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'Huntington Beach' is a seaside city in Orange County in southern California. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 189,594. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, by Seal Beach on the north, by Costa Mesa on the south, by Westminster on the northeast, and by Fountain Valley on the east.
It is known for its long 14 km (8.5 miles) beach, mild climate, and excellent surfing. The waves are a unique natural effect caused by edge-diffraction of ocean swells by the island of Catalina, and waves from distant hurricanes. Because of the curve of the coastline at Huntington Beach, the local beach actually faces southwest. In summer, the southwest-facing beach often has very strong surf from hurricanes off the Mexican coast.

Contents

History

Sister Cities

Sports

Surf & Beaches

Tourism

Special events

City parks and amenities

Natural resources

Education

Climate

Economy

Safety

"Surf City USA" Trademarks

City police and government controversies

Geography

Demographics

Trivia

References

External links

History

The area was originally occupied by the Tongva people. European settlement can be traced to a Spanish soldier, Manuel Nieto, who in 1784 received a Spanish land grant of 300,000 acres (1,200 km²), Rancho Los Nietos, as a reward for his military service and to encourage settlement in Alta California. Nieto's western area was reduced in 1790 because of a dispute with the Mission San Gabriel, but he retained thousands of acres stretching from the hills north of Whittier, Fullerton and Brea, south to the Pacific Ocean, and from today's Los Angeles River on the west, to the Santa Ana River on the east.
Huntington Beach incorporated in 1909 under its first mayor, Ed Manning. Its original developer was the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, a railroad magnate after whom the city is named. The Huntington Company is still a major land-owner in the city, and still owns most of the local mineral rights.
The city's first high school, Huntington Beach High School was built in 1906. The school's team, the Oilers, are named after the city's original natural resource.

Sister Cities

Huntington Beach has the following sister city relationships, according to The Huntington Beach Sister City Association:

★ Anjo, Aichi, Japan

★ Waitakere, New Zealand

Sports

Huntington Beach is the site of the world surfing championships, held in the summer every year. The city is often referred to as "Surf City" because of this high profile event, its history, and culture of surfing.

Surf & Beaches

Apart from sponsored surf events, Huntington Beach has some of the best surf breaks in the State of California and that of the United States. Huntington Beach has four different facing beaches: NW, W, SW, S. North West consist of Bolsa Chica State Beach (3.3 Miles), the West consist of "The Cliffs" or "Dog Beach", South West is considered everything north of the Pier which is operated by the City of Huntington Beach. South consist in everything south of the pier which primarily focuses on Huntington State Beach (2.2 Miles), which almost faces true South.
Bolsa Chica State Beach is operated by the State of California, Dept. Parks & Recreation, and Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguards. The beach is very narrow and the sand is very coarse. Bolsa Chica tends to have better surf with NW/W swells during the winter season. During the summer months the beach picks up S/SW swells at a very steep angle. Due to the bottom of the beach, surf at Bolsa Chica tends to be slowed down and refined to soft shoulders. Longboards are the best option for surfing in the Bolsa Chica area.
"The Cliffs" or "Dog Beach" is also another popular surf spot. This segment of Huntington Beach obtains these names because dogs are allowed around the cliff area. Beach is very restricted and often is submerged with high tides. Surf at this location tends to be even bigger than Bolsa Chica during the winter and often better. During the summer most of the S/SW swells slide right by and often break poorly. Best option is to take out a longboard, but shortboards will do at times.
Just north and south of the Huntington Beach Pier are some well defined sandbars that shift throughout the year with the different swells. Southside of the Pier is often a popular destination during the summer for good surf, but the Northside can be just as well during the winter. Around the Pier it all depends on the swell and the sandbars. Shortboard is your best option for surfing around the Pier.
South Huntington Beach or also known as Huntington State Beach, is where all the south swells impact the coastline. Huntington State Beach is operated by the State of California, Dept. Parks & Recreation, Huntington State Beach Lifeguards. This beach is very wide with plenty of sand. Sandbars dramatically shift during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Thus creating excellent surf conditions with a combo S/W/NW swell. Due to the Santa Ana River Jetties located at the southern most end of the beach, large sandbars extend across and upcoast, forcing swells to break extremely fast and hollow. Best seasons for surfing at this beach is the summer and fall. Best option for surfing is a shortboard.
Huntington Beach is also a popular destination for kite surfing, and this sport can be viewed on the beach northwest of the pier.
Huntington Beach is the host city of the National Professional Paintball League Super 7 Paintball Championships. The NPPL holds its first event of the year traditionally between the dates of March 23rd through March 26th.

