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Long Beach Los Angeles. Long Beach, California

Long Beach from A to Z: map, hotels, attractions, restaurants, entertainment. Shopping, shops. Photos, videos and reviews about Long Beach.

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Long Beach is a large coastal city in Southern California, just on the southeastern border of Los Angeles. Long Beach is known as one of the most culturally diverse cities in the United States. There are Latinos, African Americans, Americans and Asians living here, and in general, Long Beach is much more reminiscent of cities on the East Coast or the Midwest than any other in California. There is also a world-class aquarium and a floating museum/hotel, the Queen Mary.

How to get to Long Beach

Getting into the city is not difficult: any of the five airports in the Los Angeles area is suitable, starting from Los Angeles LAX and ending with Long Beach's own small airport. From downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach you can take the Blue Line metro. In addition, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal is home to the Carnival Cruise ferries, which operate on Bahia California and the Mexican Riviera.

Search for flights to Los Angeles (closest airport to Long Beach)

Entertainment and attractions in Long Beach

The Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the largest in the country. About 1,000 inhabitants live here in 19 main aquariums and 32 specific exhibitions. Visitors can successively admire the flora and fauna of three regions of the Pacific Ocean: Southern California (Bahia), tropical and northern.

The Queen Mary is a historic ocean liner that served as a military transport during World War II. Today the ship is declared a national monument. Various tours have been developed to explore the ship, including the “Ghosts and Legends” tour. On board, there is a hotel, several restaurants and a shopping promenade. You can purchase combined tickets to visit the liner and the aquarium or the liner and the B-427 submarine.

The B-427 Foxtrot-class submarine, moored next to the Queen Mary, is a Soviet combat submarine from the Cold War. A retired Russian submarine officer works here as a guide.

3 things to do in Long Beach:

Take a gondola ride along the canals of the Knapples area.
Photograph the historic Villa Riviera, built in 1929 on Ocean Boulevard - "the city's most elegant landmark." The imposing building with a hint of French Gothic style is unmistakable thanks to its central pointed turret.
Sail to Catalina Island.

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is located on the campus of Cal State Long Beach. It features a classically designed 1.3-acre garden with a traditional tea house and a pond stocked with koi carp. You can walk around the garden on your own for a small entrance fee.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is located on East Ocean Boulevard and occupies the old Elizabeth Milbank Anderson mansion. This is a small museum with a collection of works by 20th century authors and decorative arts. The main place in the exhibitions is given to Californian artists. And the Museum of Latin American Art, on Alamitos Avenue, is the only one in the western states that is dedicated exclusively to contemporary art from Latin America. It takes pride of place in the newly developed East Village art district. The University Art Museum has become nationally renowned for its innovative programs. The city's newest museum is the Pacific Islands Folk Art Museum, which opened in 2010.

The historic Rancho Los Cerritos is located on Virginia Road. It is a two-story Monterey-style mansion built in 1844. The ranch is listed as a National Landmark, along with an old garden and a scientific library. There are guided docent-led tours of the building every hour from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and it's free (though donations are welcome).

Knapples Island is a specific neighborhood in the southeastern part of Long Beach. It is penetrated by many canals with pedestrian embankments and million-dollar mansions on them. On Christmas Eve, locals decorate their homes, competing with each other in extravagance, so the streets are filled with admiring spectators who come here specifically to admire the splendor.

In the past, Long Beach was sometimes called "Maritime Iowa" for its predominantly white American population with food and culture to match.

Long Beach is famous for its street art. His most famous object is the Ocean Planet mural, which covers the entire surface of the city's indoor sports stadium. The painting is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest street mural in the world. Image with an area of 11,000 sq. m was created by the famous environmental street artist Richard Wyland as part of his “Whale Walls” series of works, in which the author depicts life-size whales, dolphins and other inhabitants of the sea.

