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Los Angeles, CA from the air


The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is the agglomeration of urbanized area around the county of Los Angeles, California, United Statesmarker. Greater Los Angeles includes the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (Los Angeles and Orangemarker counties) as well as the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario Metropolitan Areamarker, and the Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura Metro Area. San Diegomarker and Imperialmarker Counties, while a part of Southern California, are not included in this agglomeration.

It is the most commonly used term for the Combined Statistical Area (a group of interacting metropolitan areas) sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange Countymarker, San Bernardino Countymarker, Riverside Countymarker and Ventura Countymarker. A common unofficial definition includes the region ranging from Ventura County to the Cucamonga Valley southwestern area of San Bernardino County. The region contains some of the most affluent areas of the country. It has been one of the fastest growing regions in the United States for decades, first in Los Angeles County, then Orange County, and now in the Inland Empiremarker. As of 2005, the official estimate of the population of the Los Angeles metropolitan area is more than 12.9 million, while the larger five-county region has a population of over 17.6 million. Either definition makes it the second-largest core-based statistical area in the country, behind the New York metropolitan areamarker.

The U.S. Bureau of the Census has designated the five county region as the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area, with a July 1, 2006 population estimate of 17,776,000. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Los Angeles metropolitan area has a total area of , while the wider combined statistical area covers , but more than half of this is the sparsely populated eastern areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Metropolitan Statistical Area



The counties and county groupings comprising the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area are listed below with 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates of their populations.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (12,872,808)
  • Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division (9,862,049)
  • Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division (3,010,759)


Combined Statistical Area



In addition to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the following Metropolitan Statistical Areas are also included in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA Combined Statistical Area (total pop. 17,786,419):



The combined statistical area is a multicore metropolitan region containing several urban areas.



Population
Rank
 Urbanized Area State 2000
Population
2 Los Angelesmarker–Long Beachmarker–Santa Anamarker CAmarker 11,789,487
14 Riverside–San Bernardinomarker CAmarker 1,506,816
68 Mission Viejomarker CAmarker 533,015
91 Oxnardmarker CAmarker 337,591
123 Palmdalemarker–Lancastermarker CAmarker 263,532
125 Indiomarker–Cathedral Citymarker–Palm Springsmarker CAmarker 254,856
131 Temeculamarker–Murrietamarker CAmarker 229,810
143 Thousand Oaksmarker CAmarker 210,990
150 Victorvillemarker–Hesperiamarker–Apple Valleymarker CAmarker 200,436
176 Santa Claritamarker CAmarker 170,481
227 Hemetmarker CAmarker 117,200
238 Simi Valleymarker CAmarker 112,345
368 Camarillomarker CAmarker 62,798


Counties in the Southland





Regions of the Southland

"Angel Flight", Third & Hill Streets, Los Angeles, 1960


Principal cities

The following is a list of principal cities in the Greater Los Angeles Area with 2009 California Department of Finance estimates of their population:



Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana MSA



Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario MSA

Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura MSA



Geography

Urban Form



Los Angeles has a long-standing reputation for sprawl. However, according to the 2000 Census, the "Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana" Urbanized Area had a population density of , covering of land area, making it the most densely-populated Urbanized Area (as defined by the United States Census Bureau) in the United States. For comparison, the "New York–Newark" Urbanized Areamarker as a whole had a population density of , covering of land area.

The popular conception of Los Angeles as a sprawling city may originate in the region's decentralized structure. Rather than being concentrated in a single downtown area, the region's major cultural, commercial, residential, political, industrial, and institutional resources are geographically dispersed. While the overall density of the city (municipality) of Los Angeles is low compared to some other large American cities (less than one-third the density of New York Citymarker, for instance), the region includes largely uninhabited areas such as parts of the Santa Monica Mountainsmarker. Also, many of the city's suburban satellites have densities among the highest in the nation. The population density of the central area was more than in 2000. Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for small lot sizes, low vacancy rates, and general lack of large exurban spreads. Buildings in the area are low high when compared to other large cities because of aesthetically-focused zoning regulations. Los Angeles became a major city just as the Pacific Electric Railway spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense but separate cities linked by rail. The ascendance of the automobile helped fill in the gaps between these commuter towns with lower-density settlements.

From a height, a flat area completely filled with houses, buildings, roads, and freeways


Suburban areas surround the city of Los Angelesmarker on all sides. Starting in the early twentieth century, there was a large growth in population on the western edges of the city moving to the San Fernando Valleymarker and out into the Conejo Valley in eastern Ventura Countymarker. Much of the working class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles. As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US 101 corridor. Making the US 101 a full freeway in the 1960s and expansions that followed helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. Development in Ventura County and along the US 101 corridor remains controversial, with open-space advocates battling those who feel business development is necessary to economic growth. Although the area still has abundant amount of open space and land, almost all of it was put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of the master plan of each city. Because of this, this area which was once a relatively inexpensive area to buy real estate, saw rising real estate prices well into the 2000s. Median home prices in the Conejo Valley for instance, now range from $700,000 to $2.2 million.