Tourism

The city has the largest public pier on the west coast.
The city also has the oldest Independence Day parade in the Western United States. This is televised locally on the public access cable channel.
The downtown district includes an active art center, a colorful shopping district, and the International Surfing Museum. This district was also once the home of the famous restaurant and music club "The Golden Bear." In the late '60s and '70s it hosted many famous bands and acts.

★ The beaches and surfing. Major surf competitions are held here each year.

★ The pier that goes from Main Street into the Pacific Ocean. At the end of the pier is a restaurant called Ruby's.

★ Downtown, including many local surf shops, cafés, restaurants and bars.

★ The Surfing Museum in downtown Huntington Beach

Special events

★ Annual Cruise of Lights Boat Tour: This is a 'parade' of colorful lighted boats through the Huntington Harbour bayside neighborhood for two weekends in mid-December. Each year most boats have a different theme; the other boats would have a certain theme reoccurring annually.

★ Annual Kite Festival: Where kite fliers come and show off their varied and amazing kites. Pro kite fliers do demonstrations to music. Held just north of the pier in late February.

★ Surf City Nights: The community-spirited event features a farmer's market, unique entertainment, food, kiddie rides and a carnival atmosphere, each Tuesday from 4-9PM for the immediate future. Surf City Nights is presented by the Huntington Beach Downtown Business Improvement District (HBDBID) and the City of Huntington Beach. The event takes place in the first three blocks of Main Street from Pacific Coast Highway to Orange Ave.

★ US Open of Surfing: Held during the summer months, the Beach Games are featured on the south side of the pier.

★ MEGA: A biathlon (Swim/Run) hosted by Bolsa Chica & Huntington State Beach Lifeguards. The event takes place every summer in the month of July, early at dawn. The race begins at the Santa Ana River Jetties and ends at Warner Avenue, Bolsa Chica State Beach. The course consist of 4 swims, adding up to 4,000 yards, and 5 runs, at a distance of 8.5 miles. There are no prizes or awards for the winner, just a true lifeguard event.

★ USLA Lifeguard Nationals: Lifeguard competition in various events. Held annually at different locations across the country. Summer 2006, Huntington State Beach Lifeguards hosted the event.

★ Junior Guards: Every summer, two separate Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguard daycamps are held which teaches preadolescents and adolescents ocean swimming, running, and first-aid medical knowledge. Children 10-12 are called C's and have yellow beanies, 13-14 are called B's and wear red beanies, and at age 15, they are either an A, and wear green beanies, or a Safety Aide that helps B's and C's and wear pink beanies. Sometimes, after passing a rigorous physical test, 18-year olds can become Captains, who wear white beanies.

City parks and amenities

Huntington Beach has a very large Central Park, located between Gothard and Edwards Streets to the east and west, and Slater and Ellis Avenues to the north and south. The park is vegetated with xeric (low water use) plants, and inhabited by native wildlife. Thick forests encircling the park are supplemented with Australian trees, particularly eucalyptus, a high water use plant.

