Beach Cities | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 33°54′N118°24′W / 33.9°N 118.4°W | |
State | California |
County | Los Angeles County |
City | City of Hermosa Beach, California City of Manhattan Beach, California City of Redondo Beach, California |
Area | |
• Total | 22.69 sq mi (58.80 km2) |
• Land | 11.64 sq mi (30.17 km2) |
• Water | 11.05 sq mi (28.63 km2) 48.70% |
Population | |
• Total | 126,810 |
The Beach Cities are a collection of three independently incorporated oceanfront cities in Los Angeles County south of El Segundo and north of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, comprising the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach. [4] They occupy the majority of the south end of Santa Monica Bay. Neighboring Torrance also shares a strip of beach property in the neighborhood of Torrance Beach, but the city of Torrance itself is generally excluded from the group.
The three cities share public agencies including the Beach Cities Transit District (with El Segundo) [5] and the Beach Cities Health District. [6]
All three are known for their beaches and municipal piers. They are popular with swimmers, surfers, bodyboarders, and other beachgoers. The Marvin Braude Bike Trail runs along the beaches and is used for cycling, running and rollerblading.
The South Bay is a region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County. The name stems from its geographic location stretching along the southern shore of Santa Monica Bay. The South Bay contains sixteen cities plus portions of the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated portions of the county. The area is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the south and west and generally by the City of Los Angeles on the north and east.
El Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of the 2020 census, a 0.5% increase from 16,654 in the 2010 census. A significant center of the oil and aerospace industries in Southern California, roughly three quarters of the city's land is dedicated exclusively to industrial and commercial uses, including a Chevron oil refinery which alone takes up more than a quarter of the entire city.
Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88,083.
Hermosa Beach is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area; it is one of the three Beach Cities. Hermosa Beach is bordered by the other two, Manhattan Beach to the north and Redondo Beach to the south and east.
Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific coast south of El Segundo, west of Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north of Hermosa Beach. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,506.
Redondo Beach is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Santa Monica Bay. The population was 71,576 at the 2020 census, up from 66,748 in 2010.
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwest Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. A small section of the city, 1.5 miles (2.4 km), abuts the Pacific Ocean. Torrance has a moderate year-round climate with average rainfall of 12 inches (300 mm) per year. Torrance was incorporated in 1921, and at the 2020 census had a population of 147,067 residents. Torrance has a beachfront and has 30 parks located around the city. It is also the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).
Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, in Malibu, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Its eastern shore forms the western boundary of the Los Angeles Westside and South Bay regions. Although it was fed by the Los Angeles River until the river's catastrophic change of course in 1825, the only stream of any size now flowing into it is Ballona Creek. Smaller waterways draining into the bay include Malibu Creek, Topanga Creek, and Santa Monica Creek.
El Camino College is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park, while a section is in the city limits of Torrance. It consists of 37 buildings spanning an area of roughly 26 acres (11 ha). It is one of two community colleges serving Southern California's South Bay area.
Sepulveda Boulevard is a major street and transportation corridor in the City of Los Angeles and several other cities in western Los Angeles County, California. The street parallels Interstate 405 for much of its route. Portions of Sepulveda Boulevard between Manhattan Beach and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) are designated as part of State Route 1.
The Beach Reporter is a weekly newspaper serving the Beach Cities of Los Angeles's South Bay. It primarily focuses on the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and El Segundo. It is published every Thursday, with a circulation of approximately 55,000. It is considered a primary source of local news and events, as well as a guide to local real estate listings, covering some of the most expensive and active areas in California.
The Marvin Braude Bike Trail is a 22-mile (35 km) paved bicycle path that runs mostly along the shoreline of Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County, California. The coastal bike trail is widely acknowledged as Los Angeles’ “most popular bike path.”
California's 36th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. The 36th district is located primarily in the South Bay and Westside regions of Los Angeles. It takes in the cities of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, the west side of Culver City, Hermosa Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, El Segundo, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, and the west side of Torrance, as well as the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Venice, Playa del Rey, Palms, Cheviot Hills, Westwood Village, West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Westchester, Marina Peninsula, and west side Harbor City.
Law enforcement in Los Angeles County is conducted by a variety of law enforcement agencies.
Beach Cities Transit provides mass transportation for the Los Angeles beach city suburbs of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and El Segundo. The two routes provide both local service and afford a variety of opportunities to connect with the rest of the Greater Los Angeles Transportation grid. The system began in 2005, taking over lower-ridership routes from Los Angeles Metro. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 255,500, or about 800 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Aviation Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in western and the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California.
South Bay Union High School District, also known as the Redondo Union High School District, was a school district in Los Angeles County, California. It served residents of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach. It also served Torrance in the 1947-1948 school year.
The Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey was an interurban railway route of the Pacific Electric. It operated between the Hill Street Terminal and Cliffton, south of Redondo Beach, through the company's Western Division.
The Beach Cities Greenway in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach, California is a 3.9-mile (6.3 km) rail trail. The greenway is a linear park on the median between Valley Drive running along the west side and Ardmore Avenue on the east.