'Long Beach' is a city located in southern
Los Angeles County,
California,
USA, on the
Pacific coast. It borders
Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown
Los Angeles.
Long Beach is the
35th-largest city in the nation, 5th in
California and 2nd in
Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles). As of 2005, its estimated population was 463,956
[ American Community Survey Data Profile Highlights for Long Beach city, California ].
The
Port of Long Beach is one of the world's largest shipping ports
[1]. The city also has a large oil industry; oil is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to headquarters for corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area.
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 and
Rancho Los Alamitos were divided from the larger
Rancho Los Nietos, which had been granted by the
Spanish Empire's,
King Carlos III in 1784 to a Spanish soldier,
Manuel Nieto. The boundary between the two
ranchos ran through the center of Signal Hill on a southwest to northeast diagonal. A portion of western Long Beach was originally part of the
Rancho San Pedro, and was in dispute for years, due to flooding changing the Los Angeles River boundary, between Juan Jose Dominguez and Manuel Nieto's ranchos.
Rancho Los Cerritos was bought in 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).
In 1866 Temple sold Rancho Los Cerritos to the Northern California sheep-raising firm of Flint, Bixby & Co, which consisted of brothers Thomas and Benjamin Flint and their cousin Lewellyn Bixby, for $20,000. Two years previous Flint, Bixby had also purchased along with Northern California associate James Irvine three ranchos which would later become the city that bears Irvine's name. To manage Los Cerritos, the company selected Lewellyn's brother Jotham Bixby, the "Father of Long Beach", to manage their southern ranch, and three years later Jotham bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. In the
1870s as many as 30,000 sheep were kept at the ranch and sheared twice yearly to provide wool for trade. 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 a Los Angeles syndicate which called itself 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.
Long Beach boardwalk, 1907
Overlooked, but probably even more influential in the development of the city was another Bixby cousin, John W. Bixby. After first working for his cousins at Los Cerritos, J.W. Bixby then leased land at
Rancho Los Alamitos, and then put together a group consisting of himself, mega-banker I.W. Hellman and Lewellyn and Jotham Bixby to purchase the rancho. In addition to bringing innovative farming methods to the Alamitos (which under Abel Stearns in the late 1850s and early 1860s was once the largest cattle ranch in America), John W. Bixby began the development of the Alamitos' oceanfront property near the city's picturesque bluffs. Under the name Alamitos Land Company, J.W. Bixby named the streets and laid out the parks of his new city. This area would include Belmont Heights, Belmont Shore and Naples and would soon become a very thriving community of its own. Unfortunately, J.W. Bixby died in 1888 of apparent appendicitis, and the Rancho Los Alamitos property was split up with Hellman roughly getting the southern third, Jotham and Lewellyn the northern third and J.W. Bixby's wife and heirs keeping the central third. The Alamitos townsite was kept as a separate entity but it was basically run by Lewellyn and Jotham's Bixby Land Company.
When Jotham 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.
Oil field in Long Beach, 1920
The town grew as a
seaside resort (
The Pike was one of the most famous beachside amusement parks on the West coast from 1902 until the 1960s) and then as an oil, Navy, and port town. The town was once referred to as "Iowa by the sea," due to a large influx of people from that state and other states in the
Midwest. Huge picnics for each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the
1960s.
The
Long Beach earthquake of 1933 was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that caused significant damage to the city and surrounding areas. Most of the damage occurred in unreinforced
masonry buildings, especially schools. One hundred twenty people died in this earthquake.
Long Beach once had a sizable Japanese-American population mostly working in the fish canneries on
Terminal Island and small truck farms in the area, but the Japanese and Japanese Americans were removed for
internment in 1942, and most did not return after their release from the camps. Due to this,
interracial marriage, and other factors, they now make up less than 1% of the population of Long Beach. There is still a Japanese Community Center and a Japanese Buddhist Church in Long Beach. The Japanese-American Cultural Center is just over the
Vincent Thomas Bridge in
San Pedro.
Geography
Long Beach is located at 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 (23.42%) is water.
