Demographics (2010): 70.1% White, 13.1% Hispanic, 9.0% Asian, 3.9% Black
Population (2010): 89,736
President: 75.06% D / 23.68% R (2004), 79.30% D / 18.79% R (2008), 76.24% D / 20.70% R (2012), 80.03% D / 14.27% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $73,649
% Bachelor's: 67.6%
Santa Monica, named after Saint Monica, has been a famous resort town since the early 20th century. Beach volleyball is thought to have started here in the 1920s. Many Chinese and Japanese lived and worked in the area, especially in fishing. The white residents were friendly to the Japanese, since their fishing village was important to the local community, but more hostile to the Chinese.
In 1922 Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. built a plant for his aircraft company at Clover Field, which would later become the Santa Monica Airport. The 1930s saw great hardship in Santa Monica. Many hotels and business owners went bankrupt and corruption was widespread.
The economy rebounded in World War II thanks to Douglas Aircraft. When the Santa Monica Freeway was completed, the Pico neighborhood, home to many African Americans, was wiped out. The 1980s saw revitalization of the downtown and growth in tourism.
Demographics (2010): 65.2% White, 15.2% Hispanic, 12.0% Asian, 2.8% Black
Population (2010): 66,748
President: 54.12% D / 44.44% R (2004), 59.88% D / 37.84% R (2008), 56.89% D / 39.96% R (2012), 62.22% D / 30.52% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $99,496
% Bachelor's: 59.2%
Redondo means "round" in Spanish. Moonstone Beach was a tourist attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the Pier is popular with tourists.
Demographics (2010): 46.5% White, 23.2% Hispanic, 14.8% Asian, 9.5% Black
Population (2010): 38,883
President: 74.67% D / 24.33% R (2004), 77.72% D / 20.38% R (2008), 77.44% D / 19.49% R (2012), 80.78% D / 13.87% R (2016)
MHI (2000): $77,333
% Bachelor's: 56.5%
Culver City started out as a sundown town, where only Christian whites could live, and was named after developer Harry Culver. The city has been a center for the entertainment industry for over 100 years. The first film studio in the city was built in 1918, and MGM started doing business there in the 1920s. Many speakeasies and nightclubs were in operation here during Prohibition.
One of the regions first shopping malls opened here in 1950, Culver Center. Culver City was also home to Hughes Aircraft from 1932 to 1986. Howard Hughes opened a plant for manufacturing aircraft in 1941 and was a major subcontractor in World War II.
Today Culver City is home to National Public Radio West, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and NFL Network. Sony Pictures Studios are where the game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are taped.
Demographics (2010): 79.3% White, 8.6% Asian, 6.9% Hispanic, 0.8% Black
Population (2010): 35,135
President: 51.63% D / 47.05% R (2004), 56.63% D / 41.55% R (2008), 50.32% D / 47.63% R (2012), 62.66% D / 30.90% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $139,259
% Bachelor's: 74.7%
Manhattan Beach started out as a ranch purchased by Scottish immigrant Sir Robert Burnett, who eventually sold the land and returned to Scotland. The name Manhattan was decided by a coin flip, and was indeed named after the New York City borough, developer Stewart Merrill's home. Later "Beach" was added to the city's name. Part of the beachfront was developed for minority residents, the first beach resort for black residents in Los Angeles.
Demographics (2010): 77.9% White, 10.5% Hispanic, 5.4% Asian, 3.2% Black
Population (2010): 34,399
President: 82.50% D / 16.52% R (2004), 82.89% D / 15.33% R (2008), 81.44% D / 15.61% R (2012), 84.39% D / 11.86% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $52,649
% Bachelor's: 62.4%
One of West Hollywood's biggest streets, Sunset Strip, was originally a connection between El Pueblo de Los Angeles and the ranches to its west. West Hollywood started out as a working-class railroad town that would later be an alcohol-friendly (during Prohibition) home for people wary of government influence. Los Angeles tried to annex the community, but residents resisted it. Developer Moses Sherman decided on the name "West Hollywood" as an informal name.
In the 1920s, gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles but legal in the rest of the county. Many casinos and nightclubs sprung up in West Hollywood, which avoided the sometimes heavy-handed enforcement of the Los Angeles Police Department. Movie-makers were also attracted to the community.
Sunset Strip continued to be a big tourist attraction and site of hippie culture. The first body-piercing shop, The Gauntlet, opened in 1975. After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, many Jews from Russia came to West Hollywood. West Hollywood is second to New York in the most concentrated Russian-speaking area.
