Portal:Greater Los Angeles
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Introduction
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Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest urban region in the United States, encompassing five counties in southern California, extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County on the east, with Los Angeles County in the center and Orange County to the southeast. It consists of three metropolitan areas in Southern California; the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the Inland Empire, and the Ventura/Oxnard metropolitan area (Ventura County).
Throughout the 20th century, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, although growth has slowed since 2000. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of nearly 13 million residents. Meanwhile, the larger metropolitan region's population at the 2010 census was estimated to be over 17.8 million residents, and a 2015 estimate reported a population of about 18.7 million. Either definition makes it the second largest metropolitan region in the country, behind the New York metropolitan area, as well as one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world.
Selected general articles
Images from top, left to right: Long Beach skyline from Bluff Park, retired RMS Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific Blue Cavern exhibit, TTI Terminal at Port of Long Beach, Villa Riviera, Metro Blue Line, Long Beach Lighthouse
Long Beach is a city on the Pacific Coast of the United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area of Southern California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257. It is the 39th most populous city in the United States and the 7th most populous in California. Long Beach is the second-largest city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the third largest in Southern California behind Los Angeles and San Diego. Long Beach is a charter city.
The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the world's largest shipping ports. The city also maintains a progressively declining oil industry with minor wells located both directly beneath the city as well as offshore. Manufacturing sectors include those in aircraft, automotive parts, electronic equipment, audiovisual equipment, petrochemicals, precision metals and home furnishings.
Long Beach lies in the southeastern corner of Los Angeles County and borders Orange County. Downtown Long Beach is approximately 22 miles (35 km) south of downtown Los Angeles, though the two cities share an official border for several miles. Read more...
The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Read more...
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of Southern California, United States, 12 miles (19 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The population at the 2010 census was 103,340.
Billed as the "Media Capital of the World" and only a few miles northeast of Hollywood, numerous media and entertainment companies are headquartered or have significant production facilities in Burbank, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, The Burbank Studios, Cartoon Network Studios with the West Coast branch of Cartoon Network, and Insomniac Games. The Hollywood Burbank Airport was the location of Lockheed's Skunk Works, which produced some of the most secret and technologically advanced airplanes, including the U-2 spy planes that uncovered the Soviet Union missile components in Cuba in October 1962.
Burbank consists of two distinct areas: a downtown/foothill section, in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains, and the flatland section. The city was referred to as "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The city was named after David Burbank, a New Hampshire–born dentist and entrepreneur who established a sheep ranch there in 1867. Read more...
Corona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 152,374, up from 124,966 at the 2000 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and northeast, respectively, Chino Hills and Yorba Linda to the northwest, and the Cleveland National Forest and the Santa Ana Mountains to the southwest, and unincorporated areas of Riverside County line all of its other borders. Corona lies approximately 48 miles (77 km) southeast of Los Angeles and 95 miles (153 km) north-northwest of San Diego. Read more...
Orange is a city located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other cities in the region demolished such houses in the 1960s, Orange decided to preserve them. The small city of Villa Park is surrounded by the city of Orange. The population was 139,812 as of 2014. Read more...
The city of Simi Valley (from the Chumash word, Shimiyi), in the eponymous valley, is in the southeast corner of Ventura County, California, United States, 40 miles (64 km) from downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city sits next to Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Los Angeles. The city's 2014 population has been estimated at 126,871, up from 111,351 in 2000. The city of Simi Valley is surrounded by the Santa Susana Mountain range and the Simi Hills, west of the San Fernando Valley, and northeast of the Conejo Valley. It is largely a commuter bedroom community, feeding the cities in the Los Angeles area and the San Fernando Valley to the east, and cities in Ventura County to the west.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where the former president was buried in 2004, is in Simi Valley. Simi Valley has been ranked twice as the 18th most conservative city in the United States; once by The Bay Area Center for Voting Research and also by GovPro.com. The Reagan Library has hosted Republican primary debates, last in 2012, and the first primary debates in 2016. A study done by the University of Vermont ranked Simi Valley as the fifth-happiest city in the United States. According to crime statistics by the FBI in 2013, Simi Valley is the seventh-safest city in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more. The U.S. Census Bureau of 2012 reported a median household income of $87,894, which is higher than the California median of $70,231 and the national average of $62,527. Read more...
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, defined by the mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it. Home to 1.77 million people, it is north of the larger, more populous Los Angeles Basin.
Nearly two thirds of the valley's land area is part of the city of Los Angeles. The other incorporated cities in the valley are Glendale, Burbank, San Fernando, Hidden Hills, and Calabasas. Read more...
Costa Mesa (/ˌkoʊstəˈmeɪsə/) is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and edge city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light manufacturing. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 United States Census. Read more...
Lake Arrowhead is an artificial lake located in the San Bernardino Mountains on Little Bear Creek, a tributary of Deep Creek and the Mojave River. It has a surface area of approximately 780 acres (320 ha) and a capacity of 48,000 acre⋅ft (59,000 dam3). It is surrounded by the unincorporated community of Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County, California.