The name of the project “Whale Walls” - Whaling walls is based on a play on words: it is consonant with the phrase Wailing wall - that is, “wailing wall”. The painting “Ocean Planet” in 1992 became the 33rd in a series of similar murals by Wyland, the last of which, the hundredth, he painted in 2008 in Beijing.

Long Beach Events

The annual events that take place in Long Beach have a distinct touch of extravagance and glamor. This, for example, is the April Long Beach Grand Prix, an Indy Car race along the central streets, in which various celebrities take part. In May, the city hosts the Pride parade of sexual minorities. On Labor Day weekend, the city hosts a Greek festival and at the same time an open-air blues festival at the university stadium. The West Coast's largest one-day auto show takes place in Long Beach in September. And throughout the summer, the Long Beach Maritime Festival hosts a series of events throughout the city (many of them free to attend). The city also hosts the From the Dog Parade, featuring canine fashion shows, as well as a sidewalk chalk art and poetry festival.

Long Beach Neighborhood

Catalina Island (officially Santa Catalina) is a popular day trip destination for locals and tourists alike. It is part of a group of islands and is located approximately 35 km from the mainland. This is a small closed world away from the usual noise and din of Southern California. 88% of the island's territory belongs to the protected area. Besides it, there are two “cities” here - Avalon and Two Harbors.

Avalon on Catalina Island

Avalon received city status in 1913, and about 4 thousand people permanently live here (in the summer, due to vacationers, the number of residents reaches 10 thousand). The city hosts several regular events throughout the year, including film festivals, marathons, golf tournaments, music festivals and art events. Due to the narrow streets and general overcrowding, the most popular way to get around the city is by golf cart.

Avalon is home to some pretty special attractions. In particular, this is the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, which is 2.5 km from the city. The memorial is dedicated to William Wrigley, the founder of the famous gum corporation and a serious philanthropist who played a key role in preserving the natural environment of Catalina Island for future generations. And in the botanical garden you can see plants characteristic of the Californian islands, including those endemic to Catalina.

Another notable feature of Avalon is the casino, an Art Deco building built in 1929 as a movie theater and dance hall.

The elite of Los Angeles vacationed in this exclusive place, and today you can explore it on a guided tour, not forgetting to look into the island museum located here. The latter introduces tourists to the history of Catalina, from the times when it was inhabited by the Tongva Indians, until the mid-20th century, when the island became a hangout for the richest and most famous.

Two Harbors is nothing like Avalon. With a population of less than 300 residents, Two Harbors is a great place for sailing, kayaking, diving, cycling, hiking and relaxing time in nature.

You can sail to the island on the Carnival cruise ship, a high-speed catamaran, a special Catalina Express, a charter yacht, and even a helicopter. Traveling by boat will take you about an hour (and about 36 USD), by helicopter - about 15 minutes (and four times as much money). Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

There is a huge port town - Long Beach, which is part of the Los Angeles County district. Hence, it is considered a district of this huge city. Initially, Long Beach was called Willmore City, but due to the long sandy beaches it was renamed.

Looking at the statistics, you can find that the city's population is approaching half a million residents.

Long Beach has a mixture of different neighborhoods. Huge industrial enterprises are combined with quiet, prestigious places, so you can hear both wonderful and opposite things about the city.

The city's port is considered the second largest in terms of maritime traffic in the United States. The port promotes the region's domestic economy and provides jobs. The value of cargo valuables transported through the port city is about one hundred million US dollars. The city district is also home to enterprises producing spare parts and aircraft manufacturing.

Long Beach's main problem is air pollution. The negative environmental factor is explained by westerly winds, which transport air masses from one area of the city to another. Additional sources of pollution are exhaust from railway and road transport. Another negative factor is the poor water in the region, but this is explained by the presence of the port. The local population practically does not swim on the beach areas in Long Beach. They use Alamitos Bay for swimming.

Fascinating places in the city

If we compare the surrounding areas of the “City of Angels,” Long Beach definitely loses in tourism. But there are interesting places that travelers should visit.

