Los Angeles County, California
U.S. County|
county = Los Angeles County|
state = California |
seal = losangelescountyseal.gif |
seallink = show |
map size = 225|
founded =
1850| seat =
Los Angeles | area = 12,308
km² (4,752
mi²) |
area land = 10,518 km² (4,061 mi²) |
area water = 1,791 km² (691 mi²) |
area percentage = 14.55% |
census yr = 2004|
pop = 10,179,716 (est) |
density = 967.9|
web = lacounty.info|}}
Los Angeles County is a
county in
California, and the most populous county in the
United States, with 10,179,716 residents (
as of July 2004)[
1]. The
county seat is the city of
Los Angeles.
The county is home to 88 incorporated
cities and many
unincorporated city-like areas (137 total). 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 per cent 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, up 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 43 states.
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 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, most 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 decisions.
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 and child support
*
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 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
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.
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 [
2]:
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 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.With 4,061 square miles (10,517 km²), it borders 70 miles of coast on the Pacific Ocean and has 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 includes the westernmost part of the
Mojave Desert,
San Clemente Island and
Santa Catalina Island.
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-WilshireList of adjacent counties
*
Ventura County, California - west
*
Kern County, California - north
*
San Bernardino County, California - east
*
Orange County, California - south
See also:
List of California countiesLargest Cities
*
1 Los Angeles 3,847,400
*
2 Long Beach 461,522
*
3 Glendale 205,300
*
4 Santa Clarita 151,088
*
5 Pomona 149,473
*
6 Palmdale 143,227
*
7 Torrance 137,946
*
8 Pasadena 133,936
*
9 Lancaster 129,019
*
10 El Monte 119,900
Other Cities
*
Agoura Hills*
Alhambra*
Arcadia*
Artesia*
Avalon*
Azusa*
Baldwin Park*
Bell*
Bell Gardens*
Bellflower*
Beverly Hills*
Bradbury*
Burbank*
Calabasas*
Carson*
Cerritos*
Claremont*
Commerce*
Compton*
Covina*
Cudahy*
Culver City*
Diamond Bar*
Downey |
Old Seal of the County of Los Angeles, California |
*
Duarte*
El Segundo*
Gardena*
Glendora*
Hawaiian Gardens*
Hawthorne*
Hermosa Beach*
Hidden Hills*
Huntington Park*
Industry*
Inglewood*
Irwindale*
La Cañada Flintridge*
La Habra Heights*
La Mirada*
La Puente*
La Verne*
Lakewood*
Lawndale*
Lomita*
Lynwood*
Malibu*
Manhattan Beach |
New Seal of the County of Los Angeles, California |
*
Maywood*
Monrovia*
Montebello*
Monterey Park*
Norwalk*
Palos Verdes Estates*
Paramount*
Pico Rivera*
Rancho Palos Verdes*
Redondo Beach*
Rolling Hills*
Rolling Hills Estates*
Rosemead*
San Dimas*
San Fernando*
San Gabriel |
Flag of the County of Los Angeles, California |
*
San Marino*
Santa Fe Springs*
Santa Monica*
Sierra Madre*
Signal Hill*
South El Monte*
South Gate*
South Pasadena*
Temple City*
Vernon*
Walnut*
West Covina*
West Hollywood*
Westlake Village*
WhittierUnincorporated 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.
*
Acton*
Agoura*
Agua Dulce*
Alondra Park*
Altadena*
Antelope Acres*
Athens*
Avocado Heights*
Baldwin Hills*
Bassett*
Big Mountain Ridge*
Big Pines*
Big Rock*
Bouquet Canyon*
Castaic*
Castaic Junction*
Charter Oak*
Citrus*
Cornell*
Del Aire*
Del Sur*
Del Valle*
Desert View Highlands*
East Compton*
East La Mirada*
East Los Angeles*
East Pasadena*
East San Gabriel*
Florence-Graham*
Hacienda Heights*
Juniper Hills*
Kinneloa Mesa*
La Crescenta-Montrose*
Ladera Heights*
Lake Hughes*
Lake Los Angeles*
Lennox*
Leona Valley*
Littlerock*
Llano*
Marina del Rey*
Mayflower Village*
North El Monte*
Pearblossom*
Quartz Hill*
Rowland Heights*
South San Gabriel*
South San Jose Hills*
South Whittier*
Stevenson Ranch*
Topanga*
Val Verde*
Valinda*
Valyermo*
View Park-Windsor Hills*
Vincent*
Walnut Park*
West Athens*
West Carson*
West Compton*
West Puente Valley*
West Whittier-Los Nietos*
Westmont*
WillowbrookSee: Los Angeles Almanac MAP: Unincorporated Areas and Communities of Los Angeles CountySee also: List of districts and neighborhoods of Los AngelesZIP Codes
See
Southern California Zip CodesThe major industries of Los Angeles County are
motion picture and
television program production,
music recording and production,
aerospace,
professional services like
law and
medicine, and activities relating to the
Port of Los Angeles and the
Port of Long Beach.
