Greater Los Angeles
The Greater Los Angeles (also referred to locally as "Southern California" or "The Southland") is the suburban area around the city of Los Angeles, California. It is such a sprawling area that residents refer to broad general sub-regions. It is not always meaningful to refer to Los Angeles as a distinct city, and people outside of Southern California commonly refer to the entire region as L.A. even though there are five counties, more than 100 distinct municipalities, hundreds of neighborhoods and districts, and more people than any individual state except for Texas, New York, Florida, and, of course, California. As of 2005, the official estimate of the population of the Greater Los Angeles area is 17,545,623. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Greater Los Angeles Area has a total area of 87,972 km² (33,953 mi²).The area's reputation for sprawl is more historic than real in today's terms. Los Angeles became a real city as automobiles began to be mass-produced, and as a result it developed somewhat less densely. This decentralization has resulted in the city of Los Angeles having a very low population density compared to other large American cities (less than one-third the density of New York City, and nearly half the density of Chicago). In contrast to this, the extent of the region's suburban sprawl has been so thoroughly cultivated so as to result in a greater metropolitan area with a relatively high density of 7,070 people per square mile (2,730/km²) according to the 2000 census. However, the L.A. sprawl reached its geographic limits around 2000 (future expansion of the sprawl will involve leapfrogging across whole mountain ranges), so these numbers are beginning to change as real estate investment becomes focused towards the central areas of the city. For example, Downtown Los Angeles is gaining more skyscrapers (some of which are residential towers), the office vacancy rate is decreasing, and the value of housing units and homes continues to rise. The Los Angeles Downtown News keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter, here. See also Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California.
Due to the decentralized nature of Southern California, there is no universally accepted definition of the terms “Greater Los Angeles Area” or “Southland,” the definition varies from one region of Southern California to the next. Although some people, especially those outside of Southern California and some of those in Los Angeles proper, view the terms Greater Los Angeles Area and Southland as being synonymous, in many other parts of Southern California the term Greater Los Angeles Area is considered to be a sub-section of the Southland, along with the other sub-sections: Orange County Area, Inland Empire, and Ventura. With the counties of Southern California being the size of states on the east coast, the lack of one vibrant downtown area to serve this massive region, and the fact that mass transit does not work well due to its decentralized nature, most people outside of Los Angeles County do not go there and therefore do not assimilate with it. The people of Orange County use the term Greater Los Angeles to refer to the area to the north of Orange County’s borders. To use the term Greater Los Angeles to refer to areas outside of Los Angeles County causes a great deal of confusion when used in other parts of Southern California, especially in Orange County. Residents of Orange County, which like those of neighboring San Diego County have their own employment base, arts, and other metropolitan amenities in the middle of their own county, thereby resulting in the residents not needing to leave the county and thereby not closely identifying with a larger area.
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 Angeles is the area of Los Angeles roughly enclosed by three freeways and one river: the Harbor Freeway to the west, the Hollywood Freeway to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and the Santa Monica Freeway to the south. Or, consider the San Fernando Valley: Lying north-northwest of Downtown L.A., "The Valley" is a 15-mile (24-km) wide basin ringed by mountains.
Some other areas of Los Angeles include the Westside; South L.A. (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 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 and control over the Port of Los Angeles, and is connected by only a narrow Corridor, which follows the Harbor Freeway for the most part, with the rest of L.A. Many Angelenos consider the Eastside to be the area east of the Los Angeles River, above Orange County.
The city boundaries are quite complicated. For example, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles except for a small border the two cities share. Culver City is surrounded by L.A. except where it shares a boundary with the unincorporated communities of Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills. Both Santa Monica and Marina del Rey are surrounded except on their ocean side. San Fernando in the northern corner of the San Fernando Valley is also a separate city entirely surrounded by L.A. territory. There are also unincorporated enclaves which are under Los Angeles County jurisdiction.
Los Angeles--Riverside--Orange County CMSA Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area is an obsolete US Census Bureau defined area that also includes San Bernardino and Ventura County.
U.S. Census Bureau’s latest San Fernando Valley Census Report. At his request, the Census Bureau updated the report using detailed data from the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). The first-ever Valley Census Report was released in December 2006, also at Sherman’s request.
ReplyDeleteThe Valley Census Report offers an annual demographic snapshot of the San Fernando Valley to help community organizations, businesses, and government leaders make better-informed decisions affecting the Valley’s future and help our region compete for its fair share of funding for transportation improvements, housing, and social service programs.
"The Valley Census Report reveals that, compared to the average American, Valley residents continue to make more money, spend more of it on housing, and endure longer commutes to work," said Congressman Sherman. "The Valley has a rich cultural diversity and a highly educated workforce, but these tough economic times are presenting enormous challenges for many Valley families," added Sherman.
The more than 1.75 million people who live in the Valley exceed the populations of all but the four largest cities in the United States – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. The Valley’s population has increased 3.5% since the 2000 Census.
The Valley Census Report shows that Valley residents spend, on average, nearly a half-hour (29.4 minutes) commuting to work, which is 8% longer than the average Californian and 13% longer than the average American. In 2007, Congressman Sherman highlighted figures from the earlier Valley Census Report to convince officials in Sacramento to direct funding to Valley transportation projects, such as carpool lanes on the 5 and 405 Freeways.
Valley residents, on average, are more educated than other parts of the City and County with 118,575 people with graduate or professional degrees and another 239,705 with bachelor’s degrees. Since 2000, the Valley has had a 16.6% increase (59,689) in those with bachelor’s or advanced degrees.
In 2008, the median home value as self-reported on the American Community Survey form by respondents in the Valley ($560,500) was higher than Los Angeles County or California, and was nearly triple the U.S. median home value ($197,600). Of course, home prices have dropped substantially since 2008, both nationwide and in the Valley.
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with water—and there is trouble with water—is that they're not making any more of it. They're not making any less, mind, but no more either. There is the same amount of water in the planet now as there was in prehistoric times. People, however, they're making more of—many more, far more than is ecologically sensible—and all those people are utterly dependent on water for their lives (humans consist mostly of water), for their livelihoods, their food, and increasingly, their industry. Humans can live for a month without food but will die in less than a week without water. Humans consume water, discard it, poison it, waste it, and restlessly change the hydrological cycles, indifferent to the consequences: too many people, too little water, water in the wrong places and in the wrong amounts.
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