Long Beach, California: Difference between revisions

| settlement_type = [[List of municipalities in California|City]]

| image_skyline = {{multiple image

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| image_flag = Flag of Long Beach, California.png

| motto = "The International City"

| image_map = {{maplink

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| coordinates = {{coord|33|46|6|N|118|11|44|W|region:US-CA|display=it}}

| established_title = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]

| established_date = December 13, 1897<ref>{{cite web

| government_type = [[Council–manager government|Council-manager]]<ref name=about/>

| leader_title = [[List of mayors of Long Beach, California|Mayor]]

| leader_name = [[Rex Richardson]]<ref>{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191029163324/http://www.longbeach.gov/mayor/

| url-status = live

}}</ref>

| leader_title2 = Legislative body

| leader_name2 = [[Long Beach City Council|City Council]]<ref>{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191029163244/http://www.longbeach.gov/officials/

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}}</ref>

| leader_title3 = [[City manager]]

| leader_name3 = Tom Modica<ref>{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191029163910/http://www.longbeach.gov/citymanager/

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Incorporated in 1897, Long Beach lies in [[Southern California]], in the southern part of Los Angeles County.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.longbeach.gov/uploadedfiles/common_content/longbeachfactsataglance.pdf | title=City of Long Beach | access-date=June 3, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608013526/http://www.longbeach.gov/uploadedFiles/Common_Content/LongBeachFactsAtAGlance.pdf | archive-date=June 8, 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref> Long Beach is approximately {{convert|20|mi|km|0|sp=us}} south of [[downtown Los Angeles]], and is part of the [[Gateway Cities]] region. The [[Port of Long Beach]] is the second busiest [[container port]] in the United States and is among the world's largest shipping ports.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.polb.com/about/default.asp | title=About the Port | work=Port of Long Beach website | access-date=December 28, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311192647/http://www.polb.com/about/default.asp | archive-date=March 11, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The city is over [[Long Beach Oil Field|an oilfield]] with minor wells both directly beneath the city as well as offshore.

[[File:LongBeachFord.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'s [[Long Beach Assembly]] in 1930]]

[[File:Woman worker in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant1942.jpg|thumb|Worker in the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]] plant, Long Beach, 1942. Photo by [[Alfred T. Palmer]].|left]]

The [[Ford Motor Company]] built a factory called [[Long Beach Assembly]] at the then address in 1929 as "700 Henry Ford Avenue, Long Beach" where the factory began building the [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Ford Model A]]. Production of Ford vehicles continued after the war until 1960, when the plant was closed due to a fire,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php|title=Ford Long Beach Assembly Plant|work=fordmotorhistory.com|access-date=July 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313131315/http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php|archive-date=March 13, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and January 1991 when the factory was demolished partially due to [[Smog#Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley|air quality remediation efforts]]. Ford had earlier opened a factory in Los Angeles at 12th Street and Olive, with a later factory built at East Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue after 1914.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf |title=page 13 |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904094158/http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

 

Come 1938, the creation of Housing Authorities for both the City and County of Los Angeles were complete — and North Long Beach was to be home to the County Authority's first order of business: the Carmelitos Housing Project, Southern California's first affordable housing complex.<ref name="auto" />

 

Long Beach, as a port city, had a relationship with the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] even before the war.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Monique |date=March 2023 |title=East Long Beach's Development During WWII |pages=20 |work=Long Beach 908 |url=https://indd.adobe.com/view/71813aa2-7d42-46c6-a469-7e04844ef781 |access-date=May 6, 2023}}</ref> The city was part of the [[Battle of Los Angeles]] during [[World War II]] when observers for the [[United States Army Air Forces]] reported shells being fired from the sea. Anti-aircraft batteries fired into the night sky, although no planes were ever sighted.

 

[[Douglas Aircraft Company]]'s largest facility was its Long Beach plant, totaling {{convert|1,422,350|sqft|m2}}. The first plane rolled out the door on December 23, 1941. The plant produced [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47 Skytrain]] transports, [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers, and [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|A-20 Havoc]] attack bombers simultaneously. Douglas merged with the [[McDonnell Aircraft|McDonnell Aircraft Company]] in 1967 where the [[Douglas DC-8]] and the [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9]] were built. In 1997 McDonnell Douglas merged with [[Boeing]], which made [[C-17 Globemaster]] transport planes in Long Beach until the closure of the manufacturing facility in 2015.<ref>Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II'', pp. 202–3, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref><ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II'', pp. 35–48, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>

 

 

==Geography==

 