The lake was originally intended to serve as part of a major waterworks project to provide irrigation water to the San Bernardino Valley, and construction of the Lake Arrowhead Dam began toward that end in 1904. However, the original project was halted due to litigation over water supplies to land owners on the desert side of the mountains. Construction of the dam was completed in 1922 by the Arrowhead Lake Company, a Los Angeles syndicate, as part of a plan to develop the area into a resort.
Use of the lake is currently controlled by the Arrowhead Lake Association, which maintains the lake for the recreational use of its members. The Lake Arrowhead Community Services District withdraws water from the lake for treatment and distribution to local residents for potable use. Read more...
Palos Verdes Estates is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The city is located along the Southern California coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
The population was 13,438 at the 2010 census, up from 13,340 in the 2000 census. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Palos Verdes Estates is the 81st richest place in the United States with at least 1,000 households (based upon per capita income). The 90274 ZIP code (covering the cities of Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills) was ranked the 47th most expensive housing area among high property value U.S. ZIP codes in a 2007 study by Forbes.com. Palos Verdes is also particularly well known for its high-performing schools, with various national publications ranking the high school between 8th and 44th best in the nation in the 2000s and 2010s. Read more...
Temecula /təˈmɛkjʊlə/ is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a tourist destination, with the Temecula Valley Wine Country, Old Town Temecula, the Temecula Valley Polo Club, the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, the Temecula Valley International Film Festival, championship golf courses, and resort accommodations for tourists which contribute to the city's economic profile.
The City of Temecula, forming the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region, is approximately 58 miles (93 km) north of downtown San Diego and 85 miles (137 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Temecula is bordered by the city of Murrieta to the north and the Pechanga Indian Reservation and San Diego County to the south. The population was 100,097 during the 2010 census and an estimated 2018 population of 113,181. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989. Read more...
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, Carson is the newest municipality in the South Bay region of Metropolitan Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 91,714. Read more...
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. Riverside is the county seat of the eponymous county and named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and in Riverside County, and is located about 55 miles (89 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. It is also part of the Greater Los Angeles area. Riverside is the 59th most populous city in the United States and 12th most populous city in California. As of the 2010 Census, Riverside had a population of 303,871.
Riverside was founded in the early 1870s. It is the birthplace of the California citrus industry and home of the Mission Inn, the largest Mission Revival Style building in the United States. It is also home to the Riverside National Cemetery.
The University of California, Riverside, is located in the northeastern part of the city. The university also hosts the Riverside Sports Complex. Other attractions in Riverside include the Fox Performing Arts Center, Riverside Metropolitan Museum, which houses exhibits and artifacts of local history, the California Museum of Photography, the California Citrus State Historic Park, and the Parent Washington Navel Orange Tree, the last of the two original navel orange trees in California. Read more...
Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, located 34 miles (55 km) southeast of the city of Los Angeles in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The population was 170,883 at the 2010 United States Census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city in an east-west direction. The western portion of the city is known as West Garden Grove. Read more...
Willowbrook, alternatively named Willow Brook, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 35,983 at the 2010 census, up from 34,138 at the 2000 census.
Willowbrook is the home to the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center. Also located in Willowbrook is the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which oversees residency training programs, allied health programs, a medical education program (jointly with the University of California, Los Angeles), a medical magnet high school, the area Head Start program, and various centers for health disparities research. Due to severe deficiencies, the former King/Drew Medical Center lost accreditation of several key residency training programs. Read more...
The Channel Islands form an eight-island archipelago along the Santa Barbara Channel in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California. Five of the islands are part of Channel Islands National Park, and the waters surrounding these islands make up Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The islands were first colonized by the Chumash and Tongva Native Americans 13,000 years ago, who were then displaced by Spaniards who used the islands for fishing and agriculture. The U.S. military uses the islands as training grounds, weapons test sites, and as a strategic defensive location. The Channel Islands and the surrounding waters house a diverse ecosystem with many endemic species and subspecies. The islands harbor 150 unique species of plant that are found only on the Islands and nowhere else in the world. Read more...
The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region in Southern California. The term may be used to refer to the cities of western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County, sometimes including the desert communities of Palm Springs and the rest of the Coachella Valley; a much larger definition includes all of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The U.S. Census Bureau-defined Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area, which comprises Riverside County and San Bernardino County, California, covers more than 27,000 sq mi (70,000 km2) and has a population of approximately 4 million. Most of the area's population is located in southwestern San Bernardino County and northwestern Riverside County. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Inland Empire was a major center of agriculture, including citrus, dairy, and winemaking. However, agriculture declined through the twentieth century, and since the 1970s a rapidly growing population, fed by families migrating in search of affordable housing, has led to more residential, industrial, and commercial development. Read more...
The South Bay is a region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County. The name stems from its geographic location stretching along the southern shore of Santa Monica Bay. The South Bay contains fifteen cities plus portions of the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated portions of the county. The area is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the south and west and generally by the City of Los Angeles on the north and east. Read more...
Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, 13 mi (21 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of the oldest still operational McDonald's restaurant in the world. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 111,779. Read more...
Fontana (/fɒnˈtænə/) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional hub of the trucking industry, with Interstate 10 and State Route 210 transecting the city from east to west, and Interstate 15 passing diagonally through its northwestern quadrant.