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:
*
Cerritos, California**
Memorex**
Isuzu Motors America*
Irwindale, California**
Ready Pac*
La Mirada, California**
Makita*
Monrovia, California**
Trader Joe's*
Westlake Village, California**
J.D. Power and Associates**
Dole Food CompanyThe county is home to many colleges and universities. It also has a huge number of public school districts and many private schools.
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 (5Cs), Claremont
*
El Camino College, Torrance
*
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena
*
Glendale Community College*
ITT Technical Institute San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles)
*
Los Angeles City College (LACC), Los Angeles
*
Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles
*
Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce), Woodland Hills
*
Long Beach City College, Long Beach
*
The Master's College, Santa Clarita
*
Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut
*
Otis School of Fine Art, Westchester (Los Angeles
*
Occidental College (Oxy), Los Angeles
*
Pasadena City College*
Rio Hondo College, Whittier
*
Santa Monica College, Santa Monica
*
West Los Angeles College, Culver City
*
Whittier College, Whittier
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 *
California State University, Bakersfield Antelope Valley center, 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)
*
DeVry University San Fernando Valley (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 Southern California (USC), Los Angeles
*
Woodbury University, Burbank
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, 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, the original television series
Star Trek and
The Flintstones movies 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)
*
Geffin Contemporary, 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 MuseumEntertainment
*
La Brea Tar Pits *
Griffith Park*
Los Angeles Zoo *
STAPLES Center*
Los Angeles Farmers Market*
Griffith Observatory*
Descanso Gardens*
Huntington Gardens (the grounds of Huntington library)
*
Olvera Street*
Exposition Park *
Venice Beach*
Third Street PromenadeMusic venues
*
Disney Concert Hall*
Pantages Theatre*
Universal Amphitheatre*
The Wiltern*
Hollywood Bowl*
House of Blues Sunset Strip*
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre*
The Roxy Theatre*
El Rey Theatre*
Whisky a Go Go*Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
Amusement Parks
*
Six Flags Magic Mountain*
Universal StudiosOther attractions
*
U.S. Bank Tower*
Central Los Angeles Library*
Wayfarers Chapel*
Hsi Lai Temple*
Queen Mary*
Cathedral of Our Lady of the AngelsOutside the city
*
Ridge Route*
Angeles National Forest*
Mount Wilson Observatory*
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park*
Plant 42's Blackbird Airpark and Heritage Airpark
*
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve*
Saddleback Butte State Park*
Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park*
Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State ParkLos 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 the Wikipedia articles covering its constituent cities and their neighborhoods.
Los Angeles County has the highest population of any census-designated area in the United States. It is one of the few counties in the USA where Latinos form a plurality (and likely a majority in the near future). 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 was 31.1%
non-Hispanic white, 11.95%
Asian, 9.78%
African American, 0.81%
Native American, 0.28%
Pacific Islander, 23.53% from
other races, and 4.94% from two or more races. 44.56% of the total population is of
Hispanic or
Latino origin, regardless of race.
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 eighteens 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.
Air
The county's primary commercial aviation airport is
Los Angeles International Airport. Other important airports include the
Long Beach Municipal Airport and
Bob Hope Airport.
Palmdale Regional Airport is planned for expanded commercial service. There are also general aviation airports at Van Nuys, Santa Monica, Compton, Torrance, El Monte, Pacoima, 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, Washington*The
Southwest Chief to
Chicago, Illinois*The
Sunset Limited to
New Orleans and
Orlando, FloridaUnion 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).
Road
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.
Sea
The county's two main
seaports are the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Together they handle over a fourth of the
container traffic entering the United States.
The Port of Long Beach is also 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.
Thomas Guide - The most popular series of map books among Los Angeles residents.
*
List of school districts in Los Angeles County, California*
L.A. County Online*
LA County Sheriff's list of Unincorporated Areas in Los Angeles County*
Petition to save the original seal*
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce*
Discussion forum for LA County Sheriff's carry concealed weapons permit policies
