Talk:Huntington Beach, California

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[edit] Huntington Beach Central Library

The article states that the library was designed by, among others, Mario Pei. Mario Pei was a renowned linguist, but to my knowledge never dabbled in architecture. I was unable to verify it on the net, but I assume the architect was in fact I.M. Pei.

It looks like Mario Pei is an error. The official history talks only about Richard & Dion Neutra [1]. The I.M. Pei web site [2] does not include the HBPL on the list of projects, so it is unlikely that he was involved. Alanraywiki 23:13, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Huntington Beach Parade

Does Huntington Beach, incorporated in 1921, really have the country's oldest 4th of July parade? -- Zoe

If it does, it's news to me. (On the other hand, I managed to live over two decades in Southern California without being aware that Huntington Beach had a 4th of July parade.) Hmm, according to [3] they've been running it annually for 98 years (ie, since before the city was incorporated). Several other sites I turned up on google claim it's the largest and oldest such parade in the West, but make no claims over the entire country. --Brion VIBBER


I live in Huntington Beach and I am pretty sure that the city's 4th of July parade has been around since the beginning of our city but I'm not sure if it's the oldest in the nation.

Answer: It is not the oldest in the nation. It celebrated 100 years in 2004.

[edit] metric (imperial) or imperial (metric)?

There should be some consistancy to this article as to how tempuratures, distances, etc. are presented. Which way should we go? Can we come to a consensus?

I vote for Imperial (Metric), as Imperial is the standard in the city itself.

- Ianneub 18:29, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)

I'd like to add that the temperatures have not been conerted to Celsius correctly. For example, 85°F = 29°C, not 25.

[edit] City flag?

Does Huntington Beach have a city flag? We need one for the city template...

- Ianneub July 8, 2005 01:02 (UTC)

There are a few city "logos", if you will. HB city website shows a seal in the header image. In the past, I have also seen a stylized logo containing "HB" and a caricature of waves and watersport. If someone can't find the city seal, I would support placing the County of Orange seal on the page. - Amavel 00:06, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Danger Danger Will Robinson!

Gee, this sounds like one dangerous city. Are the residents simply unaware of the danger?

Answer: There are bunkers with weapons. They are dangerous. The biggest threat is not those weapons, or Seal Beach Naval Weapons station next door, but the Port of Long Beach nearby. Also, we receive siren tests and are within reach of an older Nuclear Generating Station at San Onofre. In Huntington Beach many expensive homes sit on former swamp land and are also on the Newport/Inglewood fault zone. Those houses face not only danger from tsunamis, but also from a major earthquake.

Jaberwocky6669 21:20, July 17, 2005 (UTC) lol

To be honest, that's likely the case, but it's also simply that most really don't bother worrying about it.. I lived in Huntington Beach up until adulthood (when I joined the Navy), and I never really gave a second thought about the dangers. Yes, we know about the oil and the (probable) nukes at the WEPSTA, but when your main concern is earthquakes, tsunami and the OP Pro Surf Tour, everything else tends to take a backseat.--Mitsukai 03:49, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Are there really nukes at the naval weapons station there? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 205.188.116.9 (talk • contribs) .

During the Cold War when there was till a shipyard and naval base in Long Beach, it was highly likely that they stored nuclear weapons at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. My best guess is that it is much less likely that there are any there now.
I disagree. There's still Naval Station San Diego to the south, as well as the Submarine Base at Point Loma (also in the SD area). Seal Beach was kept because it was the most viable place for a weapons facility and prevented ships from having to sail to Washington state to pick up weapons before going out on deployment. Truthfully, if there were any there to begin with, they are probably reduced in number, but would still exist.--Mitsukai 14:11, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
Has the Navy ever discussed the possibility of closing the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station? If so, what would be done with the property? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.35.214 (talk) 05:02, 22 May 2008 (UTC)


Does anyone else have problems with the title to this section: "Nice place, but is it safe?". To me, it sounds rather sensationalistic, and highly non-encyclopedic. I think that the section probably should be divided up between natural and man-made hazards, with some of the rhetoric toned down as well. BlankVerse ∅ 13:39, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

Gee, that was a damper. I have relatives that live there, and to think that they'd be the first to get hit in a war is nice. I knew that there was a Boeing installation there - my uncle points it out all the time when he drives us around - but a naval station? Hbdragon88 20:48, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Unless you're driving through the industrial section of the town, the most you'll ever see of the WEPSTA is the area that's also a National Wildlife Refuge, with the occasional ship loading at the pier - and you'll see that much because you have to drive over a bridge to get to that point. It's not a big deal, really, and to suggest otherwise is paranoia, IMHO.--Mitsukai 14:11, 21 December 2005 (UTC)


I think the liberals from Wikipedia are making it sound a little too paranoic about HB. Since I live in SF, I would think that we would also be on a "first strike" for many reasons. I really think you should remove the paranoiac ramblings of the biased person about the city.

[edit] vandalism?

why was the demographics section removed? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by SameerKhan (talk • contribs) 8 September 2005.

