Welcome to LongBeachCalifornia.com

Free guide to the great city of Long Beach, CA

Long Beach California is a large city in southern California on the Pacific coast. Long Beach is about 20 miles south of Los Angeles and just northwest of Orange County. Boasting a population of near 500,000, Long Beach is the 5th largest city in California and the 36th largest in the United States. Some of the largest industries in Long Beach include shipping, oil, and manufacturing. The Port of Long Beach is one of the largest shipping ports in the world and handles shipping between the Pacific Rim and the US.

Long Beach was officially incorporated in 1897 and is a full-service Charter City. It is governed by nine elected City Council members, and the elected positions of Mayor, City Attorney, City Auditor, and City Prosecutor. All together, the city municipality employs nearly 5,500 people as it operates under a $2.3 billion budget.

Long Beach is known for a lot of things, including its close association with the film and television industry. Due to being close to LA and its geographic variety, Long Beach has been the spot for hundreds of filmings of movies and television shows. For example, parts of these shows were made in Long Beach: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Coach Carter, CSI: Miami, Dexter, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and Speed.

The city is built on a grid system so it is easy to find your way around the roads which travel North/South and East/West. Long Beach Airport, although relatively small, is the west coast hub for JetBlue and does get used for a major Boeing aircraft production facility. There are many bus routes and a water taxi to aid in transportation, as well as the end stop for the LA Metro Blue Line light rail. This makes it very simple to get into and out of Los Angeles quickly.

One of the major attractions in Long Beach is the famous Aquarium of the Pacific. This aquarium features over 12,500 animals. Its collection focuses on the animals of the Pacific Ocean. It has an interactive shark lagoon, lorikeet forest, shorebird sanctuary, 3d shows, and more. With base ticket prices starting at $23.95 for adults and $11.95 for children, the aquarium is a very affordable, fun, and educational way to spend the day.