===Environment===

====Pollution====

[[File:LongBeach-oilfield-1920.jpg|left|thumb|Oil field in Long Beach, 1920]]

Epson America, Inc. the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based [[Seiko Epson]] Corporation, is headquartered in Long Beach.<ref>"[http://www.epson.co.jp/e/company/global_network.htm Epson's Global Network] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010194753/http://www.epson.co.jp/e/company/global_network.htm |date=October 10, 2009 }}." ''[[Seiko Epson]]''. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.</ref> Pioneer Electronics, the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based [[Pioneer Corporation]], is also headquartered in Long Beach along with [[SCAN Health Plan]], a [[Non-profit organization|non-profit]] "[[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] Advantage" [[Health maintenance organization|HMO]] for seniors. [[Molina Healthcare]], Inc., a [[Medicaid]] management healthcare program, is headquartered in Long Beach. The real estate company [[HCP, Inc.|HCP]] is based in Long Beach. [[Jesse James (television personality)|Jesse James]]' [[West Coast Choppers]] custom motorcycle shop was in Long Beach, and much of the ''[[Monster Garage]]'' [[cable television|cable TV]] show was shot in Long Beach. Long Beach Green Business Association is an organization working to create economic growth through the promotion of green business and promoting a buy local program for Long Beach.<ref>"[http://www.lbgba.org/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226175947/http://www.lbgba.org/|date=February 26, 2012}}</ref> The North American subsidiary of video game developer and publisher [[Spike Chunsoft]] is headquartered in a building adjacent to the [[Long Beach Airport]].

 

 

===Top employers===

 

[[File:Belmont Fishing Pier (191455031).jpeg|thumb|[[Bluff Park]], and the [[Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath]] and [[Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier]]]]

 

[[File:The Big Figs (133107707).jpeg|thumb|[[Rancho Los Alamitos]]]]

[[File:Belmont Heights Long Beach California.jpg|thumb|The [[Belmont Heights, Long Beach, California|Belmont Heights]] neighborhood]]

 

 

[[File:Japanese garden moon bridge.jpg|thumb|[[Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden]]]]

{{See also|Long Beach City Council}}

[[File:Long Beach Civic Center.jpg|thumb|Long Beach Civic Center, designed by [[Skidmore, Owings & Merrill]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Long Beach Civic Center City Hall and Port Headquarters |url=https://www.som.com/projects/long-beach-city-hall-and-port-headquarters/ |website=SOM}}</ref> and completed in 2019<ref>{{cite web |title=Civic Center Grand Opening |url=https://longbeach.gov/pages/city-news/civic-center-grand-opening/ |website=longbeach.gov |publisher=City of Long Beach |language=en}}</ref>]]

 

*Municipal water supply and sewer service through the Long Beach Water Department, which has a water treatment plant within the city and an extensive [[reclaimed water]] system for parks and other landscaping<ref>{{cite web |title=Recycled Water Filling Stations |url=https://lbwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/LBWDRecycledWaterFillingStations.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018202718/https://lbwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/LBWDRecycledWaterFillingStations.pdf |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |url-status=live |website=Long Beach Water Department |date=January 4, 2017}}</ref>

*A Gas & Oil Department, which manages consumer natural gas service and infrastructure, as well as crude oil extraction subsidence control<ref name="LBGO">{{cite web |url=http://www.longbeach.gov/lbgo/ |title=Long Beach Gas & Oil |access-date=June 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527214847/http://www.longbeach.gov/lbgo/ |archive-date=May 27, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Marine Safety Division====

The Marine Safety Division is responsible for the operation and management of the [[Marine safety (USCG)|marine safety]] and [[lifeguard]] division as well as the safe and lawful use of the {{convert|9|mi|km}} of beaches, {{convert|5300|acres}} of oceanfront property, waterways and marinas.<ref name=marine>{{cite web|title=Marine Safety Division|url=http://longbeach.gov/fire/operations/marine-safety/|website=Long Beach Fire Department|access-date=February 16, 2015}}</ref> This includes the [[Port of Long Beach]] and [[Alamitos Bay]]. The division staffs 9 facilities year round, with an additional 41 stations during the summer<ref name=info>{{cite web|title=2012 Info|url=http://admin.longbeach.gov/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=36863|website=Long Beach Fire Department|access-date=February 16, 2015}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Additionally the division has at its disposal 6 [[rescue boat]]s, 7 beach patrols and a [[dive rescue]] unit. In 2012, lifeguards and other members of the marine safety division responded to 17,867 calls for service.<ref name=info/>

 

===County===