The , or the '''Southland''', is the
Agglomeration of urbanized area around the city of
Los Angeles, California ,
United States . There are two "official" definitions—the Los Angeles
Metropolitan Area consisting only of the Los Angeles and Orange counties, and 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 County ,
San Bernardino County ,
Riverside County and
Ventura County . A common unofficial definition includes the region ranging from Ventura County to the southwestern area of San Bernardino County. It is not always meaningful to refer to Los Angeles as a distinct city, and people outside of
Southern California often refer to the entire region as '''L.A.''' even though it includes five counties, more than 100 distinct municipalities, and more people than any individual state except for
Texas ,
New York ,
Florida , and California itself.
The region contains some of the most affluent areas of the country, namely in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties. It has been one of fastest growing regions in the United States for decades, first in Los Angeles County, then Orange County, and now in the . The
U.S. Bureau Of The Census has designated the five county region as the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside consolidated area, with a
July 1 ,
2006 population estimate of 17,776,000
7/1/2006 Combined Statistical Area Population Estimates File for Internet Display , U.S. Census Bureau.. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Los Angeles metropolitan area has a total area of 4,850 square miles (12,562 km&
2), while the wider combined statistical area covers 33,954 square miles (87,941 km&
2), but more than half of this is the sparsely populated eastern areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
from the
Santa Ana Freeway .]]
, looking south from Mulholland Drive. Palos Verdes peninsula lies across the basin on the Pacific coast; Catalina Island lies beyond PV.]]
Los Angeles has a long-standing reputation for
Sprawl ; however, this reputation is more historic than real. 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 separated cities linked by rail. The ascendance of the
Automobile helped fill in these commuter towns, leading to a slight decrease in density.
However, Los Angeles is in fact among the denser urban areas in the nation. 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 ; many of the city's suburban satellites have densities among the highest in the nation.Bruegmann, Robert. ''Sprawl: A Compact History''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005: 65. The population density of the central area was more than 13,500 per square mile in 2000
{Link without Title} . Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for small lot sizes, low vacancy rates, and general lack of large exurban spreads. This area stretches over 120 square miles and has a population of 1,750,000.
Suburban areas surround the city of 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.Curtiss, Aaron. "Bitter Land-Use Fights Seen For 101 Corridor Development." ''Los Angeles Times'' 20 November 1993: B1. 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, has seen rising real estate prices.Olsen, Andy. "Local Home Prices Soar in May." ''Los Angeles Times'' 23 June 2003: B3. Median home prices in the Conejo Valley for instance, now range from $700,000 to $2.2 million.Griggs, Gregory. "Local Homes Get Even Pricier." ''Los Angeles Times'' 21 August 2003: B1.
New, cheaper or undeveloped areas are being sought, and recently popular areas have been in Riverside County, Irvine, and Coachella Valley. As such, in these areas, populations as well as housing prices have exploded.
The Los Angeles
Urbanized Area has the highest density of any over 1,000,000 in the United States. The Los Angeles urban area had a density of 7,070 people per square mile (2,730/km&
2) according to the
2000 census. The area continues to grow, principally on the periphery, especially in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, which attracted most of the population increase between 2000 and 2006. This growth continues both adjacent to existing development and significant development is also occurring outside the urbanized area in the desert regions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. As in virtually all US core cities, there is now residential development in the downtown area, both new buildings and renovation of former office buildings. The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter,
{Link without Title} .
See Also: Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California
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. 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.
at dawn]]
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, to the west, the
U.S. Route 101 to the north, the
Los Angeles River to the east, and the
Santa Monica Freeway to the south. Or, the
San Fernando Valley : lying north-northwest of downtown ("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 the unincorporated area of
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. Most of the Los Angeles County land area is unincorporated and under the primary jurisdiction of
Los Angeles County .
Due to LA's stance as the "
Entertainment Capital Of The World ", there is an abundance of attractions here, and that is why it is one of the most visited destinations in the world. Here is the breakdown of some of the major attractions:
]]
,
California ]]
:''See also,
Los Angeles City Museums
,
California , now a hotel and tourist attraction.]]
]]
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 , the
Los Angeles Avengers of the
Arena Football League and the
Los Angeles Riptide of
Major League Lacrosse .
The Los Angeles media market currently lacks a
National Football League team. After the 1994 season, the
Los Angeles Rams moved to
St. Louis, Missouri and the
Los Angeles Raiders moved to
Oakland, California , their original home.
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 Game .
- 1988: Having guaranteed a repeat during the 1987 chamipionship 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, in the biggest sports trade before the Los Angeles Galaxy's acquisition of David Beckham in 2007. And in October, 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 Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim ( 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 States , with over four times as many championships as the entire
State of
Texas , and just over twice that of
New York City .
