| City of Lakewood | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — City — | |||
| Lakewood City Hall | |||
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| Motto: Tomorrow's City Today | |||
| Location of Lakewood in Los Angeles County, California | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | California | ||
| County | Los Angeles | ||
| Incorporated (city) | 1954-04-16[1] | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Larry Van Nostran[2] | ||
| Area[3] | |||
| • Total | 9.466 sq mi (24.517 km2) | ||
| • Land | 9.415 sq mi (24.384 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.051 sq mi (0.133 km2) 0.54% | ||
| Elevation | 46 ft (14 m) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 80,048 | ||
| • Density | 8,456.4/sq mi (3,265/km2) | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) | ||
| ZIP Code | 90711-90716, 90805[4] | ||
| Area code(s) | 562[5] | ||
| FIPS code | 06-39892[6] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1660883[7] | ||
| Website | lakewoodcity.org | ||
Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, and Hawaiian Gardens on the southeast. Major thoroughfares include Lakewood (SR 19), Bellflower, and Del Amo Boulevards and Carson and South Streets. The San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) runs through the city's eastern regions.
Sometimes called "an instant city" because of its origins—going from lima bean fields in 1950 to a well-developed city by 1960—Lakewood is, along with Levittown, New York, the archetypal post-World War II American suburb. The vast majority of its housing stock is small, mass-produced single-story houses on tree-lined streets, sold initially to World War II and Korean War veterans who worked in the aerospace factories of Long Beach and the South Bay.
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Lakewood is a planned, post-World War II community.[8] Developers Louis Boyar, Mark Taper and Ben Weingart are credited with "altering forever the map of Southern California".[8] Begun in late 1949, the completion of the developers' plan in 1953 helped in the transformation of mass-produced working-class housing from its early phases in the 1930s and 1940s to the reality of the 1950s.[8] The feel of this transformation from the point of view of a resident growing up in Lakewood was captured by D. J. Waldie in his award-winning memoir, Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir. http://books.google.com/books?id=NtgEEDGqn9cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:DJ+inauthor:Waldie&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
Lakewood's primary thoroughfares are mostly boulevards with landscaped medians, with frontage roads on either side in residential districts. Unlike in most similar configurations, however, access to the main road from the frontage road is only possible from infrequently spaced collector streets. This arrangement, hailed by urban planners of the day, is a compromise between the traditional urban grid and the arrangement of winding "drives" and culs-de-sac that dominates contemporary suburban and exurban design.
Lakewood is credited as a pioneer among California cities in services provision. Although it is an incorporated city, Lakewood contracts for most municipal services, with most of these provided by Los Angeles County and, to a lesser extent, by other public agencies and private industry. Lakewood was the first city in the nation to contract for all of its municipal services when it incorporated as a municipality in 1954, making it the nation's first "contract city." Many other Los Angeles suburbs, such as Cerritos and Diamond Bar, have adopted the "Lakewood Plan."
Lakewood is the home of the first Denny's Restaurant. In 1953 Harold Butler founded Danny’s Donuts, which was renamed Denny's Restaurant in 1959.
Lakewood was named Sports Illustrated's "Sportstown USA" in 2005 for the State of California.
Lakewood is located at (33.847365, -118.119889).[9]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.5 square miles (25 km2). 9.4 square miles (24 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) of it (0.54%) is water.
The 2010 United States Census[10] reported that Lakewood had a population of 80,048. The population density was 8,456.4 people per square mile (3,265.0/km²). The racial makeup of Lakewood was 44,820 (56.0%) White, 6,973 (8.7%) African American, 564 (0.7%) Native American, 13,115 (16.4%) Asian (8.1% Filipino, 1.5% Korean, 1.4% Chinese, 1.4% Cambodian, 1.2% Vietnamese, 0.7% Japanese, 0.6% Indian, 0.4% Thai), 744 (0.9%) Pacific Islander, 9,249 (11.6%) from other races, and 4,583 (5.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 24,101 persons (30.1%); 24.1% of Lakewood is Mexican, 0.8% Salvadoran, 0.7% Puerto Rican, 0.5% Guatemalan, 0.4% Cuban, 0.3% Peruvian, 0.2% Nicaraguan, 0.2% Honduran, 0.2% Colombian, and 0.2% Ecuadorian.
The Census reported that 79,939 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 109 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 26,543 households, out of which 10,649 (40.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,711 (55.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,975 (15.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,696 (6.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,262 (4.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 283 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,719 households (17.8%) were made up of individuals and 1,965 (7.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01. There were 20,382 families (76.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.41.
The population was spread out with 19,476 people (24.3%) under the age of 18, 7,593 people (9.5%) aged 18 to 24, 22,117 people (27.6%) aged 25 to 44, 21,776 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,086 people (11.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.5 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.
There were 27,470 housing units at an average density of 2,902.0 per square mile (1,120.5/km²), of which 19,131 (72.1%) were owner-occupied, and 7,412 (27.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%. 57,591 people (71.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 22,348 people (27.9%) lived in rental housing units.
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 79,345 people, 26,853 households, and 20,542 families residing in the city. The population density was 8,414.8 inhabitants per square mile (3,248.7/km²). There were 27,310 housing units at an average density of 2,896.3 per square mile (1,118.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.67% White, 7.34% Black or African American, 0.60% Native American, 13.51% Asian, 0.62% Pacific Islander, 10.10% from other races, and 5.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.78% of the population.
There were 26,853 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $58,214, and the median income for a family was $63,342. Males had a median income of $45,447 versus $35,206 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,095. About 5.6% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.