Climate
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec High °F | 93 | 91 | 98 | 105 | 104 | 109 | 107 | 105 | 110 | 111 | 101 | 92 |
|---|
| Norm High °F | 68 | 68.5 | 68.9 | 72.7 | 74 | 78.3 | 82.9 | 84.6 | 83.1 | 78.9 | 73.4 | 68.8 |
|---|
| Norm Low °F | 46 | 48.1 | 50.4 | 53.2 | 57.8 | 61.3 | 64.6 | 65.6 | 63.7 | 58.3 | 50.1 | 45.3 |
|---|
| Rec Low °F | 25 | 33 | 33 | 38 | 40 | 47 | 51 | 52 | 50 | 39 | 34 | 28 |
|---|
| Precip (in) | 2.95 | 3.01 | 2.43 | 0.6 | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.02 | 0.1 | 0.24 | 0.4 | 1.12 | 1.76 |
|---|
| ''Source: USTravelWeather.com [2]'' |
Environment
The area that is now Long Beach historically included several ecological communities, with coastal scrub dominating
[2]. A handful of the native plants of the region can still be found in the city. These include California buckwheat (''
Eriogonum fasciculatum''), California sagebrush (''
Artemisia californica''), and California poppy (''
Eschscholzia californica'')). Some stands of coast live oak (''
Quercus agrifolia'') still remain in the El Dorado Nature Center. California fan palm (''
Washingtonia filifera''), a plant native further inland, was introduced to the city as a garden ornamental and is now naturalized. Some indigenous species of birds, mammals, and other wildlife have adapted to development.
Since the arrival of Europeans, many alien species have become naturalized in the area. Introduced plants include yellow mustard,
eucalyptus,
wild radish, and
tumbleweed. Unfortunately, these plants now far outnumber the indigenous plants and spread rapidly in the city's vacant lots and oil fields.
However, the city and its residents have initiatives underway to preserve and reclaim a small part of its ecological heritage. The RiverLink project has begun to revegetate the Long Beach stretch of the
Los Angeles River with indigenous plants. Part of the remaining
Pacific Electric Right of Way was cleared of nonnatives, planted with indigenous plants, and made accessible with foot and bike paths. This community open space is now known as
The Long Beach Greenbelt and is the focus of continuing efforts in restoration and community education. The El Dorado Nature Center has changed its original "hands-off" approach and begun to actively introduce indigenous species
[3]. The Los Cerritos Wetlands Study Group, state government agencies, and grassroots groups are collaborating on a plan to preserve Long Beach's last remaining wetlands. Long Beach is the first city in California to join the 'EcoZone' Program, intended to measurably improve environmental conditions through public-private partnerships
[4]. Such projects seek to reduce pollution, restore native habitat, provide green areas for the city's residents to enjoy.
Other places in Long Beach to see natural areas include Bluff Park (coastal bluffs), the Golden Shores Marine Reserve, the Jack Dunster Marine Reserve, Shoreline Park, and DeForest Park.
Neighborhoods
Long Beach is a mosaic of neighborhoods, with some of them well-defined, while others blend into nearby neighborhoods. The most desirable properties in Long Beach are in the Belmont Shore and Naples areas in southeast Long Beach near Alamitos Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the homes near the Virginia Country Club in Bixby Knolls and California Heights in west-central Long Beach, the area near El Dorado Park and
Long Beach State on the east side of Long Beach and Lakewood Village (near Long Beach City College and Lakewood Country Club). The downtown area has experienced significant
gentrification in recent years with the demolished Long Beach Plaza being replaced by the new Long Beach City Place.
Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach, as well as Second Street in Belmont Shore, are known for their restaurants and nightlife. The 4th Street Corridor is known for its funky shops, antique stores and vintage clothing stores. The Broadway Corridor between Alamitos Avenue and Redondo Avenue has the greatest number of gay oriented bars and restaurants in Long Beach.
Aerial view of the Port of Long Beach
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 461,522 people, 163,088 households, and 99,646 families residing in the city. The
population density was 3,532.8/km² (9,149.8/mi²). There were 171,632 housing units at an average density of 1,313.8/km² (3,402.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 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.
Latino of any race were 35.77% of the population. According to the
2000 US Census, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse large city in the United States
[14].
Among its Asian population, Long Beach is home to a large Cambodian community, the second-largest Cambodian community outside of Asia (after
Paris); a neighborhood along Anaheim Street is called "
Little Phnom Penh". It also houses large communities of Tongan and Samoan descent.
There are also sizable populations of Samoan-Americans, Tongan-Americans,
African Americans,
Mexican-Americans, Salvadoran-Americans and other Central Americans, such as Belizean-Americans and Panamanian-Americans, as well as
Puerto Ricans,
Vietnamese Americans,
Filipino Americans, and other
Asians. Long Beach has a history of immigration from Europe, and a relatively high number of Pacific Islanders and Native Americans (each at over 1 percent). But the article has more to do with racial groups in the city limits of Long Beach, not in nearby cities have high concentrations of Europeans, American Indians and Polynesians.
There were 163,088 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% were
married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.55.