West Hollywood finally incorporated in 1991 so they could enact their own strong rent control laws. On May 23, 2018, West Hollywood gave Stormy Daniels the keys to the city.
Demographics (2010): 78.6% White, 8.9% Asian, 5.7% Hispanic, 2.2% Black
Population (2010): 34,109
President: 62.09% D / 37.04% R (2004), 59.55% D / 39.20% R (2008), 54.28% D / 43.85% R (2012), 63.81% D / 32.63% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $86,141
% Bachelor's: 63.0%
While Beverly Hills today is known for incredible wealth and Hollywood glitz and glamour thanks to areas like Rodeo Drive, its early days were quite different. Beverly Hills started out as a lima bean ranch and was founded by developers who tried finding oil, failed, and found water here. They reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company and renamed the area Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in the Massachusetts city with the same name.
Beverly Hills was an all-white planned community in the early 20th century, forbidding non-whites and even Jews from buying homes here. In the 1920s water became an issue because of the growing population, and annexation into Los Angeles was floated. Opposition to annexation came from prominent figures including Will Rogers and the local Utility Commission. In subsequent decades many businessmen celebrities moved to Beverly Hills and built mansions. Eventually black actors and businessmen came despite the covenants prohibiting them. White residents went to court, and the NAACP got involved with the defendants, who succeeded. In 1948, the United States Supreme Court declared covenants restricting people based on race unconstitutional in Shelley v. Kraemer. Some Jewish residents filed an amicus brief.
Prominent Beverly Hills residents have included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, President Richard Nixon, Jennifer Aniston, and David Spade.
Residents have put up heavy resistance to the Los Angeles County Metro Transit Authority (LACMTA) building an extension of the Red Line train into the city (which was shown in the 1997 movie Volcano) and a bus rapid transit line on Santa Monica Boulevard. Eventually, after traffic became even worse in 2010, residents changed their minds and opened up support for subways there.
Demographics (2010): 79.5% White, 8.6% Asian, 6.4% Hispanic, 1.6% Black
Population (2010): 23,058
President: 57.41% D / 41.71% R (2004), 61.58% D / 37.10% R (2008), 54.81% D / 43.21% R (2012), 62.49% D / 32.19% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $124,583
% Bachelor's: 64.5%
While there are two possible origins of the name Calabasas, either Spanish for "pumpkin" or "squash", or Chumash for "where the wild geese fly", residents accept the former. A local legend is that while going to Los Angeles, an Oxnard Basque rancher spilled pumpkins all over the road, and the seeds from these pumpkins sprouted that next spring. The city got the name "Las Calabasas - the place where the pumpkins fell". The city holds an annual Pumpkin Festival in October.
This past January 26, the Sikorsky S-76 carrying 9 people including Kobe Bryant and his daughter crashed near here, killing everyone on board.
Calabasas is home to the Leonis Adobe, one of the oldest buildings in the Los Angeles area.
Demographics (2010): 78.6% White, 9.5% Hispanic, 7.5% Asian, 1.3% Black
Population (2010): 20,330
President: 52.70% D / 46.21% R (2004), 58.24% D / 39.99% R (2008), 53.05% D / 44.62% R (2012), 59.60% D / 35.21% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $107,885
% Bachelor's: 56.8%
Agoura Hills, with a natural spring, started out as a stop for travelers. in the 1920s Paramount Pictures owned a ranch here and the community was called Picture City. Shortly after residents renamed the city Agoura, a misspelling of French-Basque sheep herder Pierre Agoure, who moved there in 1871 to live like a Mexican rancher.
The Ventura Freeway brought growth in the late 1960s and 1970s. Agoura Hills was incorporated in 1982. Growth continued in the 1980s and businesses opened in the 1990s. Many nu metal stars had their start in Agoura Hills including Linkin Park and Incubus.
Demographics (2010): 80.9% White, 8.4% Hispanic, 5.7% Asian, 1.2% Black
Population (2010): 19,506
President: 52.87% D / 45.75% R (2004), 61.85% D / 35.91% R (2008), 55.62% D / 40.78% R (2012), 64.18% D / 27.63% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $101,655
% Bachelor's: 75.1%
Hermosa means "beautiful" in Spanish and is popular for beach, water, and land activities.
Originally a wheat and sheep area, the first pier was built in 1904. A stronger pier took its place later. This new pier has housed many activities.
