Long Beach, California

   

Long Beach, California
  Image:Long Beach Sity Seal.gif
Seal of Long Beach
Location of City of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, and in California
County Los Angeles County, California
Area
 - Total
 - Water
170.6 km² (65.9 mi²)
40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) 23.42%
Population


 - Total (2000)
 - Density


461,522
3,532.8/km²

Time zone Pacific: UTC-8

Latitude
Longitude

33°48'15" N
118°9'29" W

City of Long Beach (http://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/)


Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. It is one of the busiest sea ports in the world.

Its location is 33°47' North, 118°10' West, about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 170.6 km² (65.9 mi²). 130.6 km² (50.4 mi²) of it is land and 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 23.42% water. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 461,522. It is the fifth largest city in California and the second largest in Los Angeles County.

The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination. The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual IndyCar race, takes place on city streets near the Convention Center and is one of the largest grand prix events in the world. Long Beach is the site of a large community college, a California State University campus, and a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.


History

The area was originally occupied by the Tongva people who lived in a rancheria named Tibahangna. Along with other Tongva villages, it disappeared in the mid-1800s.

The Rancho los Cerritos was divided from the larger Rancho Los Nietos, which had been granted by the King of Spain to a mulatto soldier, Manuel Nieto. Rancho Los Cerritos was bought 1843 by John Temple, a Yankee who had come to California in 1827. Soon after he built what is now known as the "Los Cerritos Ranch House" an adobe which still stands and is a National Historic Landmark. Temple created a thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the Mexican American War.

Meanwhile, on an island in the San Pedro Bay, Mormon pioneers made an abortive attempt to establish a colony (as part of Brigham Young's plan to establish a continuous chain of settlements from the Pacific to Salt Lake).

Jotham Bixby, the "Father of Long Beach", purchased the Rancho Los Cerritos in 1866 and converted it to sheep ranching. In the 1870s Bixby sold an average of 200,000 pounds of wool annually. In 1880, Bixby sold 4,000 acres (16 km²) of the Rancho los Cerritos to William E. Willmore, who subdivided it in hopes of creating a farm community, Willmore City. He failed and was bought out by the "Long Beach Land and Water Company." They changed the name of the community to "Long Beach", which was incorporated as a city in 1888. When Bixby died in 1916 the remaining 3,500 acres (14 km²) of Rancho los Cerritos was subdivided into the neighborhoods of Bixby Knolls, California Heights, North Long Beach and part of the city of Signal Hill.

The town grew as a seaside resort (The Pike was one of the most famous beachside amusement parks on the West coast from 1910 until the 1960's) and then as an oil, Navy, and port town. The town was once referred to as "Iowa by the sea".

In 1933, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused significant damage to the city and surrounding areas. Most of the damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, especially schools. 120 people died in this earthquake.

Shipping and transportation

Missing image
Long_Beach,_CA_at_night.jpg
Long Beach at night

The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States and the tenth busiest in the world, shipping some 66 million metric tons of cargo worth $95 billion in 2001. The port serves shipping between the United States and the Pacific Rim. The combined operations of the Port of Long Beach and Port_of_Los_Angeles are the busiest in the US, and by 2004 the two ports had become the third-busiest port in the world, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. In recent years, the large volume of Chinese goods imported by the United States has created significant congestion at the port, leading to increased air pollution from idling ships and trains. The backup owes mostly to transportation bottlenecks throughout the Los Angeles region and antiquated labor practices imposed on port operators by the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Attempts to reduce port congestion by introducing 24-hour port operations have encountered stiff resistance from noise- and pollution-conscious Long Beach citizens.

Rail shipping is provided by the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads, which carry about half transhipment from the port. Long Beach has contributed to the Alameda Corridor project to increase the capacity of the rail lines, roads, and highways connecting the port to the Los Angeles rail hub. The project, completed in 2002, created a 20-mile long, 33-foot deep trench in order to eliminate 200 grade crossings and cost about $2.4 billion.

Amtrak provides passenger rail service to a rail station located across from the Queen Mary. Long Beach is also the southern terminus for the Los Angeles MTA Blue Line light rail corridor. Blue Line trains run from Long Beach City Hall to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Long Beach Municipal Airport serves the Long Beach, Los Angeles, California and Orange County areas and is relatively small considering the area population. It is also the site of a major Boeing (formerly Douglas, then McDonnell Douglas) aircraft production facility, which is the city's largest employer.

Several freeways run through Long Beach, connecting it with the greater Los Angeles and Orange areas. The San Diego (405) freeway roughly bisects the city and takes commuters north or south to the Golden State (5) freeway. The Long Beach (710) freeway also runs north-south, starting at the southern end near the Port of Long Beach and terminating at the Santa Monica (10) freeway in Los Angeles. The eastern border of the city is traversed by the San Gabriel River (605) freeway, which joins the 405 at the Long Beach/Los Alamitos border. The Artesia Freeway California State Route 91 runs east-west near the northern border of Long Beach. California State Route 1 (also know as the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH) runs through Long Beach.

Culture

Art

The Long Beach Museum of Art is owned by the City of Long Beach, and operated by the Long Beach Museum of Art Foundation, a non-profit organization. Long Beach also features the Museum of Latin American Art, founded in 1996 by Dr. Robert Gumbiner, and the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features Latin American art.

Music

The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra plays numerous classical and pop music concerts throughout the year. The symphony plays at the Terrace Theater in the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

KJAZZ 88.1 FM (KKJZ) broadcasts from California State University, Long Beach. The station exclusively features jazz and blues music, and can be listened to over the Internet.

The Long Beach Blues Festival has been held annually since 1980, and regularly features such artists as Bo Diddley, Macy Gray, and Clarence Carter.

Both Sublime and the Long Beach Dub Allstars (formed by the members of Sublime after their lead singer Brad Nowell died of a Heroin overdose) are from Long Beach.

Rapper Snoop Dogg was born in Long Beach. The city is also home to the VIP Records store which has been featured in music videos by Snoop Dogg and by other rap music artists.

Parks and recreation

The Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine received a Gold Medal award from the National Parks and Recreation Society in 2002, 2003, and 2004, recognizing the Department's "outstanding management practices and programs." The Department manages 92 parks covering over 3,100 acres (13 km²) throughout the city, including the 815 acre (3.3 km²) El Dorado Regional Park, which features fishing lakes, an archery range, youth campground, bike trails, and picnic areas. The Department also operates four public swimming pools, and four launch ramps for boaters to access the Pacific Ocean.

Sports

Long Beach is home to the Long Beach Ice Dogs minor-league (ECHL) hockey team. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels baseball teams, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers basketball teams, and Los Angeles Kings and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey teams all play in neighboring cities.

Education

The primary school district that serves Long Beach is Long Beach Unified School District.

Colleges and universities


Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 461,522 people, 163,088 households, and 99,646 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,532.8/km² (9,149.8/mi²). There are 171,632 housing units at an average density of 1,313.8/km² (3,402.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 45.16% White, 14.87% African American, 0.84% Native American, 12.05% Asian, 1.21% Pacific Islander, 20.61% from other races, and 5.27% from two or more races. 35.77% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 163,088 households out of which 35.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% are married couples living together, 16.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% are non-families. 29.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.77 and the average family size is 3.55.

In the city the population is spread out with 29.2% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $37,270, and the median income for a family is $40,002. Males have a median income of $36,807 versus $31,975 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,040. 22.8% of the population and 19.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 32.7% of those under the age of 18 and 11.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.


External links


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