'Los Angeles County' is a
county in
California and is the
most populous county in the
United States. Figures from the
U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2005 population of 9,758,886 residents,
[1] while the California State government's population bureau lists a
January 1 2007 estimate of 10,331,939.
[2] The
county seat is the city of
Los Angeles.
The county is home to 88 incorporated
cities and many
unincorporated areas. The coastal portion of the county is heavily
urbanized, though there is a large expanse of lesser populated
desert inland in the
Santa Clarita Valley, and especially in the
Antelope Valley which encompasses the northeastern parts of the county and adjacent eastern
Kern County, lying just north of Los Angeles County. In between the large desert portions of the county ― which make up around 40 percent of its land area ― and the heavily urbanized central and southern portions sits the
San Gabriel Mountains containing
Angeles National Forest. All of southern Los Angeles County, north to about the center of the county, is heavily urbanized.
This county holds most of the principal cities encompassing the
Greater Los Angeles Area, and is the most important of the five counties that make up the area. As of 2004, the county's population is larger than the populations of
42 states and is home to over a quarter of all California residents. According to the
United States Conference of Mayors, Los Angeles County boasts a GDP among the twenty largest in the world.
[1]
History
Los Angeles County was one of the original counties of California, created at the time of statehood in
1850. Parts of the county's territory were given to
San Bernardino County in
1853, to
Kern County in
1866 and to
Orange County in
1899.
Most of the County's history is recounted in covering its constituent cities and their neighborhoods.
Geography
Original seal.
Current Seal of the County of Los Angeles, California
With 4,061 square miles (10,517 km²), Los Angeles County borders 70 miles of coast on the
Pacific Ocean and encompasses numerous other natural landscapes including towering mountain ranges, deep valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and desert. More specifically, the county contains the following rivers:
Los Angeles River,
Rio Hondo, the
San Gabriel River and the
Santa Clara River. The primary mountain ranges are the
Santa Monica Mountains and the
San Gabriel Mountains. It also includes the westernmost part of the
Mojave Desert, and
San Clemente Island and
Santa Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean.
Most of the population of Los Angeles County is located in the southern and southwestern portion of the county. The major population centers are the
Los Angeles Basin and the
San Fernando and
San Gabriel Valleys. Moderate population are in the
Santa Clarita,
Crescenta and
Antelope Valleys. North of the Santa Clarita Valley (Northwest Los Angeles County, adjacent to
Ventura and
Kern counties) is mostly
mountainous, rugged, well-
timbered and filled with
coniferous forests and receives plentiful
snow in the
winter, right to the point of
blizzard conditions. This area is less populated. Mountains in this area include
San Emigdio Mountains, the southernmost part of
Tehachapi Mountains, and the
Sierra Pelona Mountains.
Most of the highest peaks in the county are located in the
San Gabriel Mountains, which are part of the
Transverse Ranges. They include
Mount San Antonio (10,064 ft) at the Los Angeles-
San Bernardino county lines,
Mount Baden-Powell (9,399 ft),
Mount Burnham (8,997 ft), and the well-known
Mount Wilson (5,710 ft) where the
Mount Wilson Observatory is located. Several smaller, lower
peaks are located in the northern, western, and southwestern Los Angeles County.
The county has a total area of 12,308
km² (4,752
mi²). 10,518 km² (4,061 mi²) of it is land and 1,791 km² (691 mi²) of it (14.55%) is water.
Major divisions of the county
★
Greater Los Angeles Area
★ 'East:'
East Los Angeles,
San Gabriel Valley,
Pomona Valley
★ 'West:'
West Los Angeles,
Beach Cities
★ 'South:'
South Bay,
Palos Verdes Peninsula,
South Los Angeles,
Gateway Cities
★ 'North:'
San Fernando Valley, portions of the
Antelope Valley and
Santa Clarita Valley
★ 'Central:'
Downtown Los Angeles,
Mid-Wilshire
Largest cities
★ '1.' Los Angeles 4,018,080
★ '2.' Long Beach 492,912
★ '3.' Glendale 207,157
★ '4.' Santa Clarita 177,158
★ '5.' Pomona 162,140 |
★ '6.' Torrance 148,558
★ '7.' Pasadena 147,262
★ '8.' Palmdale 145,468
★ '9.' Lancaster 143,818
★ '10.' El Monte 126,282 |
★ '11.' Inglewood 119,212
★ '12.' Downey 113,587
★ '13.' West Covina 112,953
★ '14.' Norwalk 110,040
★ '15.' Burbank 107,921 |
Other cities
Unincorporated communities in Los Angeles County
The following areas are
unincorporated regions of the county which fall directly under the county government's jurisdiction. Most, but not all of them, are
Census-designated places. With no city government, residents of these areas must petition the appropriate member of the Board of Supervisors when they have a grievance about the quality of local services.
