A Look into the Future of Los Angeles - Research Paper Example

A Look into the Future of Los Angeles Geographical Details Los Angeles is a one of the big city in Californian state of United States of America. The town was settled on 4th September 1781 and was built-in in 4th April, 1850. The city is having an area of around 1290.6 sq. km. with a land mass of 1214.9 sq. km. and a water body of 75.7 sq. km. As on 1st July, 2009 the city is marked with the population of 3,833,995 numbers of people and it is having a population density of around 3,168 sq. km (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The city is surrounded by wide mountain ranges. The highest point is Mount Lukens and is also known by the name of Sister Elsie Peak. The city has a combination of both mountains and plain lands. Most of the hilliest part of the city is located in the Santa Monica Hills which is located in the north of the Downtown. The important river of the city is Los Angeles River that flows through the city and unites with the Pacific Ocean. History and Settlment Los Angeles, one of the coastal areas of the United States was established for the first time by Tongva and Chumash American tribes near about thousands of years in the past. In the year 1771, Franciscan and Junipero Serra constructed the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel beside Whittier Narrows, which is now known as San Gabriel Valley. Historically it is known that the town was founded by forty four settlers who were known as “Los Pobladores”. These particular settlers had come from the Hispanic culture that developed in the northern Mexico between the fundamentally mixed societies. The city has been alienated into many parts. A few of them are Downtown Los Angeles, The East side, the North East Los Angeles and South Los Angeles. The eminent communities within the city are; West Adams, Baldwin Hills, Lei mart Park, Hollywood, the Downtown Financial District, Venice beach, Silver Lake, Westwood, Los Feliz, Korea Town, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Benedict Canyon, Hancock Park, Pacific Palisades, Century City and also Brentwood (LA Avenue, 2002). Climate The city is marked by sub-tropical Mediterranean climate. Throughout the year the city enjoys bounty sunshine. The annual average temperature of the city is 19 °C to 24 °C during the day time and 14 °C at night. During the coldest month of January the temperature here is likely to be found at 15 °C to 23 °C during the day time and 7 °C to 13 °C at night time. In the month of August the temperature is found to be quiet high as it ranges from 26 °C to 32 °C during the day time and at night the same is 18 °C. The hours of sunshine exceeds above 3000 per year. The city is also subjected to micro climate. The average annual precipitation of Los Angeles is around 384.6 mm. The rainfall mainly occurs in the seasons of spring as well as winter, although at times accompanied by heavy rainfall and thunderstorm. The snowfall is very rare in the city basin. The maximum snowfall evidence was in the downtown region which was about 5 cm in the year 1932. Economy The economy of the city of Los Angeles is driven by fashion, technology, petroleum, and tourism International Trade, aerospace, entertainment, and apparel industries. The city is the largest manufacturing hub in the United States. Contiguous and Long Beach ports are the busiest and ancient ports in the world. This is the vital trade centre of the entire Pacific Rim. The other industries comprise of media production, telecommunication, finance, health care, law, and transportation. Till 1990, the city was the centre for any key financial institutions which are now merger companies. A few of them are First Interstate Bancorp merged with Wells Fargo in 1996, Great Western Bank which was amalgamated with Washington Mutual in 1998, and also the Security Pacific Bank that got merged with the Bank of America in 1992. Los Angeles was also residence to the Pacific Exchange, until it closed in 2001. Los Angeles is the native soil of seven Fortune 500 companies. A few of them are aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman, healthcare provider Health Net, energy company Occidental Petroleum, engineering firm AECOM, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum, builder Tutor Perini, and also real estate group CB Richard Ellis. Some of the other companies which have headquarter in Los Angeles are Capital Group, City National Bank, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Deviant Art , Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Guess, The Jim Henson Company, KB Home, Mercury Insurance Group, Latham & Watkins, Oaktree Capital Management, Paul, O’Melveny & Myers, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Premiere Radio Networks, Premier America, Triton Media Group, Roll International, The TCW Group, Sunkist, and Tokyo pop (City-Data, 2009). Culture USC Stevens Institute for Innovation argued "there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any time in the history of civilization" (USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, 2010). The city is well known for motion picture industry. It is the home to Hollywood. The city hosts the most eminent and oldest awards of the world which is the Academy Awards. The oldest and the largest school of the United States, the USC School of Cinematic Arts is located in this city. The city organizes 54 film festivals each year. The city is presented with the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Among the various music companies located in the city, Centre Theatre group, Los Angeles Master Chorale and Los Angeles Opera are recognized worldwide. There are all total 841 art galleries and museums in the city. The significant among them are Museum of Art, Getty Centre, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Loyola Marymount University, 2010). Media The Los Angeles Times and the La Opinion are the two major news papers that are published in the city in Spanish language. The Investor’s Business Daily is locally distributed in the city. Some other smaller newspapers and weekly magazines are Daily News, LA Weekly, Los Angeles City Beat, LA Record, Los Angeles Business Journal, the Hollywood Reporter, and Los Angeles Downtown News. The Los Angeles and the New