Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California is one of the largest cities in Los Angeles County with a population of over 450,000 and a land area of over 50 square miles. Long Beach is located about 20 miles south of Downtown Los Angeles along the Pacific Ocean. East of Long Beach lies the County of Orange and the cities of Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, and Cypress. Other nearby cities include Carson, Torrance, Lakewood, Cerritos, Signal Hill, Compton, Paramount, Bellflower, and Hawaiian Gardens.

Like many cities in the greater Los Angeles area, Long Beach owes much of its economic development to aerospace. Boeing (originally Douglas Aircraft Company) remains one of the City’s largest employers. Boeing occupies a large portion of the land adjacent to the Long Beach Airport (formerly, Daugherty Field), with about a half million square feet of office space. Established in 1923 as southern California’s first municipal airport, Long Beach Airport serves more than 4 million passengers annually on its three runways. The airport has an annual economic impact of over $1.5 billion and it supports more than 10,000 jobs. Long Beach Airport is part of a complex that includes office buildings, hotels, industrial buildings, and a golf course. Long Beach Airport plans to spend $22 million annually on maintenance and refurbishment, which will support over 230 jobs per year.

The aerospace industry first came to Long Beach in 1940, when Douglas Aircraft purchased about 200 acres near present day Long Beach Airport. At one point during World War II, Douglas Aircraft employed more than 160,000 workers at its Long Beach facility.

Long Beach is home to two of Los Angeles County’s major tourist attractions: The Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. The former is a massive ocean liner that has been permanently docked in Long Beach Harbor since 1967. Visitors can enter a world of 1930s nautical history by taking a walking tour of the interior of the ship. If a tour is not sufficient, rooms are available for those who wish to stay the night aboard the ship. The latter attraction, the Aquarium of the Pacific, is more suitable for families with children. The themed aquariums, ponds, and pools are geared toward educating visitors about the various watery regions of the world and the living things that call them home. Long Beach estimates it draws up to six million visitors annually.

Long Beach has excellent access to transportation systems for industry and workers. Four freeways pass through Long Beach. The Metro A Line (Blue) commuter rail service has eight stations within Long Beach.

Cal State Long Beach is a public university founded in 1949. Its 322-acre campus is in the southeastern portion of Long Beach. Campus enrollment exceeds 39,000. Cal State Long Beach supports over 13,000 jobs and generates over $114 million in tax revenue. Instructional faculty exceeds 2,400, including fulltime and parttime.

Long Beach City College is a two-year community college founded in 1927. Long Beach City College has a budget of over $92 million for employee salaries. There are approximately 650 parttime faculty at Long Beach City College and over 1,000 faculty overall.

Long Beach is a coastal city with a large port, the Port of Long Beach, which is situated side-by-side with San Pedro’s Port of Los Angeles. Together, the ports form one of the world’s major transit points for goods that are shipped in and out of the country. The Port of Long Beach processes around $200 billion in trade annually and supports over a half million jobs in Southern California. The port is among the busiest in the United States. Trade has increased significantly since the entry of China into the World Trade Organization in 2001. China is the top trading partner for both imports and exports. The port can accommodate the largest of vessels in use. In 2021, the Port of Long Beach processed more than 9 million container units. The Port is comprised of over 3,500 acres of land, about 4,600 acres of water, 80 berths, and 72 cranes.

MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, founded as Seaside Hospital in 1907, is a 453 bed hospital. The Medical Center is on a 54-acre campus, which it shares with Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. Nearly 28,000 healthcare employees work in Long Beach.

The eastern portion of Long Beach offers generous recreational open space.

El Dorado East Regional Park is an exceptionally large park covering over 369 acres. The park features an archery range, two fishing lakes, and over 4 miles of bicycle trails.

El Dorado Park West covers over 272 acres and has an 18-hole golf course, soccer and softball fields, and a skate park.

The City of Long Beach dates to three separate settlements.

The Cerritos Colony was situated in the area now known as west Long Beach. The Cerritos Colony began in around 1879 and consisted of a few farms, homes, and the area’s first schoolhouse.

The American Colony was a 4,000 acre parcel of land with a 350-acre townsite called Willmore City in what is now the downtown area of Long Beach. Founded in 1881, the townsite was widely advertised in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. In 1884, the mainly still undeveloped American Colony was purchased by a real estate firm, which renamed the American Colony and Willmore City as Long Beach in recognition of the area’s long and wide beaches.

In 1886, the Alamitos Beach townsite was founded east of Long Beach in what would later comprise the City of Long Beach communities of Naples, Belmont Shore, and Belmont Heights.

In 1888, Long Beach was incorporated as a city. By the end of the 19^th century, Long Beach had become an important resort. Tourism continued to be the City’s primary industry into the early 20^th century.

In 1906, marshland adjacent to Long Beach was first dredged to create a harbor. The harbor would be expanded various times over the next few decades. Agriculture was the primary industry in outlying areas of Long Beach during the early 20^th century.

In 1921, oil was discovered in nearby unincorporated Signal Hill. Long Beach’s population doubled over the next few years as people moved to the area in hopes of working in the oil industry. As oil revenue brought wealth to some of its citizens, high rise elegant hotels and apartments were built along the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Since 1977, a stretch of Shoreline Drive has annually been transformed into part of a racetrack. The event is called the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race also runs along Seaside Way and through Pine Avenue, which is usually known for dining and shopping during the rest of the year. During the weekend-long event, the whole area surrounding the track is converted to an auto-racing Mecca for enthusiasts.

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