In the city the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,270, and the median income for a family was $40,002. Males had a median income of $36,807 versus $31,975 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $19,040. About 19.3% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 32.7% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
The top commercial businesses in Long Beach, based upon the number of employees, are:
Boeing,
Verizon,
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and The Bragg Companies (crane and heavy transport sales). Several local hospitals are major employers, including: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Mary Medical Center, and Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Major government and educational employers include: Long Beach Unified School District, City of Long Beach, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach City College, United State Postal Service, and Long Beach Transit.
★
Douglas Aircraft Company (later
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and now part of
Boeing) had plants at the Long Beach Airport where they built aircraft for
World War II, and later built
DC-8s,
DC-9s,
DC-10s, and
MD-11s.
★ Boeing built the
Boeing 717 until 2006 and continues to build the
C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter in Long Beach. Even after greatly reducing the number of local employees in recent years, Boeing is still the largest employer in the city.
★
Polar Air Cargo, an international
cargo airline, is based in Long Beach.
★ TABC, INC., a part of
Toyota, makes a variety of car parts, including steering columns and
catalytic converters, in Long Beach.
★ Epson America, the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based
Seiko Epson Corporation, is headquartered in Long Beach.
★ Pioneer Electronics, the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based
Pioneer Corporation, is headquartered in Long Beach.
★ SCAN Health Plan, a
non-profit "
Medicare Advantage"
HMO for seniors, is headquartered in Long Beach.
★
Parker Law Firm, the legal firm of the personal injury attorney Larry H. Parker (most noted for his series of television commercials), is headquartered in Long Beach. (Because of the backlash to his commercials, a law was passed in California making it illegal for law firms to quote lawsuit award amounts in their commercials.)
★ Molina Health Care, Inc., a
Medicaid management healthcare program, is headquartered in Long Beach.
★
Jesse James'
West Coast Choppers custom motorcycle shop is located in Long Beach, and much of the
Monster Garage cable TV show is filmed in Long Beach.
★
Acres of Books, the largest and oldest family-owned second-hand bookstore in California
Shipping and transportation
The Queen Mary permanently docked.
The
Port of Long Beach is the third busiest
[13] seaport in the United States
.
The port serves shipping between the United States and the
Pacific Rim. The combined operations of the Port of Long Beach and the
Port of Los Angeles are the busiest in the USA.
Rail shipping is provided by
Union Pacific Railroad and
BNSF Railway, which carry about half of the trans-shipments 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 trench long and deep in order to eliminate 200
grade crossings and cost about
US$2.4
billion.
Long Beach is the southern terminus for the
Los Angeles Metro Blue Line light rail corridor. Blue Line trains run from Long Beach
City Hall to
Downtown Los Angeles. The Metro Rail Blue Line Maintenance Shops, are also located in Long Beach just south of the Del Amo Blue Line station.
There is an
Amtrak Thruway bus shuttle starting in
San Pedro, with stops at the
Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach, that then goes to
Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, and ends in
Bakersfield. The Blue Line MetroRail connects downtown Long Beach to the Staples Center and downtown Los Angeles where it connects with Hollywood and Pasadena. There is also a
Greyhound Lines terminal downtown.
Public transportation in Long Beach is provided by
Long Beach Transit. Besides the normal bus service, which charges a fare, Long Beach has free routes, the "Pine Avenue Link" and ''Passport'' routes, which use mini-buses to shuttle passengers within the downtown area. The Passport "C" route between the downtown and the Queen Mary, and Passport "A" and "D" buses go East-West along Ocean Boulevard, linking the Catalina Landing in the west with Belmont Shore in the east. (The Passport "B" has been renamed the Pine Avenue Link.) A 90-cent fare is required when traveling east of Atlantic Avenue. Another free route, "Village Tour D'art" in the
East Village, visits museums and other points of interest.
Long Beach Transit also operates the 49-passenger AquaBus water taxi, which stops at the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and four other locations; and the 75-passenger AquaLink water taxi, which travels between the Aquarium, the Queen Mary, and Alamitos Bay Landing next to the Long Beach Marina.
There is also limited bus service to
Orange County through
Orange County Transportation Authority buses. Route 1, from Long Beach to
San Clemente is the longest bus route in the OCTA system. Traveling along
Pacific Coast Highway for most of the route, it takes 2-2.5 hrs to complete.
Torrance Transit buses go from
downtown Long Beach to the
South Bay. The
Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has bus service from downtown to
San Pedro, and the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) has two regional bus lines that serve downtown Long Beach.