York City are the two most important media markets having 7 VHF allocations. KTLA is the first television centre of Los Angeles that started broadcasting on January 22, 1947. The most important TV stations are KCBS 2 (CBS), KTTV 11 (Fox), KTLA 5 (The CW), KNBC 4 (NBC),and KCOP-TV 13 (MyNetworkTV), KABC-TV 7 (ABC) and KPXN 30 (Ion). Sports The Los Angeles Kings of National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers present in the Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association belongs to Los Angeles city. A number of the other sports teams of the city are like Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association, US Trojans and the UCLA Bruins both of which are the Division I teams in the Pacific-10 Conference. The city has hosted the summer Olympic two times in 1932 and 1984. Important stadiums of the city are Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Coliseum, The Forum, and Staples Centre. Religion The largest church of Los Angeles is ‘Roman Catholic Archbishop’. The second largest temple is the ‘Los Angeles California Temple’ which is run by the ‘Church of Jesus Christ’ of Latter-day Saints, is situated at Santa Monica Boulevard which is again sited in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. The temple is the largest in the world. Due to the existence of the variety of huge multi-ethnic population an extensive variety of faiths are practiced here in the cities which are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Baha’i, Islam, and Sufism. Education There are mainly three public universities which are situated in the city. Those are, Californian State University situated at Northridge (CSUN), Californian State University of Los Angeles (CSULA), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). A few of the private colleges of the city are, American Intercontinental University, American Jewish University, Alliant International University, Antioch University’s, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine, American Film Institute Conservatory, and Science, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles Film School, Occidental college, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, university of Loyola Law School, Otis college of Art and Design. Transportation Freeways and Highways The city has a wide network of freeways and highways. According to a study of Texas Transportation Institute, the city experiences 72 hours of traffic hindrance every year. The significant highways that connects the city are Interstate 5 that runs through San Diego to Tijuana in Mexico, and through the north to the Canadian border in the path of Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle; Interstate 10 which runs southernmost east–west and coast-to-coast Interstate Highway in the United States, meets with Jacksonville, Florida; and the U.S. Route 101, starts to the California Central Coast, the Redwood Empire, San Francisco, and the Oregon and Washington coasts. Public Transportation The city has a wide system of bus lines, subway, and light railway lines. The city is also having a collective ridership which counts for approx 1.7 million. Air Transportation The most important airport of the city is the Los Angeles International Airport. It is ranked as the sixth busiest airport of the world and simultaneously as the third busiest airport of the world. The other commercial airports that are included in the city are; Bob Hope, John Wayne, Ontario International, Long Beach, Palmdale Regional. Ports Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles are the two busiest ports of the city. Government The city is based on the mayor council system. The mayor at present is Mr. Antonio Villaraigosa. There are total 15 city council districts. The elected city officials include Carmen Trutanich and the City Controller named Wendy Greuel. The police department is recognized by LAPD or Los Angeles Police Department. Apart from this, the city has four other expertise police agencies. Those are; Public Safety office, the Port police, The LA City Schools Police Department, and the Airport Police. A Look into the Future California is always identified as one of the innovative place that is related with innovative ideas, innovative products, and entrepreneurial guts. Los Angeles is one of the major manufacturing centers in the United States with a world’s leading port and most important financial and banking center. The city provides 68300 jobs in the apparel industry, 54600 jobs in the transportation of products, near about 49900 jobs in the fabricated metal products industry, 44800 jobs in the segment of food production, and near about 27400 jobs in the furniture manufacturing segment. With a good past historic background, a robust economy, a productive climatic conditions, efficient transportation system, and developed culture and people it can be perceived that the future of the city is wonderful (City-Data, 2009). Reference City-Data, (2009). Major Industries and Commercial Activity. Los Angeles: Economy. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-West/Los-Angeles-Economy.html Loyola Marymount University, (2010). The Los Angeles Region. About. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://www.lmu.edu/about/The_Los_Angeles_Region.htm LA Avenue, (2002). The History of Los Angeles County. Welcome to Los Angeles. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://www.laavenue.com/LAHistory.htm USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, (2010). Did you know? Only In LA. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://stevens.usc.edu/news_only_in_la.php U.S. Census Bureau, (2010). Los Angeles County, California. State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06037.html Bibliography City of Los Angeles, (2010). Mayors Welcome Message. YourGovernment. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://www.lacity.org/YourGovernment/MayorsWelcomeMessage/index.htm Christie, L., (2007). The Nation's Most Ethnically Diverse Counties. CNN Money. Retrieved Online on October 21, 2010 from http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/08/real_estate/most_diverse_counties/index.htm Scott, A. J. & Soja, E. W., (1998). The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century. University of California Press. Read More