Long Beach promenade. Long Beach, California

There is a huge port settlement - 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. 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 interesting places, which are worth visiting for travelers, are available here.

"Queen Mary". Very famous a cruise ship, which moored to 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, with 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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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 subway. 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 Pacific Ocean: southern Californian (Bahia), tropical and northern.

Queen Mary - historical ocean liner, which 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.
Sailing 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 local residents decorate their houses, competing with each other in extravagance, so the streets are filled with admiring spectators who come here specifically to gaze at this 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. Because of narrow streets and the usual 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. Two Harbors has a population of no more than 300 residents and is a great place for sailing, kayaking, diving, cycling, hiking and a quiet stay alone with 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 more money). Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

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. Locality 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 lack of waves (due to the presence of a breakwater) explain the typical absence of more people on wide sandy beaches Long Beach. 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 slightly less expensive place than other coastal cities in Southern California.

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.

Long Beach - helpful information, photos, weather in Long Beach, Long Beach hotels, how to spend time - what to do, where to eat, what to see in Long Beach, attractions.

Long Beach– suburb Los Angeles and administratively included in greater Los Angeles, although it has its own municipality. It is located in Southern California, and mostly Americans from the so-called high middle level live here.

Long Beach means Long Beach. The beach is really long, but far from the best in Los Angeles. You can read about the best beaches.

IN Long Beach there is a large cargo port, which is visible if you drive from Los Angeles by car by Pacific Coast Way. Large cruise ships call at the same port.

Cargo port in Long Beach, California

However, in Long Beach It's worth coming for one day if you're already in Here pleasant embankment, a dozen tourist attractions and a pleasant atmosphere for walking and relaxing.

How to get to Long Beach from Los Angeles. All ways

Method 1. By car

Get from Los Angeles to Long Beach possible by Road No. 1 – Pacific Coast Way, the drive takes less than an hour, depending on traffic, but it can take longer. It is better to leave before 8 am.

Despite the fact that Californians are very fond of the car, preferring all other means of transportation to it, even if they have to stand for hours in toffees, Long Beach is an exception to the rule. Many people prefer to save time and money and get to this town by metro.

Moreover, navigate Long Beach itself It’s easier to walk - everything interesting is in the downtown of the city, which is located near the embankment. In extreme cases, there is a bicycle or a free tourist shuttle.

How to rent a car while traveling?

Things to do in Long Beach

In addition to a walk through downtown and a tour on the tourist shuttle, it is worth seeing the city panorama from a pleasure boat. Duration of the walk – 45 minutes, price – $12 per adult.

You can go on a 3-hour cruise to see whales, dolphins, killer whales and sea lions. This is the most famous fun in Long Beach. Cruises are organized by Harbor Breeze Cruises and depart directly from the bay next to the Long Beach boardwalk.

Average cruise duration— 2.5 hours per period from November to May and 3-3.5 hours per period from June to October.

Tour price – $30-$35 dollars for a 3-hour walk for an adult

Traditionally in California and the USA, fishing is prohibited in yacht marinas NO FISHING.

Where to eat in Long Beach

Have lunch in Long Beach possible and necessary. The city has many restaurants serving Californian, Mexican, Asian, Greek, Argentine and even Hawaiian cuisine, where local chefs cook delicious food. Most establishments are located in downtown Long Beach, near the embankment. Lunch price is $20-$40 per person and depends on location.

On the most embankment There are also a lot of cafes that are more aimed at tourists and I don’t recommend buying anything else there other than ice cream and a cup of coffee.

Long Beach is located near Mexico, so it's worth trying original Mexican cuisine. There are three good restaurants- they are all in downtown Long Beach.

If your budget allows, I recommend it

Hyatt Centric the Pike Long Beach, 285 Bay Street Long Beach, CA 90802

On the roof of this hotel there is Observation deck with the coolest panoramic view over the city and 360° view

A few neighborhoods of Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles) that we visited this January. Winter is just what you want in the hot Australian summer.

– Shoreline Village in Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, USA

Long Beach

Embankment

Another opportunity to visit Anaheim and correspondingly . Theme of the first Disneyland was completely revealed on the first trip, so we won’t repeat it here. In the center and iconic places we walked the same way last time - .

This time, tickets for the flight were bought almost at the last minute, so we tried to somehow make them cheaper by choosing days with a lower price. As a result, we had a little more than a day of free time, which we decided to spend in the area Long Beach. A simple tourist visit to the area, without getting up early at dawn and waiting for sunset. Although, there was still sunset.

– Bike rental downtown, Long Beach – Recommended for a ride along the beach – the bike path runs from Alamitos Avenue to the end of Belmont Shore. The location is also convenient for walking or jogging.

– Park area near the embankment

– View of downtown Long Beach from Rainbow Harbor,

We were interested in the embankment or the Waterfront area, where almost all the attractions, cafes, restaurants are located and, most importantly for us, beautiful views.

Judging by the latest articles in Lonely Planet, the City of Angels is gaining traction as a cultural destination and is becoming more accessible (but apparently not from Australia judging by airfare) than ever. In 2016, the metro network there was expanded, so mastering Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles) possible at public transport. City initiative “Los Angeles without cars” helps tourists move without wheels, although on my first visit I was confused by the state of the metro and the people using it.

As booklets and guidebooks say about Long Beach – “This is not just a beach town - it is a commercial capital, where film producers and financiers mix like cabbage in a salad.”

And so, the word “beach” sounded, so we decided to stop near the most famous beach, take a walk, relax, even if it was winter. The area, or rather once a town, was originally named Willmore City, but due to its long, wide beaches in 1888 it was renamed Long Beach. Although the area is called “Long Beach”, but best beaches in California they are not located here, but the most pleasant place here is the embankment.