Long Beach Airport serves the Long Beach,
South Bay and northern
Orange County areas, but is relatively small, considering the area's population. It is the West Coast hub for
JetBlue Airways. 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 County areas. The
San Diego (405) freeway roughly bisects the city and takes commuters northwest or southeast to the
Golden State (5) freeway. The
Long Beach (710) freeway runs north-south, starting at the southern end between the
Port of Long Beach and downtown Long Beach, and terminating just past the intersection with
San Bernardino (10) freeway on the border between
El Sereno neighbor or Los Angeles and
Alhambra. 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 (more commonly known as Pacific Coast Highway or PCH) runs through Long Beach. Where it intersects with Lakewood Boulevard (
California State Route 19) and Los Coyotes Diagonal is the "infamous"
Long Beach Traffic Circle.
Long Beach has some
bike paths along city streets, plus the
Long Beach bicycle path along the ocean from Shoreline Village to Belmont Shore, plus there are bike paths along both the
San Gabriel and
Los Angeles Rivers.
Film
One of the places where the film industry started in Southern California was in Long Beach.
Balboa Amusement Producing Company, also known as Balboa Studios, was located at Sixth Street and Alamitos Avenue; they used 11 acres (45,000 m²) on
Signal Hill for outdoor locations.
Silent movie stars who lived in Long Beach included
Fatty Arbuckle and
Theda Bara. The 1917 film ''
Cleopatra'', starring Theda Bara, was filmed at the Dominguez Slough just west of Long Beach, and Moses parted the Red Sea for
Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 black-and-white version of "The Ten Commandments" on the flat seashore of
Seal Beach, southeast of Long Beach.
Because of its proximity to LA-area studios and its variety of locations, today Long Beach is regularly used for movies, television shows, and advertisements. The city has filled in for locations across the nation and around the globe.
[16] One advantage for Long Beach is that the film industry uses a zone that extends 30 miles from Beverly Blvd. and La Cienega Blvd. in the West Hollywood area. It is cheaper to film within that zone, so Long Beach and other South Bay cities often stand in for areas of Orange County (such as for
The O.C. TV show) because almost all of Orange County is outside of the zone.
Long Beach's high schools are especially popular with the film industry.
Long Beach Polytechnic High School has played host to numerous films, providing the outdoor high school grounds of ''
Coach Carter'' and the indoor high school rooms and hallways of ''
American Pie,'' among others.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo High School has been a very popular place to film movies as well, with 2-4 movies filmed per year.
St. Anthony High School's gymnasium has also been featured in many movies and television shows, including ''
Coach Carter'' and ''
Joan of Arcadia''.
Other locations in Long Beach have been used quite frequently as well. Many car chase and crash scenes have been filmed on the long stretches of road near the Long Beach harbor, and Long Beach's downtown neighborhood has stood in for various urban areas in a variety of films. Additionally, the Virginia Country Club area of Long Beach (near, or sometimes considered part of, Long Beach's
Bixby Knolls neighborhood) has also provided numerous locations for Hollywood films, including
Ferris Bueller's house in ''
Ferris Bueller's Day Off''. The upscale neighborhood is home to several
National Historic Landmarks and is known for its diverse styles ranging from a famous
Greene and Greene designed
California Bungalow home to modern homes designed by world-renowned architect
Edward Killingsworth.
Government
Main articles: Mayor of Long Beach
Main articles: Long Beach Police Department (California)
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Main articles: Long Beach Unified School District
Main articles: List of private schools in Long Beach, California
Colleges and universities
The
California State University, Long Beach is second largest campus in the
California State University system, and the third largest university in the state in terms of enrollment.
The
Long Beach City College is a community college established in 1927. It's composed of two separate campuses. The Liberal Arts Campus located on the residential area of
Lakewood Village, while the Pacific Coast Campus is in Central Long Beach.
Brooks College is a private
for-profit vocational school best known for its
fashion design and fashion marketing programs is located near the
Traffic Circle Area. The school will close its doors at the end of March 2009.
[14]
Sites of interest
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.
The 102.5 acre El Dorado Nature Center is part of the larger El Dorado Regional Park. The center features lakes, a stream, and trails, with meadows and forested areas.
[18]
The Long Beach Greenbelt is a section of the old Pacific Electric right-of-way, restored by community activists as native habitat. It currently supports approximately 40 species of California native plants as well as a plethora of urban wildlife. Its pleasant, relaxing atmosphere provides for community open space while educating citizens about what the land was like prior to industrialization and urbanization.
Rancho Los Alamitos is a 7.5 acre historical site owned by the City of Long Beach and is near the Long Beach campus of the California State University system. The site includes five agricultural buildings, including a working blacksmith’s shop, four acres of gardens, and an
adobe ranch house dating from around 1800. The Rancho is within a
gated community, so you must pass through security gates to get to it.
[19]
Rancho Los Cerritos is a 4.7 acre historical site owned by Long Beach in the
Bixby Knolls area near the Virginia Country Club. The adobe buildings date from the
1880s. The site also includes a California history research library.