Many of these communities have ''town councils'' which are the official advisory bodies for the supervisor in the community. Typically these town councils are elected from the residents in a given region and have a direct channel to the supervisor and his staff to communicate concerns. Currently, Acton, Agua Dulce, Altadena, Castaic, Hacienda Heights, Juniper Hills, Quartz Hill, Rowland Heights, Topanga, and Val Verde have active town councils, though they may not be called by that name.
:''See:
Los Angeles Almanac MAP: Unincorporated Areas and Communities of Los Angeles County''
:''See also:
List of districts and neighborhoods of Los Angeles''
ZIP codes
See
Southern California Zip Codes
Adjacent counties
★
Ventura County, California - west
★
Kern County, California - north
★
San Bernardino County, California - east
★
Orange County, California - southeast
Transportation Infrastructure
Air
The county's primary commercial aviation airport is
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in
Los Angeles. Other important airports include the
Long Beach Municipal Airport in Long Beach and
Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.
Palmdale Regional Airport is planned for expanded commercial service. There are also general aviation airports in Los Angeles, including airports in
Van Nuys and
Pacoima. Other general aviation airports exist in
Santa Monica,
Compton,
Torrance,
El Monte,
Lancaster, and
Hawthorne.
Train
The county has the following intercity Amtrak service at
Union Station in the city of Los Angeles.
★ The ''
Pacific Surfliner'' to
Santa Barbara,
San Luis Obispo, or
San Diego.
★ The ''
Coast Starlight'' to
Seattle
★ The ''
Southwest Chief'' to
Chicago
★ The ''
Sunset Limited'' to
New Orleans and
Orlando, Florida
Union Station is also the primary hub for
Metrolink commuter rail, which serves much of the
greater Los Angeles area.
Light rail, subway (heavy rail), and long-distance bus service are all provided by the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).
Roads
The county has a
freeway network of legendary size and complexity, which is maintained by
Caltrans and patrolled by the
California Highway Patrol. It also has a large
street network, most of which is maintained by city governments. The county and most cities generally do a decent job of maintaining and cleaning streets. For more information about the primary exception, see the
Transportation in Los Angeles article.
Both the freeways and streets are notorious for severe
traffic congestion, and the area's freeway-to-freeway interchanges regularly rank among the top 10 most congested points in the country.
In addition to Metro Bus service, numerous cities within the county also operate their own bus companies and shuttle lines.
Major highways
Sea
The county's two main
seaports are the
Port of Los Angeles and the
Port of Long Beach. Together they handle over a quarter of all
container traffic entering the United States, making the complex the largest and most important port in the country.
The Port of Los Angeles is the largest cruise ship center on the west coast, handling over 1 million passengers annually.
The Port of Long Beach is home to the
Sea Launch program, which uses a floating launch platform to insert payloads into orbits that would be difficult to attain from existing land-based launch sites.
There are some
ferry services to nearby island towns like
Avalon, California.
Navigating in the county
Thomas Guide - The most popular series of map books among Los Angeles residents.
Economy
The major industries of Los Angeles County are international trade, supported by the
Port of Los Angeles and the
Port of Long Beach,
motion picture and
television program production,
music recording and production,
aerospace, and
professional services such as
law and
medicine.
Although the City of Los Angeles is commonly associated with the entertainment industry, all of the major studios, except
Paramount Pictures, are now located outside of its boundaries (in neighboring
Culver City,
Burbank and
Glendale).
Paramount Pictures is the only major studio that is in
Hollywood (a district of Los Angeles City).
For major companies headquartered in the City of Los Angeles, and adjacent cities, see the
Economy section of the Los Angeles, California article.
The following major companies have headquarters in Los Angeles County cities ''not adjacent'' to the city of Los Angeles:
Demographics
Los Angeles County has the highest population of any census-designated area in the United States. Those identifying as Hispanic or Latino form a plurality (and likely a majority in the near future) of the population. Los Angeles County also has the largest Asian population in the country at 1.4 million.