The Huntington Beach Public Library is located in Central Park in a notable building designed by Richard Neutra and Dion Neutra. It houses almost a half-million volumes, as well as a theater, gift shop and fountains. The library was founded as a Carnegie library in 1914, and has been continuously supported by the city and local activists, with new buildings and active branches at Banning, Oak View, Main Street, and Graham. The library has significant local historical materials and has a special genealogical reference collection. It is independent of the state and county library systems.
The park is also home of Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, a top class boarding facility that also offers horse rentals to the public, with guided trail rides through the park. The world's second oldest disc golf course is available in the park, as are two small dining areas, a Sports Complex for adult use, the Shipley Nature Center.
The Bolsa Chica Wetlands, which are diminishing rapidly due to development, contains numerous trails and scenic routes. The wetlands themselves have recently been connected with the ocean again, in effort to maintain its previous, unaltered conditions.

Natural resources

Construction of any kind on the beach is prohibited without a vote of the people, allowing Huntington Beach to retain its natural tie to the ocean rather than having the view obscured by residential and commercial improvements.
Between Downtown Huntington Beach and Huntington Harbour lies a large marshy wetland, much of which is protected within the Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve. A $110 million restoration of the wetlands was completed in 2006.^[1] The Reserve is popular with bird watchers and photographers.
South of Downtown, the Talbert and Magnolia Marshes lie on a strip of undeveloped land parallel to Huntington State Beach and are in the process of restoration, as well.
The northern and southern beaches (Bolsa Chica State Beach and Huntington State Beach, respectively) are state parks. Only the central beach (Huntington City Beach) is maintained by the city. Camping and RVs are permitted here, and popular; campsites for the 4th of July and the Surfing Championships must be reserved many months in advance. Bolsa Chica State Beach is actually a sand bar fronting the Bolsa Bay and Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve.

The Orange County run Sunset Marina Park next to Huntington Harbour is part of Anaheim Bay.^[2] It is suitable for light craft, and includes a marina, launching ramp, basic services, a picnic area and a few restaurants. The park is in Seal Beach, but is only reachable from Huntington Harbour. The Sunset/Huntington Harbour area is patrolled by the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol.^[3]
The harbor entrance for Anaheim Bay is sometimes restricted by the US Navy, which loads ships with munitions at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station to the north of the main channel.

Education

Huntington Beach is also the home of Golden West College, which offers two-year associates of arts degrees, and transfer programs to state universities.
The public television station KOCE-TV operates from the Golden West College campus, in conjunction with the Golden West College Media Arts program.
Huntington Beach is in the Huntington Beach Union High School District. Which includes Edison High School, Huntington Beach High School, Marina High School, and Ocean View High School in the city of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley High School in the city of Fountain Valley, and Westminster High School in the city of Westminster. The district also has an alternative school, Valley Vista High School, and an independent study school, Coast High School.
Huntington Beach High School, which is the district's flagship school, celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2006.
The city has two elementary school districts: Huntington Beach City with 9 schools and Ocean View with 15.

Climate

The climate is generally sunny, dry and cool, although evenings can be excessively damp. In the morning and evening, there are often strong breezes, 15 mph (25 km/h). Ocean water temperatures average 55 to 65 °F (10 to 15 °C). In the summer, temperatures rarely exceed 85 °F (25 °C). In the winter, temperatures rarely fall below 40 °F (4 °C), even on clear nights.^[4] There are about 10 inches (250 mm) of rain, almost all in mid-winter. Frost occurs only rarely on the coldest winter nights.
The area is annually affected by "June Gloom", caused by the cool air of the Pacific meeting the warm air over the land. This results in overcast and foggy conditions in May and June.