It is home to the largest of the San Bernardino County system libraries, a renovated historic theater, a municipal park, and the Auto Club Speedway on the site of the Kaiser Steel Mill. Fontana also hosts the Fontana Days Half Marathon and 5K run. This race is the fastest half-marathon course in the world.
The United States Census Bureau estimated Fontana's 2017 population at 211,815, making it the second-most populous city in San Bernardino County and the 19th largest in the state. The name fontana is Italian for fountain or water source, being in close proximity to the Santa Ana River to the east. Read more...
Hermosa Beach is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,506 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area; it is one of the three Beach Cities. Hermosa Beach is bordered by the other two, Manhattan Beach to the north and Redondo Beach to the south and east.
The city's beach is popular for sunbathing, beach volleyball, surfing, paddleboarding, bars, cycling and running. The city itself extends only about 15 blocks from east to west and 40 blocks from north to south, with Pacific Coast Highway running down the middle. Situated on the Pacific Ocean, Hermosa's average temperature is 70 °F (22 °C) in the summer and 55 °F (13 °C) in the winter. Westerly sea breezes lessen what can be high summertime temperatures in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the county and help keep the smog away 360 days of the year.
A paved path, called The Strand, runs along Hermosa's beach from Torrance Beach in the south approximately twenty miles north to Santa Monica. The Hermosa Beach pier is at the end of Pier Avenue, which is one of the beach community's main shopping, eating and partying areas. Read more...
Norwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population is estimated to be 107,096 as of 2014. It is the 58th most densely-populated city in California.
Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located 17 miles (27 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles and is part of the Greater Los Angeles area.
Norwalk is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. Norwalk's sister cities are Morelia, Michoacán, and Hermosillo, Sonora, in Mexico. Read more...
Lake Perris is an artificial lake completed in 1973. It is the southern terminus of the California State Water Project, situated in a mountain-rimmed valley between Moreno Valley and Perris, in what is now the Lake Perris State Recreation Area. The park offers a variety of recreational activities. Because of this and the lake's proximity to major population centers, it is very crowded during the summer months. Read more...
Rancho Cucamonga is a city of about 177,000 residents located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About 37 miles (60 km) east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 19th most populous city in southern California and the 27th state-wide. The city's seal, which centers on a cluster of grapes, alludes to the city's agricultural history including wine-making. The city's proximity to major transportation hubs, airports, and highways has attracted the business of several large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Big Lots, Mercury Insurance Group, Southern California Edison, and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals.
The city had a population of 165,269 according to the 2010 United States Census and the Census Bureau estimated the population to be 177,452 in 2017. The city experiences an average of 287 sunny days per year, compared to a national average of 205 days. Its climate is classified as warm Mediterranean, or Csa, under the Köppen climate classification system.
The city's favorable location and host of public amenities have earned it numerous distinctions. Notably, Money Magazine ranked Rancho Cucamonga 42nd on its "Best Places to Live" list in 2006. In addition, Insider Magazine established one Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood as the 13th richest neighborhood in Southern California. The four public high schools (Alta Loma, Etiwanda, Los Osos, and Rancho Cucamonga) earned the Silver distinction in a 2015 ranking of the nation's high schools by U.S. News & World Report. In 2017 the California Department of Education announced that all four high schools were being named California Gold Ribbon Schools. Read more...
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Did you know...
- ... that the first full-circle Arctic panorama created in the United States since the 19th century appeared at the Velaslavasay Panorama in Los Angeles in 2007?
- ... that the Santa Ana Heritage Zone encompasses a declared Heritage House and a local church that contains two National Cultural Treasures?
- ... that at the Bhagavad-gita Museum in Los Angeles, dioramas featuring almost life-sized dolls convey the philosophy of Krishna consciousness?
- ... that Nannie C. Dunsmoor, a Los Angeles pioneer woman physician practicing into her 80s, was the oldest United States active member of the Soroptimist Club?
- ... that Georgia Ann Robinson was the first African-American policewoman in the Los Angeles Police Department?
- ... that the No. 19 pastrami on rye at Langer's Deli in Los Angeles has been called "the Marilyn Monroe of pastrami sandwiches"?
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Selected images
Downtown Los Angeles, the central business district of the region
Rush hour on the Harbor Freeway, Downtown
Greater Los Angeles in yellow and peach; urbanized areas in gray; Los Angeles proper lined in blue; Los Angeles metropolitan area lined in red.
Laguna Beach coastline is popular for sunbathers
Los Angeles Basin at dawn
Riverside
Los Angeles
Skyscrapers in Downtown Los Angeles
Many areas are completely filled with houses, buildings, roads, and freeways as observed here
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park
Long Beach
Downtown Los Angeles
The Ventura MSA coast
In the news
- 31 March 2019 –
- American rapper Nipsey Hussle is shot and killed outside a Los Angeles clothing store. Two other people with him were also shot and wounded. A suspect has yet to be identified and remains at large. (Global News)
- 20 March 2019 –
- Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels finalize a record-breaking 12-year, $430 million contract, the largest in the history of Major League Baseball. (Sporting News)
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