– The International Tower and Villa Riviera (with turret)

The tallest building in the city, the 32-story The International Tower, built in 1966 as a hotel, and later rebuilt in 1987 into essentially an apartment building. Villa Riviera (with a turret) is a luxury residential building, built in 1929 for $2.75 million (in 1929 prices, a colossal amount of money at that time!), 136 meters in height. For a long time, Villa Riviera remained one of the most tall buildings on the west coast of the USA.

– View of downtown Long Beach from the pier. The building is a 30-story, 121-meter office center One World Trade Center, built in 1989.

– Pier, Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach

Long Beach is a fairly large suburb, which is a mixture of very diverse areas. Its center is located approximately less than 40 km south of the center Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles). Large industrial zones are combined here with areas where the middle class lives, prestigious ones, as well as frankly marginal ones. Opinions about the area are diametrically opposed - wonderful and terrible. They say, Long Beach is much more reminiscent of an East Coast or Midwestern city than any other city in California.

Long Beach famous for its street art. Its most famous object is the Ocean Planet mural, which covers the entire surface of the façade of the entertainment center. 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 in 1992 by the famous environmental street artist Richard Wyland (better known simply as 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.

– Rainbow Lagoon Park.

– Shopping and entertainment complex “Shoreline Village” – Here, judging by the brochures, there is everything for entertainment with children. Shops, themed exhibitions, attractions.

Once upon a time, the “founding fathers” made a bet at the end of the 19th century on the magnificent coastline of the area and the wonderful climate. Then Long Beach gained crazy popularity. Hotels were built, restaurants, bars, recreational facilities, etc. were opened. All this former luxury can still be seen.

The city's population also grew rapidly. And when, in the twenties, oil deposits were discovered in the surrounding area, there was no end to the optimism of the townspeople. But the “Great Depression” came, seriously damaging the city’s economy. Finally, the powerful earthquake of 1933 finally destroyed the streets and entire neighborhoods of the city, and with them the hopes of the townspeople. And the fairy tale city, the dream city, began to empty before our eyes.

– Bubba Gump Shrimp Co – 87 Aquarium Way – Long Beach, CA 90802 – We visited this place as a tribute to the movie “Forrest Gump”

A little about …

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. - a chain of American restaurants entirely dedicated to the famous film by Robert Zemeckis “Forrest Gump”. Anyone who has seen this film will definitely remember a character named Bubba - the main character's friend who is irrevocably obsessed with shrimp. “Bubba was from Bayou La Batre and his mother cooked shrimp. And his mother's mother was cooking shrimp. And his mother’s mother cooked shrimp too.” Bubba's lifelong dream was to open a restaurant and call it Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. “I know everything there is to know about shrimp,” he said. However, Bubba failed to bring his idea to life, so fans of the film did it for him, creating a chain of shrimp restaurants in the United States with the name he invented.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant interiors filled with many items associated both with the film itself and with America of the 70s-90s. There is a TV hanging under the ceiling, on which fragments from “Forrest Gump” are constantly playing. The menu includes a huge number of shrimp dishes, many local dishes, as well as various cocktails. Average bill: 10-30$

Each restaurant has a store with themed souvenirs - T-shirts, baseball caps, socks with quotes from the film, a cookbook with shrimp recipes from the restaurant and other interesting things.

For many decades, the city was in decline. The army came to the aid of tourism and oil fields. In the 60s, a McDonnell Douglas aircraft factory and US Navy bases were opened here. The 60s in America are also known for other trends, such as the movement of hippies and other marginalized people, lovers of marijuana and a free lifestyle, who for unknown reasons fell in love with the long beaches in the vicinity of Long Beach. Maybe that’s why by the beginning of the 70s the city again fell into disrepair.

Nowadays there are a lot of different enterprises located here, a number of factories producing automobile spare parts, manufacturing aircraft, home fittings and electronics. Right in the business center Long Beach The headquarters of such giants as Molina Healthcare and the North American division of Epson have been equipped. The development of the aerospace industry and high technology contributed greatly to the development of the city.

– Sunset with a view of the lighthouse, ShoreLine Aquatic Park

– Sunset, ShoreLine Aquatic Park

Legendary transatlantic liner Queen Mary built in 1934, which in 1967, having completed its last 1001 ocean voyage, entered the bay Long Beach and forever became a part of the city, an honorable landmark and a hotel.

Originally built as a passenger ship during World War II Queen Mary used as a landing ship. During the war, it transported more than 80,000 people. The ship's most important operation, called "Diaper", was carried out at the end of the war - then more than 22,000 wives and children of military personnel arrived in the United States on the Queen Mary.

Since 1967, the ship has been converted into a hotel. Part of the engine compartment and living quarters are open to visitors; there is an exhibition dedicated to the war years.

– Queen Mary, view from Rainbow Harbor

– Aquarium of the Pacific – an ocean aquarium, they say, one of the largest in the USA, with more than 1000 species of inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean. Here you can see representatives of 550 species of marine fauna living in 17 main aquatic environments. But more about him in the next post.

As an addition – Having already returned we learned that in Hyatt Centric the Pike Long Beach(285 Bay Street Long Beach, CA 90802) has an observation deck with panoramic views of the city and a 360° view. However, the site is only accessible to hotel guests.

How to get there
From the Downtown Long Beach or First Street stations, the beach is a 15-minute walk or bus ride away. There is also a bus from the center free bus- Passport Shuttle. There is a parking lot along the embankment almost the entire length of the beach. There are also parking spaces on Junipero Street and on the pier (parking there costs 25 cents for 15 minutes).

Information in the post may be added and changed!
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