Cudahy, California

The City of Cudahy is situated in southeast Los Angeles County. Cudahy is one of the cities that comprises the Gateway Cities Region. The Gateway Cities Region is known for large manufacturing and industrial business sectors. The city governments in the Gateway Cities Region promote pro-business policies. The Gateway Cities Council of Governments was established by the constituent cities for the purpose of developing plans of action to improve the region’s environment, deal with problems in housing and pursue job creation, improve livability, and develop urban improvement projects on a scale that the individual cities would not be able to achieve on their own. The City of Cudahy was incorporated in 1960. Cudahy is a small city in terms of land area, covering only about 1.18 square miles. However, with over twenty-two thousand residents, Cudahy is among the most densely populated cities in Los Angeles County. Approximately one quarter of one percent of Los Angeles County residents live in the City of Cudahy. The City of Cudahy has a number of homes of historical interest, most of which were built between 1920 and 1940. 82% of Cudahy residents live within one-half mile of a park.

Nearby cities include Bell, Maywood, Bell Gardens. Downey. South Gate, and Lynwood. West of Cudahy are the cities and neighborhoods of Walnut Park, Florence-Graham, and Huntington Park. The Los Angeles River and the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710) comprise Cudahy’s eastern boundary.

While the City of Cudahy consists mainly of densely populated residential districts, Cudahy also features retail, commercial, and light industrial uses along the City’s major streets, including Atlantic Avenue. Most jobs in Cudahy are in the retail sector. Manufacturing jobs in Cudahy have decreased in recent decades. Roughly three percent of Cudahy residents both live and work in the City of Cudahy.

Cudahy offers easy freeway access for businesses and is close to Downtown Los Angeles and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Kaiser Permanente, one of America’s leading healthcare providers, has a medical office building in Cudahy.

Atlantic Avenue is the primary north south roadway running through Cudahy. Cudahy is planning improvements to Atlantic Avenue with the aim of turning the thoroughfare into a grand avenue. Proposed improvements include the addition of entry monuments at the north and south ends of Cudahy’s portion of the avenue, as well as landscape and streetscape enhancements.

The Atlantic Avenue corridor contains significant shopping areas. These shopping areas substitute for the traditional downtown found in many American cities.

Cudahy City Council consists of the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and three City Council Members. The City of Cudahy operates under the Council-Manager form of government. Under the Council-Manager form of government, the City Council, whose members are elected at large, adopts legislation, sets policies, and establishes the budget of the City of Cudahy. The City Manager is the administering head of City government. The City Manager advises the City Council on policies, finances, and planning.

The City of Cudahy is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District and is part of the Local District East.

Law enforcement services are provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The Maywood-Cudahy Police Department, which was disbanded in 2010, previously served the City of Cudahy. Fire protection services are provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. County of Los Angeles Public Library operates a branch in the City of Cudahy. The City of Cudahy’s mass transit needs are served by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Cudahy Area Rapid Transit.

Cudahy Park is located in the eastern portion of the City and is the site of Cudahy City Hall and Cudahy Library.

Like most cities in the region, Cudahy was once a part of a Spanish land-grant ranch. Rancho San Antonio included the present-day City of Cudahy and several neighboring cities, including Southgate and Bell. Though originally used for cattle grazing, the area’s deep soil was later planted with crops such as walnuts, fruits and berries, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and alfalfa, The Cudahy portion of the Rancho, then known as Nadeau Ranch, was bought by a man who had made his fortune in meatpacking, Irish immigrant Michael Cudahy. In 1908, portions of the 2,800-acre tract, which had been renamed Cudahy Ranch, were divided into lots for sale. Prevalent were lots with 100 feet of street frontage and depths of 800 feet. These lots were sometimes referred to as “Cudahy” or “railroad” lots.

Prices ranged from $350 to $500 an acre. Other portions of the ranch were designated for industrial and manufacturing uses. At one point there was a pipe manufacturing plant on Cudahy Ranch amidst agricultural fields. The Whittier electric line of the Pacific Electric interurban line passed just north of Cudahy Ranch. For nearly a half century, many Cudahy residents had orchards, chickens, goats, or horses on their properties. However, like most of the region, Cudahy gradually evolved into an urban area with a significant industrial component. Many of its residents found employment in nearby factories and assembly plants, including those of major companies such as Chrysler, General Motors, North American Aviation, Firestone, Cudahy Packing Company, and Bethlehem Steel. However, from the 1960s onward the area gradually lost much of its industrial base. Currently, much of the employment in Cudahy is in the retail sector. These jobs generally offer fewer hours with less schedule stability than the industrial jobs they replaced. Retail employers commonly give their employees unpredictable schedules and have workers clock out before the end of their shifts when business is slow. In the event that an employee is sent home early and is not paid for at least half of the hours he or she is scheduled to work, the employer may have violated the worker’s rights.

Our office has many years of experience advocating for employee rights. Cudahy workers have rights. If you are owed wages, have been wrongfully terminated, or if your employer or former employer has otherwise violated your rights, call the experienced attorneys at Kokozian Law Firm, APC or Contact Us via our online form. We advance all costs. No recovery, no fee.