"Queen Mary". A very famous cruise ship that docked at the port of Long Beach in the 67th year of the twentieth century. Currently, the ship is used as a history museum. The ship includes a hotel and large restaurants. In addition to the Queen Mary, you can visit a Soviet-era submarine.
Oceanarium. The largest aquatic universe in the States, which houses many exhibits and inhabitants.
Naples Island. A very famous area of Long Beach. The island deserves attention.

Demonstration festivals

Long Beach Grand Prix. Every spring there are car competitions on the city streets.
Long Beach Sea Festival.
Belmont Car Show.

Climatic conditions

Long Beach's weather conditions are very comfortable. Ocean waters affect air temperature and it is not as hot here as in similar areas of the country at the same latitude. In the hottest month, the air temperature will be about 23 degrees, with a slight breeze blowing. Winter conditions are very mild. The average daily temperature in January fluctuates around 14 degrees Celsius. The sun shines in the region for almost 300 days.

Long Beach city on a map of the USA

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On April 11, 1990, Long Beach, USA, became Sochi's sister city. The agreement on this was signed in the sister city, which is located 30 km from downtown Los Angeles.

Certificate of economic cooperation between the sister cities of Sochi and Long Beach (Southern California) is kept in the Museum of the History of the Resort City of Sochi.

Long Beach city of half a million on the American Pacific coast in the state of California, USA. The total area of the city is 170.7 km², of which the land area is 130.5 km², the water surface area is about 40 km² (this is 23.42% of the total area). The coast is literally dotted with bays and bays. For comparison, the population of the city of Sochi is 437,600 people (as of 01/01/2012), and the area of the city within the city limits is 250 km².

The settlement, founded in 1881, was originally named Willmore City, but due to its long, wide beaches in 1888, with the granting of city status, it was renamed Long Beach(“long beach”)

Villa Riviera. Historical monument. Built in 1929.

© jonkolsky.files.wordpress.com

The city authorities only laid a path along the wide sandy beach, which city residents happily use - on foot and on bicycles.

Every year from June to August a sea festival takes place on the beaches Long Beach Sea Festival, many competitions and entertainment are held these days: creating sand castles, motorboat racing, fishing and much more.

Long Beach is a mixture of a wide variety of areas: large industrial, residential, administrative and tourist.

In the administrative and office part of the city the tallest building is 30-story One World Trade Center, built in 1989. Not many high-rise (over 25-30 floors) buildings are being built in the city.

There are a large number of covered parking lots in the business center of the city. There are no traffic jams on the roads.

Hemisphere is a sea passenger terminal. Long Beach.

© serge-freeman.livejournal.com

"Queen Mary" (« Queen Mary") - the famous ocean liner, moored at the port of Long Beach since 1967, has become one of the main attractions that tourists must visit . Currently on board "Queen Mary", standing on an eternal pier, there is a hotel, a spa, a museum, restaurants, and various gift and souvenir shops.

Besides "Queen Mary" You can also visit the Soviet submarine, which the Americans called "Red Scorpion"«.

Port of Long Beach, one of the largest ports in the world , in the USA it is the second largest container transport volume. The port has a major impact on the local economy, employing 30,000 people in the region.

Gerald Desmond Bridge.Long Beach.

Cargo is transported from the port by road via Gerald Desmond Bridge built in 1968. Today the bridge is being destroyed and a new project has been developed, preparatory work is underway. Construction will be completed in 2016.

Visualization of the new cable-stayed bridge.

In 1921, oil was discovered in Long Beach, which stimulated the industrial development of the seaside resort. Until recently, its development was carried out even in the city center and was stopped in order to avoid subsidence of the territory. Left in the bay artificial oil islands, now they are trying to create entertainment and office centers on them.

Artificial oil island.

© kharkovforum.com

In addition, the company's enterprises are located in the city Boeing, the production of auto parts and other industries, including aerospace and high technology, have been established.

