Long Beach, CA

Spanning five-and-a-half miles of Southern California coastline, the city of Long Beach is home to more than 460,000 residents and welcomes more than 5 million visitors annually. Located in Los Angeles County, the city covers 50 square miles of land. Looking out on San Pedro Bay, the Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest ports in the U.S. Nearby cities include Los Angeles, located about 20 miles to the north, and Anaheim, located approximately 10 miles to the northeast.

Long Beach boasts a warm, temperate climate and averages about 345 days of sunshine annually. This warm, sunny weather makes activities such as sailing, jet skiing, windsurfing, water skiing, fishing, sea kayaking and sunbathing very popular.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

With its large population and a thriving port, Long Beach is home to a number of businesses and industries, including service and financial and technology and aerospace. The largest employers in Long Beach include Boeing, Verizon, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and the Bragg Companies. Other major employers are local hospitals, including Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Mary Medical Center and Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Large corporations headquartered in Long Beach include U.S. Epson, Molina Health Care, Inc. and Pioneer Electronics.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

Long Beach is composed of more than 50 neighborhoods and districts, including:

• Downtown Long Beach is the heart of Long Beach, with numerous businesses and municipal services making it a major tourist attraction.
• 4th Street Corridor, which is famous for vintage shopping, is a small business district surrounded by the three neighborhoods of Alamitos Beach, Rose Park South and Carroll Park.
• Cambodia Town is a mile-long business corridor along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero Avenues.
• Hellman is located north of 7th Street and south of 10th Street, between Orange and Walnut. The neighborhood of Hellman contains many craftsman bungalows owned by working, middle-class families.
• Other major neighborhoods in Long Beach include Belmont Heights, Broadway Corridor, El Dorado South, North Long Beach, West Long Beach, Shoreline Village, Los Altos, Sunrise and Wrigley Heights.

EDUCATION

Long Beach is home to the following colleges and universities:

• California State University-Long Beach, a four-year, public institution and one of the largest in the California system.
• Long Beach City College, founded in 1927, which has two campuses within city limits.
• Pacific Coast University School of Law, the oldest evening law school in California.

GETTING AROUND

A number of major highways make Long Beach and its surrounding areas easily accessible by car, with major freeways including:

• Interstate 710 Long Beach Freeway (north/south)
• Interstate 405 San Diego Freeway (north/south)
• Interstate 605 San Gabriel River Freeway (north/south)
• Interstate 110 Harbor Freeway (north/south)
• Interstate 105 Century Freeway (east/west)
• Route 1 Pacific Coast Highway (along coastline)

Additionally, the area is served by light rail and both public and private bus services. Long Beach Airport is a general aviation airport serving close to 3 million commercial airline passengers each year. It is also a center for air cargo carriers. Long Beach residents and visitors are also served by Los Angeles International Airport and Orange County's John Wayne Airport.

FOR VISITORS

Tourism in Long Beach is driven by a number of attractions. The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center includes the 13,500-seat Long Beach Arena, the more modest Terrace Theater with 3,051 seats, the intimate Center Theater with 825 seats and three exhibition halls for conventions, trade shows and other special events.

Other tourist draws include: the RMS Queen Mary, a giant, 1936 ocean liner that is permanently docked in Long Beach, Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach Marine Stadium and Catalina Island, which can be reached by boat (in less than an hour) from Long Beach. The area has more than 5,000 hotel rooms to accommodate visitors.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Opportunities to experience the arts abound within Long Beach. The two-theater Long Beach Performing Arts Center is home to the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Opera and International City Theater. The Long Beach Museum of Art includes historic homes and an oceanfront garden in addition to its art exhibitions. Other facilities include the Museum of Latin American Art and the East Village Arts District, an eclectic collection of housing, shops, restaurants, and galleries.

• Major League Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• National Basketball Association: Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers
• National Hockey League: Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks
• Major League Soccer: Los Angeles Galaxy

LOCAL MEDIA

Long Beach residents get their news from local newspapers, as well as those of nearby Los Angeles. These papers include:

• Los Angeles Times
• Long Beach Press-Telegram
• Long Beach Business Journal
• Orange County Register

Long Beach has about a dozen local network television stations, including:

• KABC (ABC)
• KCAL
• KCBS (CBS)
• KCET (PBS)
• KCOP
• KLCS (PBS)
• KMEX

The city is also home to several AM radio stations, including:

• KABC 790 (news/talk)
• KAVL 610 (sports)
• KDIS 1110 (children's)
• KFI 640 (talk)
• KFWB 980 (news)

FM radio stations are abundant in Long Beach. They include:

• KBIG 104.3 (adult contemporary)
• KCBS 93.1 (classic rock)
• KDLD 103.1 (alternative)
• KFSH 95.9 (Christian contemporary)
• KHHT 92.3 (urban contemporary)
• KIIS 102.7 (top 40)