A single edit by an anonymous IP (a DSL account from the Irvine area). Probably vandalism. BlankVerse ∅ 18:11, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
Probably offensive, exagerated or had racist terms. I read the ones for Irvine on how many Asian Americans live there, was quickly deleted, and any demographics information on Western Orange county (Buena Park and Los Alamitos always get swiftly changed.) I know how conservative (and racially tolerant) things are in Orange county, but either someone with strong bias (or politically correct activists) keeps on vandalizing the Orange county articles. Whoever does it, please stop or you get reported. + 207.200.116.203 04:57, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Surf City "controversy"

Honestly, do we need this section? I don't see an issue about it at all, and it feels like someone's looking for a reason to either stir up needless edit wars or to add space filler.--Mitsukai 14:13, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

If it could be expanded, including the court cases which decided the issue, the history of the usage in the city and any potential fall out those rulings may've had, I think it could be of benefit to the page. However, the section is misleading and underrepresented as it is now. see: Surfer Mag, Huntington Beach press release 1, HB press release 2 and myriad other sources/news articles regarding this issue. WesleyPinkham 05:14, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
That would help much. As it stands currently, it looks frivolous at best, like space filler at worst. If anyone has more information on the issue, they might want to work it in there.--Mitsukai 14:18, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

The "Surf city" flap IS one of the more common reasons for HB to have been mentioned in the (California) press in the last few years.... The section as it stands is fairly concise but could have some details removed and still serve its purpose. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.200.163.19 (talk) 22:49, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lame sunshine sentence ?

I actually edited the HB page to remove the sentence "The beach is very brightly lit by the sun, and the sunlight pleasantly falls over the shoulders of surfers facing the beach" because it is so lame. But I see it was added back, so I guess the author really wants that there. Does the author think the beach in particular is brightly lit by the sun ? What about the rest of HB ? Does the author think that a surfer's shoulders are especially suited to receiving pleasant rays of light ? DuH!!! I live in HB and that is why I navigated to this page out of curiosity, and I was sort of nonplussed by these two statements.

POV assertions of this type need to be sourced. It might be appropriate to say something like "Poet Anne Smith has said that 'the sunlight pleasantly...'". However we shouldn't make that determination on our own as editors, which would violate WP:NOR. -Will Beback 01:33, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Huntington Beach Flag

I know that Huntington Beach has an official flag but I am having a hard time finding a picture of it online.

[edit] Harbor vs. Harbour

Can someone please city any source that validates the claim that the harbor in HB is spelled "Harbour". This is a bizzare assertion, and I'd like independent proof rather than someone's say-so. Moncrief 07:08, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Answer: It is spelled "Harbour". It was named that when five manmade islands were developed and houses built. It is called Huntington Harbour.

Just check out the official city website. This page, for instance, [4]. I think there's a tendency in SoCal for communities to create pretentious place names. -Will Beback 17:45, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
In the case of Huntington Harbour, I think that some of the influence for the name may have been the old school surfboard shop Harbour Surfboards in nearby Seal Beach. BlankVerse 05:16, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

As to why there is a "u", I do not know. I do know that the "u" is included as noted in the web sites above and also the following: http://www.househunt.com/CA/Huntington_Harbour, http://www.surfcityusa.org/discover/13/local/all-list.php, http://www.cruiseoflights.org/home.html. And, although it is probably not in keeping with Wikipedia standards, I live right by Huntington Harbour and drive by the community everyday. All signage refers to harbour, not harbor.Alanraywiki 15:14, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

It is not clear from the article what "Huntington Harbour" is other than a name for a part of the city. The city of Huntington Beach uses the "Harbour" spelling, per [5] in official legal planning documents, but often uses "Huntington Harbor" in magazines or directories[6]. The practice of using U.S. spelling for U.S. things does not trump the legal name of a real estate entity. That should provide a definitive basis for ending this revert war. U.S. real estate developers and merchants like to use spellings such as "harbour'" "centre," "shoppe," or "faire" so people will pay more money for the thing they are selling. It is easy to imagine it going either way, with real estate developers adopting an unofficial spelling which implies it is chock full of princes, dukes, earls, and baronets, or that its legal name is really "harbour" and people carelessly corrupt the spelling when creating websites. I did find U.S. federal government sites from the Coast Guard and the EPA which said "harbor,"but federal employees can make lazy spelling errors as readily as anyone else. In Google I found 25,900 sites with "harbor" and 41,500 with "harbour" but that proves little. Putting an arbitrary one of the 67,000 sites in a comment really proves nothing. Mapquest goes with "Huntington Harbour" but I know of cases where they are wrong about things and refuse to make corrections. In general they work from private landbases which are supposed to track official records. Edison 15:45, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Just to add more sources for including the "u", there are a number of books that refer to Huntington Harbour, some of which can be accessed via Google. Here are some: The California Coastal Resource Guide By California Coastal Commission (http://books.google.com/books?id=84M96URkILgC&pg=PA317&ots=E2jsy3Tnnw&dq=%22huntington+harbour%22&sig=0dtrrpeN_b-jvUZ876FdhY-J80s); Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality Improvement By Gerald A. Mo (http://books.google.com/books?id=_PQJ7wGG_2cC&pg=PA111&ots=C2Jpc0yiIW&dq=%22huntington+harbour%22&sig=qy-yEPC9wCBA0RNGI6ay0zATN4k); Huntington Beach, California By Chris Epting http://books.google.com/books?id=-Y4gdYLDD5wC&pg=PA105&dq=%22huntington+harbour%22&sig=iMTCrdwCqp5FTTsu8jOY2xq4t2g#PPA105,M1 If there are problems with the links, I'm sure the books are available in the library, particularly in HB.Alanraywiki 16:50, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article reorganization