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 9,519,338 people, 3,133,774 households, and 2,137,233 families residing in the county. The
population density was 905/km² (2,344/mi²). There were 3,270,909 housing units at an average density of 311/km² (806/mi²). The county has a unique ethnic diversity. The racial makeup of the county is 48.71%
White, 11.0%
African American, 0.81%
Native American, 10.0%
Asian, 0.28%
Pacific Islander, 23.53% from
other races, and 4.94% from two or more races. 44.56% of the population are
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. 45.87% of the population reported speaking only
English at home; 37.89% speak
Spanish, 2.22%
Tagalog, 1.98%
Chinese, 1.87%
Korean, and 1.57%
Armenian.
&ea=&order=r
There were 3,133,774 households out of which 36.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.6% were
married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.61.
In the county the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,189, and the median income for a family was $46,452. Males had a median income of $36,299 versus $30,981 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $20,683. There are 14.4% of families living below the
poverty line and 17.9% of the population, including 24.2% of under 18 and 10.5% of those over 64.
Housing
The homeownership rate is 47.9%, and the median value for houses is $209,300. 42.2% of housing units are in multi-unit structures.
Demographics (as of 2005)
As of: 1 July 2005
[2]
★ Total Population: 9,935,475, a 4.4% increase between 2000 and 2005, or about 27% of California's population.
'Non Hispanic Persons: 53.2%'
★ White (Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino): 29.5%
★ Black: 9.7%
★ Asian: 13.0%
★ Other: 0.90%'Hispanic or Latino: 46.8%' | 'Other Statistics'
★ Male Residents: 49.4%
★ Female Residents: 50.6%
★ Residents Aged under 18: 27.6%
★ Residents Aged between 19 and 64: 62.3%
★ Residents Aged above 65: 10.1%
★ Foreign born: 36.2% (majority in Mexico)
★ Poverty Level: 17.7% |
Law, government and politics
'Presidential elections results'| Year | Republican | Democrats |
|---|
| 2004 | 35.6% ''1,076,225 | '63.1%' '' 1,907,736 |
| 2000 | 32.4% ''871,930 | '63.5%' ''1,710,505 |
| 1996 | 31.0% ''746,544 | '59.3%' ''1,430,629 |
| 1992 | 29.0% ''799,607 | '52.5%' ''1,446,529 |
| 1988 | 46.9% ''1,239,716 | '51.9%' ''1,372,352 |
| 1984 | '54.5%' ''1,424,113 | 44.4% ''1,158,912 |
| 1980 | '50.2%' ''1,224,533 | 40.2% ''979,830 |
| 1976 | 47.8 ''1,174,926 | '49.7%' ''1,221,893 |
| 1972 | '54.8%' ''1,549,717 | 42.0% ''1,189,977 |
| 1968 | '47.6%' ''1,266,480 | 46.0% ''1,223,251 |
| 1964 | 42.5% ''1,161,067 | '57.4%' ''1,568,300 |
| 1960 | 49.4% ''1,302,661 | '50.2%' ''1,323,818 |
The Grand Avenue entrance of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
The county is governed by the five-member
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who are elected by the county's voters. The small size of the board means each supervisor represents over 2 million people. The board operates in a legislative, executive, and
quasi-judicial capacity. As a legislative authority, it can pass ordinances for the unincorporated areas (ordinances that affect the whole county, like posting of restaurant ratings, must be ratified by the individual city). As an executive body, it can tell the county departments what to do, and how to do it. As a quasi-judicial body, the Board is the final venue of appeal in the local planning process, and holds public hearings on various agenda items.
The county government is operated by a Chief Administrative Officer (currently David Janssen) and is organized into many departments, each of which is enormous in comparison to equivalent county-level (and even state-level) departments anywhere else in the United States. Some of the larger or better-known departments include:
★
Los Angeles County Coroner – Performs autopsies and determines the cause of death for those who die without medical supervision.
★ Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors
★ Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services – administers foster care
★
Los Angeles County Fire Department
★
★
Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division – the ''
Baywatch'' people
★
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services – operates several county hospitals and a network of primary care clinics, and also runs the public health system, which has a requirement that all restaurants in the unincorporated County and the majority of independent cities prominently post their food safety inspection grade in their front window
★
Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation – administers public parks and the largest public golf course system in the U.S.
