastside to be the area east of the Los Angeles River, above Orange County.

The city boundaries are quite complicated. For example, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles except for a small border the two cities share. Culver City is surrounded by L.A. except where it shares a boundary with the unincorporated communities of Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills. Both Santa Monica and the unincorporated area of Marina del Rey are surrounded except on their ocean side. San Fernando in the northern corner of the San Fernando Valley is also a separate city entirely surrounded by L.A. territory. Most of the Los Angeles County land area is unincorporated and under the primary jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

Tourism

Due to L.A.'s stance as the "Entertainment Capital of the World", there is an abundance of attractions here, and that is why it is one of the most visited destinations in the world. Here is a breakdown of some of the major attractions throughout the greater Los Angeles area:

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland

Theme Parks


Laguna Beach coastline is popular for sunbathers

Beaches

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills

Shopping

Warner Brothers Studios in the San Fernando Valley

Motion Picture Studios

File:94583308 d0d872bc01 o.jpg
Blue Cavern Habitat at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Waterparks

Zoos and Aquariums

Nightlife

File:GettyMuseum4.jpg
The Getty Center sits on a hill overlooking Los Angeles
File:DSC Main.jpg
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California

Museums

See also, Los Angeles City Museums
File:Qm2 qmsmall1.jpg
The Queen Mary (front) in Long Beach, California, now a hotel and tourist attraction.
Exterior day view of the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa

Other

Commercial Airports

Airport IATA code ICAO code County
Los Angeles International Airport LAX KLAX Los Angeles
LA/Ontario International Airport ONT KONT San Bernadino
John Wayne Airport SNA KSNA Orange
Bob Hope Airport BUR KBUR Los Angeles
Long Beach Municipal Airport LGB KLGB Los Angeles
LA/Palmdale Regional Airport PMD KPMD Los Angeles
San Bernardino International Airport SBD KSBD San Bernardino

Sports

Major sports teams serving the Greater Los Angeles area include the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League and the Los Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse.

The Los Angeles media market currently lacks a National Football League team. After the 1994 season, the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri and the Los Angeles Raiders moved to Oakland, California, their original home.

There were several years that made Los Angeles area sports dominate:

  • 1972: The Lakers, having won 33 straight games at one point in the regular season, finally won their first NBA championship in Los Angeles, with a victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The UCLA Bruins won their eighth national championship in Division I basketball overall, and a sixth consecutive during their amazing tenure with John Wooden as coach. The USC Trojans got their seventh national championship in Division I-A football, with a victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl Game.
  • 1988: Having guaranteed a repeat during the 1987 chamipionship parade, head coach Pat Riley and the Lakers became the first repeat champions in the NBA in 19 years, with a victory in the 1988 NBA Finals over the Detroit Pistons. In the summer, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, in the biggest sports trade before the Los Angeles Galaxy's acquisition of David Beckham in 2007. And in October, the Dodgers pulled an improbable run to the World Series championship, with victories over the New York Mets in the NLCS, and the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.
  • 2002: The Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (MLB) each won championships, giving the Los Angeles area 4 major professional titles in a single year. The Lakers won a third consecutive championship, with a victory over the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. The Sparks won their second consecutive title. Meanwhile, the titles for the Angels and Galaxy were a first for each of them. The Galaxy beat the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup, while the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series.

In 2007, the Los Angeles area finally acquired the only title that had eluded the region, when the Anaheim Ducks captured the Stanley Cup chamipionship over the Ottawa Senators, in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

As a whole, the Los Angeles area has more national championships, all sports combined (college and professional), than any other city in the United States, with over four times as many championships as the entire state of Texas, and just over twice that of New York City.

Counties in the Southland

Regions of the Southland

Cities

Further information: [[:List of towns in the Greater Los Angeles Area]]

County Seats of the Greater L.A. area

Ventura City Hall in Old Town Ventura

Other important cities of the Greater L.A. area

Cities with a population over 200,000

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimates for metropolitan statistical areas
  3. ^ http://lacounty.info/statistical_information.htm
  4. ^ Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, U.S. Census Bureau.
  5. ^ 7/1/2006 Combined Statistical Area Population Estimates File for Internet Display, U.S. Census Bureau.
  6. ^ American Factfinder, United States Census Bureau, Table: "GCT-PH1-R. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density (geographies ranked by total population): 2000" from Data Set: "Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data", accessed 10 October, 2007 at: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-state=gct&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1-R&-mt_name=&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=&-format=US-12S&-_lang=en See also: List of United States urban areas
  7. ^ Haughton, Graham, and Colin Hunter, Sustainable Cities, London: Routledge, 2003: 81.
  8. ^ Bruegmann, Robert. Sprawl: A Compact History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005: 65.
  9. ^ Gutierrez, David. The Columbia History of Latinos in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003: 94.
  10. ^ Curtiss, Aaron. "Bitter Land-Use Fights Seen For 101 Corridor Development." Los Angeles Times 20 November 1993: B1.
  11. ^ Olsen, Andy. "Local Home Prices Soar in May." Los Angeles Times 23 June 2003: B3.
  12. ^ Griggs, Gregory. "Local Homes Get Even Pricier." Los Angeles Times 21 August 2003: B1.
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