[20]
The
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is located on the campus of
California State University, Long Beach.
The front beach area of the city was once home to a now-defunct amusement park. Its first rollercoaster opened for business in June 1907. It was named the Figure 8 after the shape of the tracks, and was built on pilings that reached out over the water. In 1914 the
Pike Amusement Zone undertook several upgrades and a new roller coaster named the Jack Rabbit Racer was opened in May 1915 becoming the second largest racing coaster in the country. It was part of the Silver Spray Pier which included several new rides and concessions. In the mid twenties, several expansions were made to the area and the Jack Rabbit Racer was remodeled raising the ride's dips to a greater height and steepness but it was soon removed to make way for the Cyclone Racer roller coaster which opened May 1930. The new coaster was also built on pilings over the ocean, but as the breakwater was built and the harbor expanded, the sandy beach extended. Eventually the entire pier stood over the beach. When demolished in September 1968, the Cyclone Racer was the only two track roller coaster in the United States.
Media
The local daily newspaper is the
Long Beach Press-Telegram, which is distributed throughout most of the
Gateway Cities and
South Bay areas of southwest Los Angeles County. The Press-Telegram is part of the
Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which has several newspapers in the
Southern California area that share some resources and reporters.
As of 2007, Long Beach is served by ''The District Weekly'', an alternative weekly that covers news, the arts, restaurants, and the local music scene. The ''OC Weekly'' and ''LA Weekly'' are also distributed widely in Long Beach.
There are a number of weekly and biweekly newspapers, which highlight the city's educational, political and business goings-on.
The ''Beachcomber'', ''Grunion Gazette'' and ''Downtown Gazette'' are community-centric papers with substantial distribution. Business news is covered by the biweekly ''Long Beach Business Journal''.
There are two primary online news sources.
LBReport.com (est 1999) engages in 'hard' journalism and investigative reporting of local stories, issues and officials. The
LBPost.com (est 2007) features news and opinion form a pool of columnists.
LongBeachCulture.org is the dominant clearinghouse and calendar for arts & cultural events.
Long Beach also gets distribution of the daily
Los Angeles Times,
Orange County Register, and
La Opinión newspapers, plus the weekly
Los Angeles Sentinel.
Long Beach is part of the Los Angeles
DMA radio and television markets. Although a few radio stations have had studios in Long Beach over the years, including the 80's
alternative music and later
hard rock station
KNAC, the only remaining radio stations in Long Beach are the jazz and blues station
KKJZ on the
Cal State Long Beach campus, and the
Christian radio broadcaster
KFRN.
Culture
View of the Long Beach skyline from the Queen Mary.
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. Long Beach also features the
Museum of Latin American Art, founded in 1996 by Dr. Robert Gumbiner. It is the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features
Latin American art.
The University Art Museum on the Long Beach State campus (founded in
1973) has a national reputation for its high-quality and innovative programs.
[21] Long Beach State is also home to the largest publicly funded art school west of the Mississippi. (on what basis is largest determined since there is no citation? Number of students? Square footage? Citation needed)
In
1965, Long Beach State hosted the first
International Sculpture Symposium to be held in the
United States and the first at a
college or
university. Six sculptors from around the world and two from the United States created many of the monumental sculptures seen on the campus. There are now over 20 sculptures on the campus.
Long Beach is known for its
street art. Some of the
murals were created in conjunction with the city's Mural and Cultural Arts Program, but many others were not.
[22] [23]
The Anime Expo® is held regularly at the Convention Center. Its success over the past 13 years has encouraged multitudes of other conventions to spring up across the country. Its Exhibit Hall has been host to the largest collection of import and domestic anime and manga merchandise anywhere in America, as well as host to galleries of some of the most influential artists in Japan's recent history.
On the exterior of the
Long Beach Sports Arena is one of the artist
Wyland's Whaling Walls. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest
mural (according to the
Guinness Book of Records).
Shops and galleries in the
East Village Arts District, in downtown Long Beach hold their monthly art openings and artists exhibit in street galleries on the second Saturday of the monthduring the Artwalk
[24].
Long Beach has a percent for art program administered through the Arts Council of Long Beach and the Redevelopment Agency which ensures that new private developments contribute to the arts fund or commission artworks for their new projects
[25] .
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.
[26]
Long Beach Opera, founded in 1979, is the oldest professional opera company serving the Los Angeles and Orange County regions. It presents performances of standard and non-standard opera repertoire at various locations, including the
Terrace Theater and Center Theater of the
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at CSULB.
