Interesting Facts about Los Angeles California
Finding Your Place in the Sun - The Los Angeles region is a terrific place to live, work and raise a
family. From the mountains to the beaches, Southern California has the
best. It's home to Disneyland, Hollywood, the Lakers and the Dodgers.
You can surf, snow ski and blaze a trail through the desert all in the
same day, thanks to the area's unique geography, which ranges from
10,080-foot Mt. San Antonio to 81 miles of picturesque coastline.
Los Angeles County has nearly 10 million residents-which represents 30
percent of California's population; with 4,083 square miles, it is
larger than 42 states. Within its borders are 88 municipalities, ranging
from Vernon-with a population of 191-to Los Angeles-with a population of
3.7 million.
Los Angeles is more than just swimming pools and movies stars, however.
We have a diverse economy, nationally respected colleges and
universities and one the world's largest ports. Home construction, sales
and prices are strong here also, according to the 2002 UCLA Anderson
School California Forecast.
Best of all, the Los Angeles area averages 329 days of sunshine (90
percent of the year), with the average high temperature in January
reaching 66 degrees.
Little Known Facts about LA
More than 50 million people go to L.A.'s beaches each year.
Los Angeles is the birthplace of the hula hoop, the Barbie doll, the
Mazda Miata, the DC-3, Mickey Mouse, the Fender stratocaster, the chaise
lounge and the Space Shuttle.
The tallest office building on the West Coast is the Library Tower in
downtown Los Angeles. It is 73 stories, 1,018 feet and is the tallest
office building between Chicago and Southeast Asia.
The main branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library system, known
as the Richard J. Riordan Central Library, is the third largest public
library in the country.
L.A. is a major center for automotive design. The "Big Three" U.S.
automobile manufacturers, along with Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota,
Volkswagen and Volvo, have all located design centers in Los Angeles.
L.A.'s network of freeways encompasses some 527 miles of highway that
link the sprawling suburbs of the Los Angeles basin. On a typical
weekday, 23.9 million vehicle trips are made in a 24-hour period.
The world's only merry-go-round apartment can be found on top of the
merry-go-round on Santa Monica Pier.
Angel's Gate/L.A. Harbor Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in the world
that emits an emerald green beacon.
The world's first air meet was held in Los Angeles at Dominguez Field in
1910. That event featured the first powered flight in the West.
The first plane to fly around the world, in 1924, the Douglas World
Cruiser, was built in Santa Monica.
The world's first TV news helicopter, dubbed the Telecopter, was sent
aloft by KTLA on July 4, 1958.
Between 1923 and 2001, 20 Nobel Prize winners came from Los Angeles
institutions (Cal Tech, UCLA, USC), including Linus Pauling and Richard
Feynman.
The Los Angeles Times received 27 Pulitzer Prizes between 1942 and 2001.
Los Angeles content reprinted with permission from
Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, September 2002
Click here for HomePage
