Harbor City, Los Angeles, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harbor City is a community within Los Angeles, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 24,640. Harbor City is part of the Los Angeles region known as the South Bay, and is a perfect illustration of the great contrast that exists within the region: Harbor City is nestled at the foot of the wealthy region of Palos Verdes and the upper middle class suburb of Torrance, but also borders the distinct working class city of Lomita and the more diverse working class areas of Wilmington and San Pedro. Harbor City is a small subdivision of the city of Los Angeles with a mix of race, class, and social status. Some parts of Harbor City, notably those that border Torrance and Palos Verdes, are home to upper middle class suburbs, while other regions, particularly those bordered by Lomita Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway north and south and by Normandie Avenue and Vermont Avenue on the east/west, are particularly heavy in crime and poverty.
Recently, the community has been heavily featured in statewide and national news for the discovery of an alligator within the heavily urban community's Machado Lake.
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[edit] Location
Harbor City is located in the southern part of the city of Los Angeles, and part of the South Bay region. It is bordered on the north by Sepulveda Boulevard, the east by Figueroa Street, the south by Anaheim Street/Palos Verdes Drive North, and to the west by Western Avenue. A smaller, more affluent section of Harbor City referred to as "Harbor Pines" is bordered by Anaheim Street to the north/northeast, Western Avenue to the west and Palos Verdes Drive North to the south.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 24,640 people residing within the boundaries of Harbor City. The racial makeup of the area is 46.40% White, 13.90% African American, 0.70% Native American, 13.30% Asian, 0.90% Pacific Islander, 19.90% from other races, and 5.00% from two or more races. 43.30% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
[edit] History
Harbor City was originally part of the Rancho San Pedro, granted by the Spanish Empire in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez. The rancho was divided and sold by Californios during the Spanish and Mexican periods of Alta California. After the Mexican-American war ended in 1848, many of the rancho lands were acquired by American immigrants.
Harbor City stands as a testament to the ambitious designs of the Anglo-American creators of the modern metropolis of Los Angeles. By the turn of the century, city leaders had decided that it would be in the best interests of the city if the port and harbor areas were directly annexed. The independent cities of San Pedro (founded in the late 1700s) and Wilmington (founded in 1858 by Phineas Banning) were then independent establishments of what would be come the Port of Los Angeles. Following the establishment of San Pedro as the main source for the port over Santa Monica in 1897, Los Angeles city leaders argued that direct control over the port areas would be mutually beneficial by providing San Pedro and Wilmington with larger funding and in turn allowing the city to garner more revenue via the increasing port trade. The two cities were initially reluctant to join; in 1906, frustrated by the indecision of San Pedro and Wilmington leaders, the city of Los Angeles purchased a long and narrow swath of land that connected then-South Los Angeles to San Pedro, naming the two regions Harbor Gateway and Harbor City. City leaders then threatened to built a new port in Harbor City if the recalcitrant towns would not acquiesce to annexation. Both agreed by 1909. In return, the city of Los Angeles elected to keep Harbor City as a land-locked part of the main city, linking the metropolis to its newly won ocean trading centers. To this day, Harbor City remains an amusing irony—it is not a city and contains no harbor (that honor goes to San Pedro, Wilmington, and Long Beach).
[edit] Landmarks
Los Angeles Harbor College, one of two community colleges in the South Bay area along with Torrance's El Camino College, straddles the border between Harbor City and Wilmington and looks over nearby Machado Lake. Harbor City also hosts two parks, the Kenneth Malloy Memorial Park (located on Vermont Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway), which is home to Machado Lake, and Harbor City Park, on Frampton Avenue and Lomita Boulevard.
[edit] Education
Residents are zoned to Los Angeles USD schools.
Some residents are zoned to Harbor City Elementary, some are zoned to Normont Elementary School, and some are zoned to President Avenue Elementary School.
All residents are zoned to:
Los Angeles Public Library operates the Harbor Gateway-Harbor City Branch.
[edit] Reggie the Alligator
The Kenneth Malloy Memorial Park and Machado Lake saw a marked increase in news activity during the summer of 2005 with the sighting of 'Reggie the Alligator,' a six to ten foot long alligator released into the lake illegally in 2005. By August 2005, city officials had indefinitely cordoned off the lake and began to attempt to capture and relocate the non-native species. All attempts, which included hiring 'wranglers' from as far away as Florida and Colorado failed, and Reggie was seen to be a local folk hero, appearing in summer news stories in the weeks before Hurricane Katrina's domination of headlines. As of March 2007, the alligator had not yet been located, although a smaller alligator had been found in a nearby flood channel, suitably alarming several local residents; the search was suspended for the winter and will not resume until Spring 2006.[1]
[edit] External links
- Lomita Harbor City News
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