[27]
Long Beach Community Concert Association
LBCCA is a 49 year old, volunteer organization that provides quality musical entertainment appealing to seniors and others, four Sunday afternoons a year at the
Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at CSULB. LBCCA also has an outreach program taking musical entertainment to senior care and senior housing facilities around the greater Long Beach area.
KJAZZ 88.1 FM (KKJZ) broadcasts from
California State University, Long Beach. The station features
jazz and
blues music exclusively and can also be listened to over the
Internet.
[28] KBEACH is the student owned and operated web-only radio at CSULB.
[29]
Long Beach is the host to a number of long-running music festivals. They include the Bob Marley Reggae Festival (February), the Cajun & Zydeco Festival (May), the El Dia De San Juan
Puerto Rican Festival (Salsa music, June) the Aloha Concert Jam (Hawaiian music, June), the Long Beach Jazz Festival (August), the
Long Beach Blues Festival (September, since 1980), and the
Brazilian Street Carnaval (Brazilian music, September).
Long Beach has a history of well-known artists. The bands
Sublime, subsequent
Long Beach Dub Allstars, and
Long Beach Shortbus are all from Long Beach, as is the new-wave punk band
Le Shok, and
old school hip hop group
Ugly Duckling. Rappers
Snoop Dogg,
Warren G,
Nate Dogg and
Zack de la Rocha were born and raised in Long Beach.
Melissa Etheridge traces her roots to performing at Que Sera, a former
lesbian bar in Long Beach. New rising post-hardcore bands and acts such as
I Am Ghost also hails from Long Beach.
The
Carpenters, a pop group from the 1960s and 1970s, consisted of musicians who were all students at
California State University, Long Beach.
Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at CSULB is named in honor of these famous alumni of the Music Department.
The Long Beach Municipal Band, founded in 1909 is the longest running, municipally supported band in the country. In 2005, the band played 24 concerts in various parks around Long Beach.
[30]
Theater
Long Beach has several resident professional and semi-professional theater companies, notably:
Musical Theatre West, one of the largest regional theatrical producers in
Southern California, who performs at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of
CSU Long Beach;
International City Theatre, who produces plays and musicals at the Center Theater (part of the
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center);
The Long Beach Playhouse, in continuous operation for over 75 years, has shows running 50 weeks out of the year on two stages.
Additionally, Long Beach is home to a number of smaller and “black-box” theaters, including the Found Theatre, the Garage Theatre (http://www.thegaragetheatre.org), and California Repertory Company (part of the graduate theater program at CSULB) that performs at the National Guard Armory in downtown Long Beach. Numerous tours and other stage events come through Long Beach, particularly at the
Terrace Theater and the Carpenter Center, and both CSU Long Beach and
Long Beach City College maintain active theater departments.
Cultural events
★ Chinese New Year Festival (West Coast Hotel, Late Jan., 7th Day of the Lunar New Year)
★ Scottish Festival and Games (Queen Mary, Feb.)
[31]
★ Annual Indian Pow Wow (CSULB, March)
★ Cambodian New Year Celebration (El Dorado Park, April)
★ the Kaleidoscope Festival (CSULB, April)
[32]
★
Cinco de Mayo (at the Museum of Latin American Art, plus several celebrations in city parks,
May 5)
★ Long Beach Pride Festival (May)
[33]
★ El Dia de
San Juan Puerto Rican festival (June at the Queen Mary Events park)
[34]
★
Juneteenth Festival (Martin Luther King Park, mid-June)
★ AnimeExpo (Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) (Long Beach Convention Center, June 29th - July 2nd)
★ Tafesilafa'i (Pacific Islander festival, Shoreline Village, July)
★ E Hula Mau (Hula and Chant competition, Terrace Theater, Labor Day weekend)
[35]
★ Annual Grecian Festival (Greek Orthodox Church of Long Beach, Labor Day weekend)
★
Brazilian Street Carnaval (Sept.)
[36].
★ Annual Hmong New Year Festival (El Dorado Park, December)
In October, Long Beach State hosts the CSULB Wide Screen Film Festival, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. The festival started in 1992 as a showcase for
movies filmed in the
widescreen format, but has since been transformed into an
artist-in-residence event. A major film artist (such as former CSULB student
Steven Spielberg) screens and discusses their own work as well as the ten films that most influenced their cinematic vision.
[37]
Christmas boat "parades" are a Southern California tradition, with at least one held every weekend night from
December 1 till Christmas. The "Naples Island Christmas Parade" has been held since
1946, and passes through the canals of
Naples and around Alamitos Bay past
Belmont Shore. The "Parade of A Thousand Lights" is in the Shoreline Village area (near
Downtown Long Beach and the
RMS Queen Mary).
