Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Rancho Palos Verdes is a quiet, affluent suburb of Los Angeles. Sitting atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, it is well known for its spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean (although these are sometimes obscured by the South Bay region's fog, which tends to envelop much of the South Bay in the spring). Its most notable geographic features are the hills and cliffs with grand vistas of the Pacific Ocean, with views of Santa Catalina Island. Its most notorious geographic feature is the continuous landslide at Portuguese Bend, which may have been caused in part by septic runoff from homes in RPV and its neighboring communities.

There are several major landmarks of Rancho Palos Verdes. The first is the site of the former Marineland aquatic park, closed in 1987. It is now being developed for housing/hotel tracts. Numerous films have also been shot at the location since the park's closure. Second is the Trump National Golf Course at Ocean Trails, a somewhat ill-starred golf development at first (the course made national news when three holes slid into the ocean in 1999) but by 2004 the course had attracted the attention of Donald Trump, who bought the course and is planning to build a hotel/resort area adjacent. Third is the Point Vicente Lighthouse, built in 1926. The lighthouse, operated by the United States Coast Guard is also famous for ghost stories told of a mysterious woman in white who supposedly committed suicide while waiting for her husband to return from an ocean voyage, and who still keeps her ghostly vigil to this day. On days when the fog is thick, the lighthouse's powerful fog horn can be heard for miles along the sea side of the Peninsula. Fourth is the recently enlarged marine museum with its collection of indigenous tools and artifacts from earlier days when Portuguese Bend was used as a landing beach for smuggling. The major attractions of the Peninsula are the ocean vistas along the high cliffs that distinguish Rancho Palos Verdes and the other Peninsula cities from much of Los Angeles County. Numerous footpaths wind along the cliff tops. The City has been the site of a number of films and for the television series The O.C., which refers to Orange County, far south of Rancho Palos Verdes.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Rancho Palos Verdes is located at 33°45′30″N, 118°21′51″W (33.758216, -118.364256)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.4 km² (13.7 mi²), all land.

The Big W was built here for the 1963 movie Its a MAd....Mad World

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 41,145 people, 15,256 households, and 12,220 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,163.0/km² (3,011.2/mi²). There were 15,709 housing units at an average density of 444.0/km² (1,149.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.23% White, 1.98% African American, 0.15% Native American, 25.95% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races, and 3.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.68% of the population.

There were 15,256 households out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.9% were non-families. 16.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $95,503, and the median income for a family was $105,586. Males had a median income of $80,617 versus $46,665 for females. The per capita income for the city was $46,250. About 2.0% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.