The presence of industry and a large port has a negative impact on the resort of Long Beach, some areas of which suffer from serious air pollution. Prevailing westerly and southwesterly winds drive air from the industrial port areas directly into the city. The main source of pollution is exhaust from ships, railways and freight transport. In addition, the wind brings air currents from oil refineries located nearby. In addition to the air, the quality of water in many places leaves much to be desired, which, however, is natural for a large port city. Dirty water and lack of waves (due to the presence of a breakwater) explain the typical lack of more people on Long Beach's wide sandy beaches, which usually choose the cove for swimming Alamitos Bay.

Deserves great attention Naples Island, with expensive low-rise buildings, yachts, gondolas and wonderful canals. The coastal area is also very popular - Belmont Shores.

Naples, but not in Italy (Naples Island). Long Beach.

© baldmike2004.xanga.com

Naples is an island inside the city Long Beach, which is divided into three parts by channels. Most of the streets on the island received Italian names. In the center of the island of Naples there is a large three-level fountain "La Bella Fontana Di Niapoli", which serves as a popular meeting place.

Tourist and entertainment center of the city, located in Queensway Bay. Here are the main attractions of the city of Long Beach: Aquarium of the Pacific ( Aquarium of the Pacific), (multifunctional exhibition center), Queen Mary(liner hotel), Long Beach Grand Prix (US Grand Prix-West).

Aquarium of the Pacific- one of the largest aquariums in the United States with three dozen exhibits and 1000 species of inhabitants.

Near the aquarium there is a five-level parking lot for 1,500 cars.

© jaa.su

The location on the first coastline and near the aquarium influenced the image of the building. Marine theme both on the facade and in the interiors of the building. Authors of the project: architecture design studio Johnson Fine.

Grand Prix of Long Beach— every April, a car race takes place on the streets of the city, which is one of the stages of the series IndyCar. Previously, the Long Beach city track was repeatedly used to host stages of prestigious races "Formula 1"(from 1976 to 1983). A stage took place here, which bore the name "USA Grand Prix-West".

Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center(multifunctional exhibition center)

© longbeachcc.com

The city's population is growing rapidly, today Long Beach is home to 500,000 residents and there is a shortage of housing stock. In the heart of downtown Long Beach, the Promenade has been completed and includes 450,000 square feet of retail space, 340 apartments and covered parking.

Promenade Walk Lofts. A new residential building near the beach, notice the buildings are five stories high. Architect: STEVEN GAFFNEY

Promenade, metal composition - “Clouds”, by Professor Craig Stone.

© Victoria Sanchez

City public transport in Long Beach is represented primarily by buses and the surface metro, which connects Long Beach with Los Angeles; water transport is also popular - boats, yachts, catamarans and water taxis.

Public transport stops, behind the bike station. Long Beach.

© CityKid

Eight bus stop pavilions were installed on one of the central streets First Street Transit Gallery in 2011. The curved awnings of the stops imitate ocean waves and create a large shadow; in addition, the stop has an information board and a clock.

On the sidewalks near bus stops there is a mosaic by a famous artist Robin Brailsford. This artist’s works are also on the square near the aquarium, where she decorated a fountain with mosaics. Mosaics were also popular in Sochi in the 80s, but are now forgotten and in poor condition: the Arboretum Park stop, the walls of the Trade Gallery on Navaginskaya Street.

Other stops.

© oldweeb.wordpress.com

Long Beach is one of the most bike-friendly cities in America. The city has a widely developed network of bicycle paths that connect all areas of the city.

Bicycle station. Long Beach. Author: Fernando Vazquez Studio.

© california-architects.com/Jim Simmons

A bike station is located near a public transport stop.

International Elementary School Long Beach.
Architects: by Thomas Blurock Architects, Inc. and Morphosis.

Construction was completed in 1999. Area: 79,605 m². On the façade of the building are structures, beveled corrugated walls and perforated aluminum fences.