★
Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services – administers many federal and state welfare programs
★
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works – operates countywide flood control system, constructs and maintains roads in unincorporated areas
★
Los Angeles County District Attorney – prosecutes criminal suspects
★
Los Angeles County Museum of Art – public art museum
★
Los Angeles County Probation Department
★
Los Angeles County Public Defender – defends indigent criminal suspects
★
Los Angeles County Public Library – operates a large network of branch libraries
★
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department – provides law enforcement services to unincorporated areas and cities that do not have their own police departments, and operates the huge county jails. The LASD is the largest county Sheriff's Department in the United States.
★
★
Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service ( DCS )is a volunteer organization administered by the Sheriff's Department Emergency Operations Bureau for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Their main function, authorized under County Ordinance, is to provide volunteer disaster relief communication for the citizens of Los Angeles County.
The
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, despite its name, is ''not'' a County department. Technically it is a state-mandated county transportation commission that also operates bus and rail.
The
Los Angeles Superior Court, which covers the entire county, is not a County department but a division of the State's trial court system. The courthouses, however, are county-owned buildings that are maintained at county expense.
Despite being a highly liberal county, many suburban cities in Los Angeles County are relatively conservative, particularly in the
Palos Verdes Peninsula. Twenty-six cities in the county had a majority of votes go to
George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election; they were
[3]:
Arcadia,
Avalon,
Covina,
Diamond Bar,
El Segundo,
Glendora,
Hidden Hills,
Industry,
La Canada Flintridge,
La Habra Heights,
La Mirada,
La Verne,
Lakewood,
Lancaster,
Palmdale,
Palos Verdes Estates,
Rancho Palos Verdes,
Rolling Hills,
Rolling Hills Estates,
San Dimas,
San Marino,
Santa Clarita,
Torrance,
Vernon,
Westlake Village, and
Whittier. The remainder of the 89 cities and districts in the county voted for Bush's Democratic opponent,
John F. Kerry.
Legal system
THe Hill Street entrance to the Stanley Mosk County Courthouse, located at First and Hill Strees in the Los Angeles Civic Center.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court has jurisdiction over all cases arising under state law, while the
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California hears all federal cases. Both are headquartered in a large cluster of government buildings in the city's Civic Center.
Unlike the largest city in the United States,
New York City, all of the city of Los Angeles and most of its important suburbs are located within a single county. As a result, both the county superior court and the federal district court are respectively the busiest courts of their type in the nation.
Many
celebrities like
O.J. Simpson have been seen in Los Angeles courts. In
2003, the
tabloid television show ''Extra'' (based in nearby
Glendale) found itself running so many reports on the legal problems of local celebrities that it spun them off into a separate show, ''Celebrity Justice''.
State cases are appealed to the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District, which is also headquartered in the Civic Center, and then to the
California Supreme Court, which is headquartered in
San Francisco but also hears argument in Los Angeles (again, in the Civic Center). Federal cases are appealed to the
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which hears them at its branch building in
Pasadena. The court of last resort for federal cases is the
U.S. Supreme Court in
Washington, D.C.