Economy

Huntington Beach also sits above a large natural salt dome containing oil. Although the oil is mostly depleted, extraction continues at a slow rate, and still provides significant local income. There are only two off-shore extraction facilities left, however, and the day is not far off when oil production in the city will cease and tourism will replace it as the primary revenue source for resident industry.
New outdoor shopping malls are being built on either side of Main Street on PCH. These constructions will interfere with the views of some downtown residential homes and restaurants. The city is also discussing closing off Main Street to cars from PCH (Highway 1) through the retail shopping and restaurant areas, making it a pedestrian zone only.
Huntington Beach has an off-shore oil terminus for the tankers that support the Alaska Pipeline. The terminus pipes run inland to a refinery in Santa Fe Springs. Huntington Beach also has the Gothard-Talbert terminus for the Orange County portion of the pipeline running from the Chevron El Segundo refinery.
Several hotels have been constructed on the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1) within view of the beach, just southeast of the pier.
Huntington Beach contains a major installation of Boeing, formerly McDonnell-Douglas. A number of installations on the Boeing campus were originally constructed to service the Apollo Program, most notably the production of the S-IVB upper stage for the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, and some nearby telephone poles are still marked "Apollo Dedicated Mission Control Line."
Huntington Beach contains the administrative headquarters of Sea Launch, a commercial space vehicle launch enterprise whose largest stockholder is Boeing.
Huntington Beach contains a small industrial district in its northwest corner, near the borders with Westminster and Seal Beach.

Safety

Fire protection in Huntington Beach is provided by the Huntington Beach Fire Department. Law enforcement is provided by the Huntington Beach Police Department. Its life guards are recognized as some of the best in the world with a top notch safety record. It has an active Community Emergency Response Team training program, that trains citizens as FEMA-Certified Disaster Service Workers as a part of a free program run by the fire department's Office of Emergency Services.
Emergency services are also provided at State Beach locations. Peace Officers and lifeguards can be found at Bolsa Chica & Huntington State Beach. Such services consist of: aquatic rescues, boat rescues, first aid and law enforcement. All services are provided by the State of California, Dept. Parks & Recreation.
Huntington Beach is also one of the most emergency-prone settled areas on the West Coast of the United States. This is a direct result of its attractive geographic features. The beach was naturally constructed by the Santa Ana River's delta. Some settled areas of Huntington Beach lie within the 100-year and 50-year flood zone. Some parts of the delta require powered pumping to remove water during heavy rains. Some parts do not drain effectively at all, and in these areas, local flooding is common during heavy rain (although this threat is remote and poses no danger to human life).
In 1926, the Santa Ana River dam failed, and flash-flooded its entire delta. The southern oceanic terminus of this delta is now a settled area of Huntington Beach. The distant dam is still functional, but silting up, which is expected to reduce its storage volume, and therefore its effectiveness at flood-prevention. The flood and dam-endangered areas are protected by a levee, but lenders require expensive flood insurance in the delta. There have been serious discussions to eliminate the need for flood insurance and this requirement has already been waived in some areas and may one day no longer be considered a credible threat.
Since it is a seaside city, Huntington Beach has had tsunami warnings, storm surge (its pier has been rebuilt three times), sewage spills, tornadoes and waterspouts. The cold offshore current prevents hurricanes. The Pier that was rebuilt in the 90s was engineered to withstand severe storms or earthquakes.
Large fractions of the settled delta are in earthquake liquefaction zones above known active faults. Most of the local faults are named after city streets.
Many residents (and even city hall) live within sight and sound of active oil extraction and drilling operations. These occasionally spew oil, causing expensive clean-ups. Large parts of the developed land have been contaminated by heavy metals from the water separated from oil.
The local oil has such extreme mercury contamination that metallic mercury is regularly drained from oil pipelines and equipment. Oil operations increase when the price of oil rises. Some oil fields have been approved for development. The worst-polluted areas have been reclaimed as parks. At least one Superfund site, too contaminated to be a park, is at the junction of Magnolia and Hamilton streets, near Edison High School.
The city's Emergency Operations Coordinator has said that, in a nuclear war, the city would probably be severely damaged in a first-strike against military targets. Because Huntington Beach adjoins Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, and the center stores munitions (widely believed to include nuclear weapons), the Center is likely to be first-strike target for ground-burst thermonuclear weapons. Huntington Beach also includes a very large Boeing installation, which is an attractive strategic target.