The playground is on the roof, which ensures safety. Famous writers are depicted on the walls in the courtyard: Mark Twain, Hemingway and Tolstoy.

California State University. Long Beach.
If it were not for the blue pyramid in the background, the photo is very reminiscent of Sochi.

© csulb.edu

The Pyramid is an indoor universal sports arena with a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

© colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com

When addressing environmental issues, architects often use old shipping containers as a building unit.

Project of an environmental center made of 65 cargo containers. Long Beach

Architects: Design Group Aphidoidea
The project makes extensive use of renewable energy sources

Environmental education center with cafe and retail. Long Beach.
Authors: WE-DESIGNS.ORG, XP& Architecture

The easiest way to use containers. House. Long Beach.

In terms of tourism attractiveness, Long Beach loses to other cities in the Los Angeles area, but its Pacific sister city, Sochi, has a lot to see and learn.

based on materials: wikipedia.org

Long Beach is a large port city located in the state of California south of Los Angeles. Long Beach is part of Los Angeles County and is actually one of the "Greater Los Angeles" areas. The community was originally named Willmore City, but due to its long, wide beaches, it was renamed Long Beach in 1888.

According to statistics for 2013, over 469 thousand people live in the city. At the same time, the population density is higher than in the surrounding areas of Los Angeles. Downtown Long Beach is located 40 km south of downtown Los Angeles.

Long Beach is a mixture of diverse neighborhoods. Large industrial zones are combined with areas where the middle class lives, prestigious ones, as well as frankly marginal ones. It's not surprising that you hear diametrically opposed things about Long Beach: both wonderful and terrible.

The Port of Long Beach is the second largest port in the United States by container traffic. It has a major impact on the local economy, employing 30,000 people in the region. The value of cargo transported through the port annually is estimated at $100 million. In addition, Boeing's enterprises are located in the city, the production of auto parts and other production facilities have been established.

Parts of Long Beach suffer from severe air pollution. It is considered one of the worst in Southern California. Prevailing westerly and southwesterly winds drive air from the industrial port areas directly into the city. The main source of pollution is exhaust from ships, railways and freight transport. In addition, the wind brings air currents from oil refineries located nearby. In addition to the air, the quality of water in many places leaves much to be desired, which, however, is natural for a large port city. Dirty water and a lack of waves (due to the presence of a breakwater) explain the typical lack of more people on Long Beach's wide, sandy beaches. Alamitos Bay is usually chosen for swimming.

Port of Long Beach

The racial composition of Long Beach's population as of 2013 is:

Hispanic (any race) 42.1%
white - 28.7%
African Americans - 12.9%
Asians - 12.4%
mixed races - 2.6%
Pacific origin - 0.8%
Indians - 0.2%

Since the 1950s, the racial composition of the population has changed significantly. Until this time, the majority were white. Because of this, Long Beach was ironically called “Iowa by the sea” or “Iowa under the palm trees.” But even now, Long Beach's racial makeup is a little more like a Midwestern or East Coast city than a typical coastal California town.

Socio-economic indicators for 2013:

average income per person - $25993
population living below the poverty line - 20.5%
unemployment in the region (as of June 2014) - 9.0% (above average values)
cost of living index - 134.3 (high, 34% higher than the US average)
42% of the population live in their own housing, 56% rent.

Overall, Long Beach is considered a slightly less expensive destination than other Southern California coastal cities.

Interesting places and attractions

Compared to other areas of Los Angeles (such as Hollywood, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles), Long Beach falls short in terms of tourist attraction, but it also has interesting attractions.

Queen Mary is a famous ocean liner moored at the Port of Long Beach since 1967. Today, this historic vessel is used as an over-water museum with a hotel and several restaurants. In addition to the Queen Mary, you can get on a Soviet submarine;
Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the largest aquariums in the United States with 3 dozen exhibits and 1000 species of inhabitants;
Naples Island is an interesting neighborhood in southeast Long Beach with canals and expensive homes.
Belmont Shores is a popular coastal area.

