Norwalk, California

Norwalk, California is a city about 17 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles with a population of over 100,000 and a land area of over 9 square miles. To the north of low-lying Norwalk are the communities of Santa Fe Springs, South Whittier, Downey, and Pico Rivera. To the west lie Paramount, Compton, and Bellflower. To the east are the cities of La Mirada (originally incorporated as Mirada Hills) and La Habra (once a hub for the avocado growing industry). To the south are Cerritos, Artesia, and the Orange County city of Buena Park, home to Knott’s Berry Farm, a 57-acre theme park that dates to 1947.

Coast Plaza Hospital is a major Norwalk employer. The 127-bed hospital has more than 275 physicians and 280 employees. Annual emergency room visits exceed 15,000.

The Norwalk Headquarters of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is among the largest employers in Norwalk. Services available include birth, death, and marriage record copies, marriage licenses, marriage ceremonies, and real estate record copies.

Metropolitan State Hospital opened in 1916 and at one time had its own dairy, farm, and animals. The hospital has over 800 beds and treats patients with mental health disorders, including those found incompetent to stand trial. Over 1,500 employees, filling about 190 different job classifications, work at the hospital, providing round-the-clock care. According to the State of California, Metropolitan State Hospital is Norwalk’s second largest employer.

Norwalk Community Hospital is a 50-bed facility with an emergency department. Norwalk Community Hospital is just one of several Los Angeles County hospitals owned and operated by Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc.

Cerritos College is a community college located in Norwalk, Founded in 1955 as the Excelsior Junior College District, Cerritos College has an annual student population of around 22,000 students. Cerritos College has about 700 full-time employees (260 faculty) and about 1,500 part-time employees (900 faculty). The District served by Cerritos College includes the Cities of Norwalk, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, and portions of the cities of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs, and South Gate. A notable feature of Cerritos College is the Falcon’s Nest program, which is a centralized network of resources that support meeting the basic needs of students in need of those resources. Highlights of the Falcon’s Nest program include The Village, the first community college housing development for students facing homelessness. Another feature is Franco’s Market, a free campus food pantry.

Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District, established in 1965, has over 1,700 employees overall, including over 140 employees in administration, over 700 classified employees, and over 900 certified employees. District student enrollment is over 16,000. Revenues exceed $250 million annually and expenditures exceed $240 million annually. In addition to the Cities of Norwalk and La Mirada, the District also serves portions of Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, and unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Norwalk City Council has approved a Norwalk Entertainment District project plan. The proposed project envisions the construction of a mixed-use development with residential (350 units), commercial (110,000 square feet), and open space (100,000 square feet) on the current Norwalk City Hall Lawn and surface parking lot. The project is expected to generate about $1 million annually in public revenue.

Norwalk has developed a strategic method to attract businesses to vacant properties within the city. Norwalk maintains a list of Opportunity Site Profiles for businesses interested in opening shop in the City.

The City of Norwalk was incorporated in 1957. The City Council consists of five council members. Norwalk has a council/city manager form of government. Sales tax is a major source of revenue for the City.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provides the City of Norwalk with law enforcement services through a contract. Norwalk Sheriff's Station serves Norwalk, La Mirada, and adjacent unincorporated areas.

Southern California Edison provides electricity service for the city of Norwalk.

Southern California Gas Company provides natural gas service for the city of Norwalk.

Norwalk Recreation and Park Services Department administers a park system with 12 parks that cover over 87 acres of land.

Four freeways serve the city of Norwalk: Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5), San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605), Riverside Freeway (State Route 91), and Glenn M. Anderson [Century] Freeway (Interstate 105). At the other end of the Glenn Anderson Freeway, approximately 20 miles from Norwalk, is Los Angeles International Airport.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) provides transit services in Norwalk, including the C (Green) line light rail service. Norwalk Transit System (NTS) also provides transit services for those who live or work in Norwalk, certain unincorporated areas, as well as portions of Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, El Monte, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, La Habra, and Whittier. NTS offers bus service between the Metro C Line Studebaker station in Norwalk and the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink commuter rail station.

In 1869, Atwood Sproul purchased 463 acres of land at $11 an acre in an area known as Corazon de los Valles, which translates to "Heart of the Valleys." In about 1873, railroad service came to what would become Norwalk and a townsite was established. Norwalk was known briefly as Corvallis. Today, a middle school in Norwalk bears that name. The first major industry in Norwalk was a cheese factory.

By the turn of the 20th century Norwalk was nestled in a large farming (particularly sugar beets) and dairy area. In fact, the neighboring City of Cerritos was originally incorporated in 1956 as “Dairy Valley,” at a time when cows outnumbered people by a ratio of almost 10 to 1.

After World War II, the Norwalk/Delpert Airport was established; however, by the early 1950s, tract homes were built on the site. Norwalk developed rapidly in the years following World War II, and the dairy industry eventually left the area.

D.D. Johnston-Hargitt House Museum is situated in Hargitt House, a two-story Victorian Eastlake home built in 1891. Built from coast redwood, Hargitt House features a semi-attached water tower. Darius David Johnston founded Norwalk’s original school system.

Gilbert Sproul Museum occupies a house erected by Atwood and Gilbert Sproul in 1870.

Front Street (formerly Firestone Boulevard until the thoroughfare was realigned around Norwalk’s original downtown area) is home to several historic buildings declared as historic landmarks.

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