The Los Angeles area continues to grow, principally on the periphery where new, cheaper, undeveloped areas are being sought. As such, in these areas, populations as well as housing prices exploded, although the housing bubble popped late in the decade of the 2000s. Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, which contain large swaths of desert, attracted most of the population increase between 2000 and 2006. Growth continues not only outside the existing urbanized area but also adjacent to existing development in the central areas. As in virtually all US core cities, there is now vigorous residential development in the downtown area with both new buildings and renovation of former office buildings. The Los Angeles Downtown News keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter [12347].

Identity

The term "Greater Los Angeles" can be used to denote the metropolitan area or the consolidated area. The term "Southland" is more nebulous and can refer to either. Additionally, the Southland is used more so in local media than by residents. As is the case in virtually all major metropolitan areas , most employment is now outside the downtown core and many people commute and conduct all of their daily activities in suburban areas, such as the large counties and the municipalities that are outside the city of Los Angeles.

Regional identity remains a contentious issue, with many residents refusing to acknowledge any association with the whole. For example, while Los Angeles County and Orange Countymarker share a geographical border, the two also share a host of sharp demographic, political, and financial distinctions. Orange County is often identified apart from Los Angeles in popular media and by residents. Relatively few people living in Orange County commute to Los Angeles for employment. Western Riverside County and San Bernardino County have become commuter regions characteristic of other suburban counties throughout the nation. Most residents in these counties commute to Los Angeles County and Orange County for employment. Riverside Countymarker and San Bernardino Countymarker also maintain distinct identities because of their geographical boundaries and vast distances that separate the eastern portions of those counties from the rest of the Los Angeles area.

Boundaries



Some areas are bounded by natural features such as mountains or the ocean; others are marked by city boundaries, freeways, or other constructed landmarks. For example, Downtown Los Angelesmarker is the area of Los Angeles roughly enclosed by three freeways and one river: the Harbor Freeway (SR 110) to the west, the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) to the south. Or, the San Fernando Valleymarker: lying north-northwest of downtown ("The Valley") is a wide basin ringed by mountains.

Some other areas of Los Angeles include the Westside; South L.A.marker (formerly known as South Central L.A.); and the San Pedro/Harbor City area. Adjoining areas that are outside the actual city boundaries of the incorporated city of Los Angeles include the South Bay, the Gateway Cities, the San Gabriel Valley and the Foothills. The San Pedro/Harbor City area was annexed by the city of Los Angeles so the city could have access to and control over the Port of Los Angelesmarker. It is connected to the rest of L.A. only by a narrow corridor that generally follows the Harbor Freeway. Many Angelenos consider the Eastside to be the area east of the Los Angeles River, south of Glendalemarker and Pasadenamarker, and north of the Gateway Cities, including the area of unincorporated Los Angeles County that includes East Los Angeles.

The city boundaries are quite complicated. For example, Beverly Hillsmarker and West Hollywoodmarker are completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles except for a small border the two cities share. Culver Citymarker is surrounded by L.A. except where it shares a boundary with the unincorporated communities of Ladera Heightsmarker and Baldwin Hillsmarker. Both Santa Monicamarker and the unincorporated area of Marina del Reymarker are surrounded except on their ocean side. San Fernandomarker in the northern corner of the San Fernando Valley is also a separate city entirely surrounded by L.A. territory. Despite the large footprint of the City of L.A., a majority of the land area within Los Angeles County is unincorporated and under the primary jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Most of the unincorporated land, however, is part of the Santa Monicamarker and San Gabriel mountainmarker ranges, or the Mojave Desert, and is thus primarily undeveloped, except on the fringes of the incorporated cities, but there are several fully built-out, but unincorporated areas in the contiguous urbanized part of the region, one of the most well-known being East Los Angelesmarker.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, there were 16,373,645 people residing in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The racial makeup of the area was 55.14% White (39.01% White Non-Hispanic), 10.39% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 7.60% African American, 0.87% Native American, 21.00% from other races, and 4.70% from two or more races. 40.30% of the population were Hispanic of any race. 30.95% of the population (5.068 million) was foreign born; of this, 62.07% came from Latin America, 28.93% from Asia, 6.00% from Europe, and 3.00% from other parts of the world. 20.22% of the population (3.310 million) was born in different states.

The explosive growth of the region in the 20th century can be attributed to its favorable Mediterranean climate, the availability of land and many booming industries such as oil, automobile and rubber, motion pictures and aerospace which in turn attracted millions of people from all over the United States and world. Citrus production was important to the region's development in the earlier part of the 20th century.

While the New York metropolitan areamarker is presently the most populous metropolitan area in the United States, it has been predicted in the past that Greater Los Angeles will eventually surpass Greater New Yorkmarker in population. Whether this will happen is yet to be seen, but past predictions on this event have been off the mark. A 1966 article in Time Magazine predicted Greater Los Angeles would surpass New York by 1975, and that by 1990, would reach close to the 19 million mark. But the article's flawed definition of Greater Los Angeles included San Diegomarker, which is actually its own metropolitan areamarker. A 1989 article in The New York Times predicted Greater Los Angeles would surpass Greater New York by 2010, but the article predicted the population would be 18.3 million in that year, a number Greater New York has already surpassed as of 2007 by half a million people. Because present statistics for 2008 are unknown, according to the most recent numbers, Greater New York in 2007, using the Combined Statistical Area, had just over 4.2 million more people (21.97 million) than Greater Los Angeles had in 2006 (est.).