I just did a major reorganization, including creating new sections, and renaming some old sections. I tried, at least to some degree, to follow the guidlines at Wikipedia:WikiProject Cities#Template for a U.S. City.

The one section that the recommend, that the Huntington Beach article doesn't have, is one for Notable natives. Someone could probably start off with the lists in the various high school articles to help start a list of notable natives.

I think that the reoganization helps highlight some of the sections that need work (e.g. History), and some of the sections that could probably be pared down some (e.g. the Safety is way too big IMHO). There are also so many other items that should be mentioned in the article (the Huntington Harbour Christmas Boat Parade is the first thing that comces to mind).

I also added the {{fact}} tag to several statements that I think need citations. BlankVerse 06:16, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Baywatch

This article is so inclusive with so many little details, and they forgot to say anything about Baywatch being filmed on Huntington's Beaches?

[edit] No history in the last century?

How about a discussion of population growth? Heavy from 1950-1970, slow since 1990?

→ R Young {yakłtalk} 13:25, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Light Rail?

???????????????????????????????????????????????????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.35.214 (talk) 09:00, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone know more about this?

From http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_newslog2006q3.htm

24 August 2006

Huntington Beach (California): "Surf City" eyes possible light rail line

"Imagine catching a light-rail train from Huntington Beach to Downtown Disney or Anaheim's Metrolink station" suggests the Orange County Register (16 August 2006).

According to the article, officials in Huntington Beach – which bills itself "Surf City" – "are hoping to score a $100,000 grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority to study the idea of building a public transit line – mostly along an existing railroad right-of-way – that would span the distance from the sand to Disneyland."

As the paper further reports,

Orange County's 34 cities each are eligible for $100,000 grants from OCTA, offered to encourage cities to think of ways to link to Metrolink [regional passenger rail] lines. The best plans will qualify for cash to fund further study. In all, $30 million is set aside.

"We're so isolated from transit here and so dependent on our cars" Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Cathy Green told the reporter. "This could really be a fabulous thing."

According to the article,

Huntington Beach officials already have started discussing the idea with city staff in Westminster, Garden Grove, Stanton and Anaheim. But the idea hasn't yet been presented to city councils, Disneyland or Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the right-of-way.

And, while light rail transit (LRT) seems to be what planners have in mind, the ultimate "light rail" plan may not actually turn out to be "light rail". After all, although the resounding success of LRT across North America and worldwide has certainly made it the byword of choice for evoking a high-quality, successful, attractive new transit technology, the term is frequently hijacked and misapplied to all sorts of other proposals – including fancy buses and "gadget-transit" schemes.

Thus, in Huntington Beach, "Also unclear is which type of transit, such as light rail or monorail, would be used and where certain portions of the track would connect," according to Huntington Beach deputy public works director David Webb.

But what will ultimately shape up remains to be seen. In mid-August, Orange County cities got an OK to begin submitting grant applications.

"This is just an idea right now" Webb told the Register. "There's a lot of potentials but there could be a lot of hurdles." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bill Cousert (talk • contribs) 05:50, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Media

Huntington Beach has another newspaper called the Orange Coast Voice, circulated mainly in Huntington Beach with 15,000 copies delivered mostly to HB homes.

[7] (currently in process of being remodeled)

John Earl Editor OC Voice

````` —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ocvoice (talk • contribs) 04:27, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New format

I reordered the sections to fit the structure guidelines in WP:USCITY and did some minor cleanup. Please take a look in my sandbox at User:Alanraywiki/sandbox to see if you have any suggestions before I move it to this article. If there is more cleanup we can do that after it is moved. I'm mainly interested in the section order. Thanks, Alanraywiki (talk) 20:00, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Replaced with reordered article. Alanraywiki (talk) 19:23, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Area code 562

Per WhitePages.com [8] area code 562 is not part of the Huntington Beach calling area. HB is strickly 714. I have removed the notations per verifiable sourcing. IrishLass (talk) 18:58, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Kilmarnock Sister City

Kilmarnock in Scotland has been added to the list of sister cities. It is not listed in the reference. I have reverted a couple of times asking for a source citation. None has been provided. Does anyone have some documentation that Huntington Beach and Kilmarnock are sister cities? Thanks, Alanraywiki (talk) 16:09, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Section Under Sports for MMA

We need a section under the sports header for Ultimate Fighting/Mixed Martial Arts. That has become HUGE in Huntington Beach. Robin1225 (talk) 15:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)