At first glance, Long Beach seems like a suburb of the huge Los Angeles, but if you read the numbers, it turns out that the city ranks 34th in population in the United States, is one of the largest ports in the world, and is also famous for the oil industry, manufacturing plants aircraft, automobile parts and electronics. At the same time, for the average tourist, Long Beach is still the ocean and the sun. The temperature here rarely drops below 20 degrees Celsius.

However, the average tourist rejoiced early. Indeed, Long Beach was once a resort (with a small share of agricultural production). The city had many amusement parks, but with the discovery of oil, industry became a priority, and water and air pollution did not allow the city to continue to enjoy the status of a resort. Now oil rigs and port buildings are visible from the shore in the ocean, and those crazy people who try to swim are ridiculed by the public. Why, if many people have their own swimming pools?

So a tourist in Long Beach will have to entertain himself not with the ocean, and this post is about alternatives. First of all, you can download a map of attractions, but here is another map (click to enlarge):

A free red bus runs through the main attractions; if you google Long Beach Transit, you can find a map of its route.

The main attractions are, of course, concentrated near the ocean. This is, first of all, Shoreline Village, offering everything from shopping, restaurants, cruises (from $15 - sightseeing tour, from $30 - dolphins and whales in the open ocean) to funerals in the ocean.

Not far away, the retired liner Queen Mary is permanently moored, also offering excursions, restaurants, and accommodation. For three years in the 1930s, the ship was the largest in the world, carrying such stars as Bob Hope, Clark Gable and Winston Churchill. However, with the outbreak of World War II, the luxury liner was converted into a warship, even repainted in camouflage colors. After the end of the war, the ship was again converted into a tourist liner within 10 months. The ship made its last cruise in 1967.

Another ship nearby is the battleship Iowa, on which any tourist can see an exhibition about World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, as well as learn more about the life of a sailor on a warship.
Shoreline village also houses an aquarium. We recommend visiting it, but it is better on weekdays, since on weekends there are a lot of people with children. The aquarium compares favorably with others due to the presence of an external exhibition, the scale of the exhibition and interactivity. You can touch many sea creatures or see how they are fed.

And this is not grass, but a sea dragon.

Not far from the aquarium and Shoreline village is the Naples area - one of the most expensive not only in Long Beach, but in all of California. You can explore the area on a gondola tour, or you can just walk around. In fact, the houses are practically built on top of each other, with no privacy, so property prices seem inflated.

If you go from the ocean further into the city, there's a lot more to see than the standard arts district graffiti.

Firstly, there is a museum of Latin American art here - small, but simply excellent, and even free on Sundays.

An exhibition dedicated to All Saints' Day in the Latin American region was held here. To honor the memory of ancestors, their relatives build unique altars from photographs, favorite objects of grandparents and offerings.

Secondly, there is a Cambodian area here. True, it does not stand out at all from the background of other American streets, and you better find out on the Internet in advance what you want here: they say that there are many good shops and restaurants hidden in it.

Thirdly, everyone recommends visiting the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, but not far from the city (although you can only get there by car) there is a much larger botanical garden. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens includes more than 20 different gardens, including Australian, Japanese, Chinese, camellia, rose, desert, lily, jungle... We recommend getting there around lunchtime: the garden closes on the 5th an hour, and there is a lot to see in it.

In addition to bonsai, unusual features include a dry Japanese garden and a model of a Japanese house.

There are many places to eat in Long Beach, the cuisine is very diverse. Among others, we recommend the Peruvian restaurant Aji Peruvian Fusion (2310 E. 4th St., try the ceviche), Pier 76 Fish Grill (95 N. Pine Ave.), ABC Seafood Restaurant with dim sum:

And you also need to definitely travel around the area: there is Disneyland, Los Angeles itself, and Santa Barbara. We will definitely tell you about the last two.