[38] There is also a Christmas boat parade in the nearby
Port of Los Angeles/
San Pedro area, and another in the Huntington Harbour community of nearby
Huntington Beach.
The Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival has been held in May or June since 1984 . It is the second largest event in Long Beach, attracting over 125,000 participants over the two day celebration. It is the third largest
Gay Pride Parade in the United States.
[39]
Other parades in Long Beach include:
★ the Martin Luther King Parade (Jan.)
★ Cambodian New Years Parade (March or April)
★
Brazilian Street Carnaval (Sept.)
[40]
★ Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade (Oct.)
[41]
★ Long Beach Veterans Day Parade (Nov.)
[42]
★ Belmont Shore Christmas Parade (Dec.)
[43]
★ Daisy Avenue Christmas Tree Lane & Parade (Dec.)
Sports
;Long Beach Grand Prix
The
Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in Long Beach. It started in 1975 as a
Formula 5000 race on the streets of downtown, and became a
Formula One race, the
United States Grand Prix West, the following year. Since 1984 it has been a
Champ Car event. During the same weekend as the Grand Prix, there are also races in the
American Le Mans Series and the
Champ Car Atlantic Series. In addition, there is a Drift Challenge and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race.
;Baseball
Long Beach
Little League teams that included
Sean Burroughs were back-to-back World Series Champions in 1992 & 1993. Other noted Long Beach ballplayers include
Tony Gwynn,
Bobby Grich, Chase Utley, Milton Bradley, and
Bob Lemon.
The
Long Beach Armada of the independent
Golden Baseball League plays at Blair Field. Ex-Major Leaguer
Darrell Evans manages the team that features former major league players as well as rookies looking to reach the Majors for the first time.
Blair Field (built in 1958) has hosting numerous
American Legion baseball,
Connie Mack baseball, high school, junior college, college,
minor league baseball and
major league spring training exhibition baseball games. It has also been host of six
MTV Rock & Jock softball games, and has been the filming location for numerous film, TV and commercial productions.
[44]
;Basketball
The minor league
American Basketball Association team, the
Long Beach Jam, played in the
Walter Pyramid (a pyramid-shaped gym) on the Long Beach State campus) from 2003 to 2005.
The Southern California
Summer Pro League is a showcase for current and prospective
NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players. The league plays in the Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus during July.
[45]
;Sailing
Since its inception in August
1964, the Congressional Cup has grown into one of the major international sailing events. Now held in April, it is the only grade 1
match race regatta held in the United States. The one-on-one race format is the same as the
America's Cup, and many of the winners of the Congressional Cup have gone on to win the America's Cup as well.
The Leeway Sailing and Aquatics Center on Alamitos Bay in
Belmont Shore is a youth sailing program founded in 1929 . It is recognized as one of the premier municipal instructional sailing programs in the country.
[46]
;Surfing
Long Beach was once famously known for its great surf breaks. During the summer months, Long Beach use to receive south swells bringing in excellent
surf, as the beach faces South. Now with breakers blocking all ocean swells from coming into the harbor, Long Beach no longer is known for great surf. However, several miles south on
Pacific Coast Highway are some of the best surf breaks in
Southern California.
;Water Skiing
In July, there is the annual Catalina Ski Race, which starts from Long Beach Harbor and goes to
Catalina Island and back to complete a 100 km (62 mile) circuit. This race has been held annually since 1948 and features skiers from around the world.
[47]
;Windsurfing and Kitesurfing
On windy summer weekends, hundreds of
windsurfers and
kitesurfers flock to Belmont Shores for the summer thermal winds that often occur there.
;Golf
Long Beach has five municipal golf courses, as well as the private Virginia Country Club in the
Bixby Knolls area. Recreation Park, built in
1917, is one of the busiest golf courses in the United States. Many talented professional golfers have honed their golf skills in the Long Beach area. PGA Tour veteran and 11 time winner John Cook grew up playing golf in Long Beach. 16 time PGA tour winner Mark O'Meara attended Long Beach State University, Two time PGA tour winner Paul Goydos grew up in Long Beach and attended Long Beach State University. John Mallinger, a rookie on the PGA tour went to Long Beach State University, John Merrick another rookie on the tour grew up in Long Beach (attended UCLA), Peter Tomasulo who also grew up in Long Beach is a promising young player on the Nationwide Tour (attended Cal Berkeley),
[48] [49]
;Rugby Union
The
Belmont Shore rugby team plays in the
US Rugby Super League. They've been in seven league finals, and have been champions three times.
;College Sports
Long Beach State's team mascot are the
49ers.