Politics

Presidential Election Results
Year GOP DEM Others
2008 37.3% 2,099,609 60.8% 3,425,319 1.9% 107,147
2004 45.3% 2,490,150 53.4% 2,932,429 1.3% 69,649
2000 41.3% 2,003,114 54.6% 2,652,907 4.1% 198,750
1996 38.3% 1,661,209 51.3% 2,220,837 10.4% 449,706
1992 33.8% 1,657,151 45.0% 2,202,345 21.2% 1,038,448
1988 53.8% 2,408,696 45.0% 2,014,670 1.2% 54,441
1984 60.6% 2,614,904 38.3% 1,650,231 1.1% 48,225
1980 55.5% 2,187,859 35.0% 1,381,285 9.5% 374,993
1976 50.8% 1,877,267 46.7% 1,728,532 2.5% 93,554
1972 57.7% 2,346,127 38.7% 1,573,708 3.6% 146,653
1968 50.3% 1,836,478 43.0% 1,570,478 7.3% 247,280
1964 44.0% 1,578,837 55.9% 2,006,184 0.1% 2,488
1960 50.8% 1,677,962 48.9% 1,612,924 0.3% 10,524


Greater Los Angeles is a politically divided metropolitan area. During the 1970s and 1980s the region leaned toward the Republican Party. Los Angeles County, the most populous of the region, is a Democratic stronghold. Ventura Countymarker and San Bernardino Countymarker were historically Republican strongholds, but currently lean Republican. Orange Countymarker and Riverside Countymarker are the Republican strongholds in the region.

Economy

Greater Los Angeles Area is an economic powerhouse, ranking as the third largest metropolitan economy in the world, behind Greater Tokyo Areamarker and New York Metropolitan Areamarker. A 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopersmarker study showed that Los Angeles urban area had a $639 billion economy. Greater Los Angeles (including Inland Empire and Ventura countymarker) had a $770.6 billion economy.

Tourism

Due to L.A.'s stance as the "Entertainment Capital of the World", there is an abundance of attractions here. Consequently, the Greater L.A. Area is one of the most visited areas in the world. Here is a breakdown of some of its major attractions:



Theme parks



Beaches





Shopping





Motion picture studios





Waterparks



Zoos and aquariums



Nightlife





Museums

See also, Los Angeles City Museums




Presidential Museums



Other



Commercial airports

Airport IATA code ICAO code County
Los Angeles International Airportmarker LAX KLAX Los Angeles
LA/Ontario International Airportmarker ONT KONT San Bernardinomarker
John Wayne Airportmarker SNA KSNA Orangemarker
Bob Hope Airportmarker BUR KBUR Los Angeles
Long Beach Municipal Airportmarker LGB KLGB Los Angeles


Sports

Major sports teams serving the Greater Los Angeles area include the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer. The Greater Los Angeles area also has two of the more famous horse racing facilities: Santa Anita Parkmarker and Hollywood Park Racetrackmarker.

The Los Angeles media market currently lacks a National Football League team. After the 1994 season, the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, Missourimarker and the Los Angeles Raiders returned to their original home of Oakland, Californiamarker.

There were several years that made Los Angeles area sports dominate:

  • 1972: The Lakers, having won 33 straight games at one point in the regular season, finally won their first NBA championship in Los Angeles, with a victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The UCLA Bruins won their eighth national championship in Division I basketball overall, and a sixth consecutive during their amazing tenure with John Wooden as coach. The USC Trojans got their seventh national championship in Division I-A football, with a victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl Gamemarker.
  • 1988: Having guaranteed a repeat during the 1987 championship parade, head coach Pat Riley and the Lakers became the first repeat champions in the NBA in 19 years, with a victory in the 1988 NBA Finals over the Detroit Pistons. In the summer, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, and the Dodgers pulled an improbable run to the World Series championship, with victories over the New York Mets in the NLCS, and the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.
  • 2002: The Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), and Anaheim Angels (MLB) each won championships, giving the Los Angeles area 4 major professional titles in a single year. The Lakers won a third consecutive championship, with a victory over the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. The Sparks won their second consecutive title. Meanwhile, the titles for the Angels and Galaxy were a first for each of them. The Galaxy beat the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup, while the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series.


In 2007, the Los Angeles area finally acquired the only title that had eluded the region, when the Anaheim Ducks captured the Stanley Cup chamipionship over the Ottawa Senators, in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

As a whole, the Los Angeles area has more national championships, all sports combined (college and professional), than any other city in the United Statesmarker, with over four times as many championships as the entire state of Texasmarker, and just over twice that of New York Citymarker.

See also

References


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