Education
The county is home to many prestigious colleges and universities. It also has a huge number of public school districts and many private schools.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education
[4] provides a supporting role for school districts in the area. The county office also operates two magnet schools, including
International Polytechnic High School and
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
Colleges and universities
'Colleges'
★ Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
★ The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles, Santa Monica
★ Antelope Valley College, Lancaster
★ California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita
★ Citrus College, Glendora
★ Cerritos College, Norwalk
★ College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
★ Claremont Colleges, Claremont
★ DeVry University; Long Beach and West Hills (Los Angeles)
★ East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park
★ El Camino College, Torrance
★ Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena
★ Glendale Community College, Glendale
★ ITT Technical Institute; Culver City, San Dimas, Sylmar (Los Angeles), Torrance, and West Covina
★ Los Angeles City College, (LACC) Los Angeles
★ Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles
★ Los Angeles Mission College, Sylmar (Los Angeles)
★ Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce), Woodland Hills
★ Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles
★ Los Angeles Trade Technical College, (LATTC) Los Angeles
★ Los Angeles Valley College, Valley Glen (Los Angeles)
★ Life Pacific College, San Dimas
★ Long Beach City College, Long Beach
★ The Master's College, Santa Clarita
★ Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut
★ Otis College of Art and Design, Westchester (Los Angeles)
★ Occidental College (Oxy), Eagle Rock (Los Angeles)
★ Pasadena City College, Pasadena
★ Rio Hondo College, Whittier
★ Santa Monica College, Santa Monica
★ West Los Angeles College, Culver City
★ Whittier College, Whittier
★ Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena
|
'Universities'
★ Azusa Pacific University, Azusa
★ Biola University, La Mirada
★ California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena
★ California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, (Cal Poly Pomona), Pomona
★ California State University, Dominguez Hills, (CSUDH) Carson
★ California State University, Bakersfield, Lancaster
★ California State University, Long Beach, (CSULB), Long Beach
★ California State University, Los Angeles, (CSULA), Los Angeles
★ California State University, Northridge, (CSUN), Northridge (Los Angeles)
★ Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Westchester (Los Angeles)
★ Pepperdine University, Malibu
★ Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier
★ Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles
★ University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Westwood (Los Angeles)
★ University of La Verne, La Verne
★ University of Southern California, (USC) Los Angeles
★ Woodbury University, Burbank
|
Sites of interest
The county's most visited park is
Griffith Park, owned by the City of Los Angeles. The county is also known for the annual
Rose Parade in
Pasadena, the annual
Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the
Los Angeles Zoo, the
Natural History Museum, the
La Brea Tar Pits, the
Arboretum of Los Angeles, and two horse racetracks and a car racetrack, also the
RMS Queen Mary located in
Long Beach, and the
Long Beach Grand Prix, and miles of beaches--from Zuma to Cabrillo.
Venice Beach is a popular attraction where its
Muscle Beach used to find throngs of tourists admiring "hardbodies". Today it is more arts-centered.
Santa Monica's pier is a well known tourist spot, famous for its
ferris wheel and bumper car rides, which were featured in the introductory segment of the
television sitcom ''
Three's Company''. Further north in
Pacific Palisades one finds the beaches used in the television series ''
Baywatch''. The fabled
Malibu, home of many a film or television
star, lies west of it.
In the mountain, canyon, and desert areas one may find
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, where many old westerns were filmed.
Mount Wilson Observatory in the
San Gabriel Mountains is open for the public to view astronomical
stars from its
telescope, now
computer-assisted. Many county residents find relaxation in
water skiing and swimming at
Castaic Lake Recreation Area - the county's largest park by area - as well as enjoying natural surroundings and starry nights at
Saddleback Butte State Park in the eastern
Antelope Valley - California State Parks' largest in area within the county. The
California Poppy Reserve is located in the western Antelope Valley and shows off the State's flower in great quantity on its rolling hills every spring.
Museums
★
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mid-City
Los Angeles
★
Museum of Contemporary Art, Downtown Los Angeles (founded in 1950)
★
Norton Simon Museum,
Pasadena (19th and early 20th Century art)
★
Pasadena Museum of California Art Pasadena
★
J. Paul Getty Museum,
Brentwood (Ancient
Roman,
Greek, and European Renaissance Art)
★
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Downtown Los Angeles (founded in 1980)
★
Santa Monica Museum of Art,
Santa Monica (Contemporary art)
★
Huntington Library,
San Marino
★
California Science Center, Los Angeles (formerly the Museum of Science and Industry)
★
Museum of Tolerance
★
Museum of Jurassic Technology,
Culver City
★
Long Beach Museum of Art
★
Museum of Latin American Art
★
Los Angeles Children's Museum
★
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
★
George C. Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits
★
Museum of the American West (Gene Autry Museum), in
Griffith Park
★
Southwest Museum
Entertainment
Music venues
Amusement Parks
Other attractions
Other areas
See also
★
List of school districts in Los Angeles County, California
External links
★
Los Angeles County official website
★
LA County Sheriff's list of Unincorporated Areas in Los Angeles County
★
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
★
Google Earth Historic Topographic Maps covering all of LA County from 1920s to 1940s
★
Lakewood Accountability Action Group A group of residents that lives in Lakewood (within Los Angeles County) and often challenges the County Board of Supervisors on issues that affect Lakewood residents.
References
1. ''The Role of Metro Areas in the US Economy." United States Conference of Mayors, 2002: 5. http://www.usmayors.org/70thAnnualMeeting/metroecon2002/metroreport.pdf
2. US Census Bureau, 2005 factsheet
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