"Surf City USA" Trademarks

Huntington Beach filed four applications to register the Surf City USA trademark in November of 2004. A ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released on May 12, 2006, awarded three trademark registrations to Huntington Beach; five additional trademark registrations have been granted since this time and two other Surf City USA trademarks are under consideration.^[5] Huntington Beach has already introduced the Surf City USA® Beach Cruiser by Felt Bicycles^[6] and other licensed products.^[7] On October 12, 2006, Flotsam of California, a T-shirt vendor in Santa Cruz, CA, after receiving a cease and desist letter to stop selling t-shirts reading "Surf City USA", filed a countersuit^[8] against the nonprofit Huntington Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

City police and government controversies

Former pro-development mayor, Pam Julien Houchen, was sentenced in September 2006 to a 37-month sentence and ordered to pay $140,000 in restitution for a scheme that illegally converted Huntington Beach apartments into condominiums.^[9]
Former mayor Dave Garofalo pleaded guilty to a felony and 15 misdemeanors and was sentenced to community service and probation for violating conflict-of-interest laws in January 2002.^[10][11]
Former mayor Jack Kelly was fined $4,000 by the Fair Political Practices Commission on two counts of improper financial disclosure in 1988.^[12]
18 year old Ashley MacDonald was shot and killed by police on the early morning of August 25, 2006 in an empty park. MacDonald had an argument with her mother, grabbed a knife and slashed her mother. She then ran out of the house and went to a city park down the street. Officers found MacDonald in the park with the knife in her hand and with bloody clothes. Officers repeatedly ordered MacDonald to drop the knife, but instead she started walking towards the officers. At which time the two police officers shot her. The events surrounding the shooting are in dispute between the police department, witnesses and MacDonald's family. The family has since filed a $20 million lawsuit against the police department.^[13]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 81.7 km² (31.6 mi²). 68.3 km² (26.4 mi²) of it is land and 13.4 km² (5.2 mi²) of it (16.38%) is water.
The entire city of Huntington Beach lies in the 714 Area Code, except for small parts of Huntington Harbour (along with Sunset Beach, the unincorporated community adjacent to Huntington Harbour), which is 562 Area Code.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 189,594 people, 73,657 households, and 47,729 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,773.9/km² (7,183.6/mi²). There were 75,662 housing units at an average density of 1,107.0/km² (2,866.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.22% White, 0.81% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 9.34% Asian, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 5.81% from other races, and 3.94% from two or more races. 14.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 73,657 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 34.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $78,024, and the median income for a family was $95,378. Adult males had a median income of $52,018 versus $38,046 for adult females. The per capita income for the city was $36,964. About 4.3% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.
The unemployment rate in Huntington Beach is one of the lowest among large (over 100,000) cities in the United States at 1.9% [14]

Trivia

★ Dean Torrence, from the 1960s Pop group, Jan and Dean, who co-authored the famous song "Surf City" (#1 in 1963) said that Huntington Beach embodies the song's spirit of freedom and California fun.^[14]

★ The city is mentioned in the Beach Boys song Surfin' Safari and in Surfer Joe by The Surfaris[15].

★ It is also home of UFC fighters Tito Ortiz and David "Tank" Abbott.

★ The metal band Avenged Sevenfold grew up and currently reside here. Lead guitarist Synyster Gates has said he enjoys nothing more than cruising Huntington Beach on his chopper.

★ The members of the band hellogoodbye (named after the popular Beatles song Hello, Goodbye) originate from Huntington Beach and currently have had mainstream success with their album Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!.

★ Pro Skateboarder Tosh Townend grew up in Huntington Beach and still currently resides there.

★ Former NHL hockey player John Blue is from Huntington Beach.

★ Willie Aames attended school here.

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. [4]
5. [5]
6. [6]
7. [7]
8. [8]
9. [9]
10. [10]
11. [11]
12. [12]
13. [13]
14. Where's the real Surf City, USA?

External links

★ Official City Website

★ Aerial photograph of Huntington Beach, circa 1950s

★ Carnegie Libraries' Web Site Entry for Huntington Beach

★ Aerial photo of Huntington Beach from Microsoft Terraserver, 2004

★ Historical photos of Huntington Beach

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