Demographics (2010): 87.4% White, 6.1% Hispanic, 2.6% Asian, 1.2% Black
Population (2010): 12,645
President: 59.68% D / 38.94% R (2004), 64.16% D / 34.10% R (2008), 57.64% D / 39.89% R (2012), 64.44% D / 30.12% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $133,869
% Bachelor's: 63.0%
Malibu is named for the Chumash settlement Humaliwo, "the surf sounds loudly". The city started out as a ranch that had few roads and even no railroads going through, until 1929 when the state won a court case to build the Pacific Coast Highway. A pottery factory supplied decorations for public buildings and Beverly Hills residences.
The first private homes came in 1926, when Malibu Colony was formed, after being home to only a few Hollywood celebrities. Now many celebrities call this gated community home.
Demographics (2010): 84.8% Black, 6.5% Hispanic, 4.2% White, 1.3% Asian
Population (2010): 11,075
President: .% D / % R (2004), .% D / .% R (2008), .% D / .% R (2012), .% D / .% R (2016)
MHI (2000): $100,124
% Bachelor's: 51.4%
View Park-Windsor Hills started out in the late 1930s as an answer to neighborhoods such as Studio City and Bel-Air. While blacks were forbidden from living there until 1948, View Park-Windsor Hills is one of the wealthiest majority-African-American communities in the country. In recent years white and Asian homeowners have moved there.
Demographics (2010): 68.7% White, 11.8% Hispanic, 8.9% Asian, 7.7% Black
Population (2010): 8,866
President: .% D / % R (2004), .% D / .% R (2008), .% D / .% R (2012), .% D / .% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $95,248
% Bachelor's: 68.2%
Marina del Rey is a popular tourist destination for land and water activities and has a harbor that is the largest man-made small-craft harbor in North America. The harbor has been mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as "the county's most valuable resource".
Originally, the idea of a harbor here was considered by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1916 but did not go through because it was thought to be impractical. Consideration returned 20 years later, but San Pedro and the Port of Los Angeles won out. Finally, in 1953, funding was secured from loans and federal assistance to built the harbor, and construction started early in John F. Kennedy's presidency. The harbor almost didn't make it after a winter storm, but construction was finally completed in 1965.
Demographics (2010): 84.5% White, 6.4% Hispanic, 4.3% Asian, 1.4% Black
Population (2010): 8,289
President: .% D / % R (2004), .% D / .% R (2008), .% D / .% R (2012), .% D / .% R (2016)
MHI (2018): $125,479
% Bachelor's: 69.1%
Topanga was the westernmost part of the Tongva people's land, next to the easternmost part of the Chumash people's land. In the 1920s many Hollywood celebrities spent their weekends in Topanga, followed by artists in the 1960s. Infamously, Charles Manson and the Manson family began their murder sprees here in 1969.
Demographics (2010): 83.9% White, 6.4% Hispanic, 5.9% Asian, 1.2% Black
Population (2010): 8,270
President: 52.69% R / 46.46% D (2004), 52.25% D / 46.11% R (2008), 52.08% R / 46.13% D (2012), 53.55% D / 41.27% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $112,083
% Bachelor's: 69.4%
Originally used for cattle ranching, the Conejo Valley part of Westlake Village was used for shooting movies and shows such as Robin Hood, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke. In the 1960s a plan for a "city in the country" resulted in Westlake Village being planned out as a major example of suburbanism of that time.
Westlake Village originally straddled Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Since state law prevents a city from being in two counties, eventually the Ventura County portions were annexed into Thousand Oaks.
Demographics (2010): 73.7% Black, 13.3% White, 5.5% Hispanic, 3.6% Asian
Population (2010): 6,498
President: .% D / % R (2004), .% D / .% R (2008), .% D / .% R (2012), .% D / .% R (2016)
MHI (2010): $99,563
% Bachelor's: 56.3%
Ladera Heights dates back to the 1940s when prominent architects such as Robert Earl built custom homes there. It is a residence for affluent African Americans.
Demographics (2010): 87.4% White, 6.6% Hispanic, 2.3% Asian, 2.0% Black
Population (2010): 1,856
President: 52.43% R / 46.50% D (2004), 50.52% D / 48.43% R (2008), 55.06% R / 43.24% D (2012), 58.08% D / 36.83% R (2016)
MHI (2000): $203,199
% Bachelor's: Unknown
Hidden Hills is a gated community developed in the 1950s and is home to many celebrities.