[50] The school has had national championships in Women's Volleyball (5), Men's Volleyball (1), Track and Field (1), Men's Tennis (1-Division II), Swimming (1-Division II), Women's Badminton (2), and Women's Field Hockey (1). The school also has had regularly NCAA tournament appearances in Men's Baseball, Men's Softball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Men's Golf, Women's Tennis, Men's Water Polo, and Women's Water Polo
[51]. Their Cheer Team has also been national champions in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
[52]
The sports teams at
Long Beach City College have also done well, including national championships in Men's Gymnastics (6), Football (5), Women's Soccer (3), and Men's Doubles and Singles Tennis (1 each). They have also had state championships in numerous sports, including 2006-7 championships in Men's and Women's Water Polo.
[53]
;Olympics
During the two
Olympic Games held in
Los Angeles, Long Beach has hosted a number of the competitions, including rowing events in the Marine Stadium, sailing events off the coast of Long Beach, volleyball in the Long Beach Sports Arena, and archery at El Dorado Regional Park.
For the
1984 Summer Olympics, Long Beach hosted yachting, volleyball, fencing and archery competitions. For the
1932 Summer Olympics, Long Beach hosted the rowing competition.
The Belmont Plaza Pool has hosted U.S. Olympic swimming trials in 1968 and 1976 . For the 2004 U.S. Olympic swimming trials, a temporary swimming stadium was constructed in the parking lot adjacent to the Long Beach Sports Arena.
The USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center, where the men's and women's
US Olympic water polo teams train, is located in nearby
Los Alamitos.
;Famous Long Beach athletes
Long Beach is the childhood home of tennis legend
Billie Jean King, three-time
Super Bowl-winning
NFL linebacker Willie McGinest, and eight-time National League batting champion and longtime
San Diego Padres outfielder
Tony Gwynn. Each attended
Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
Jeff Severson, the "Singing Safety" and 9 year NFL veteran, went to
Wilson High School.
2004 Summer Olympics gold medal winning
beach volleyball player
Misty May-Treanor graduated from
California State University, Long Beach (where she won a national championship and several other awards), and currently resides in Long Beach.
US Olympic Water Polo Team Member, Ryan Bailey, was raised in Long Beach, where he attended Robert A. Millikan High School.
Notable natives and residents
Main articles: List of people from Long Beach, California
Miscellaneous information
;International beauty contests
The first Miss Universe Pageant was held in
Long Beach, California in 1952. It was won by
Armi Kuusela from
Finland, who gave up her title to get married to a Filipino tycoon, Virgilio Hilario, shortly before her year was complete. The pageant remained in Long Beach until 1968, when the contest moved to
Japan. The Miss International contest was again held in Long Beach in 1971 before returning permanently to Japan.
[54]
;Sister cities
Long Beach's sister cities are (as of December
2005)
[55]:
★ Bacolod, Philippines
★ Guadalajara, Mexico
★ Kolkata, India
★ Manta, Ecuador
|
★ Phnom Penh, Cambodia
★ Qingdao, China[56]
★ Sochi, Russia
★ Valparaíso, Chile
★ Yokkaichi, Japan
★ Long Beach, Mississippi
★ Izmir, Turkiye
|
See also
★
Lakewood Boulevard (California State Route 19)
★
Long Beach, for other places named Long Beach
References
1. [1]
2. [3]
3. [4]
4. [5]
5. [6]
6. [7]
7. [8]
8. [9]
9. [10]
10. [11]
11. [12]
12. [13]
13. [15]
14. [17]
External links
;General Long Beach
★
Long Beach Chamber of Commerce
★
Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau - Tourism
★
Historical Society of Long Beach
★
Port of Long Beach
;Museums and culture
★
Aquarium of the Pacific
★
Long Beach Museum of Art
★
Museum of Latin American Art
★
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
★
Long Beach Opera
★
Long Beach Public Library
★
KJAZZ 88.1 FM
★
Musical Theatre West
★
CSULB Widescreen Film Festival
★
California Repertory Company
★
Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival
;Long Beach sports
★
Grand Prix of Long Beach
★
Long Beach State Athletics
★
Long Beach Aramada Baseball
★
Long Beach Congressional Cup
★
Catalina Ski Race
;Transportation
★
Long Beach Public Transit
★
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
;Environment
★
California Department of Fish and Game - Wildlife Habitats
★
El Dorado Nature Center - The Land
★
Los Cerritos Wetlands Study Group
★
Marketwire Press Release - Long Beach to Implement The 'EcoZone(SM)' Program
;News
★
Long Beach Press-Telegram
★
Long Beach Business Journal
★
Long Beach Post
★
LBreport.com
★
Gazette Newspapers
★
Long Beach Beachcomber
★
Daily 49er
;Maps
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