287 articles
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen, Washington: city at the Chehalis-Wishkah confluence on Grays Harbor, founded 1884 by Samuel Benn, incorporated 1890; once a world lumber capital, now 17,013 residents, flood-protection projects, Lady Washington, Nirvana hometown.
Agoura Hills, California
Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, in the Santa Monica Mountains foothills near the eastern Conejo Valley, straddling U.S. 101 about 36 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, incorporated December 8, 1982.
Alameda, California
Alameda, California: island city in Alameda County next to Oakland; 78,280 residents (2020 census), incorporated 1872, former Naval Air Station town, low-lying and planning for sea level rise.
Alhambra, California
Alhambra, California, a San Gabriel Valley city in Los Angeles County incorporated July 11, 1903 and named by Benjamin Wilson after Washington Irving's book; 82,868 residents in 2020, 51% Asian, part of the Chinese ethnoburb.
Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California: Orange County's most populous city (346,824 in 2020), founded 1857 as a German vineyard colony, incorporated 1876, home to the Disneyland Resort and a tourism-dominated economy.
Antioch, California
Antioch, California: a Contra Costa County city on the San Joaquin River, incorporated 1872, population about 119,000, BART Yellow Line terminus, with a new brackish water desalination plant and a 2025 police reform settlement.
Apple Valley, California
Apple Valley is a town in San Bernardino County's High Desert, California, incorporated in 1988 with about 75,791 residents (2020), known for its 1920s apple orchards, Bass and Westlund's 1946 land development, and Mojave River water issues.
Arcadia, California
Arcadia, California: San Gabriel Valley city in Los Angeles County, about 13 miles northeast of Los Angeles, incorporated 1903 by Lucky Baldwin. Known for Santa Anita Park, the 127-acre Arboretum, top-ranked Arcadia Unified schools, and a majority-Asian population of about 54,000.
Arcata, California
Arcata, California: Humboldt County city on Humboldt Bay, founded 1850 as Union, home of Cal Poly Humboldt, known for the Arcata Marsh wastewater-wetland project; population about 19,000.
ARCO Arena
ARCO Arena (later Power Balance Pavilion, Sleep Train Arena) was the Sacramento Kings' 17,000-seat NBA home in Natomas from 1988 to 2016, famed for loud crowds, demolished for the Innovation Park redevelopment.
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon, is a city of 21,360 in the Rogue Valley near the California line, incorporated in 1874 and known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is a port city of nearly 10,000 in northwestern Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River, the first permanent United States settlement on the Pacific coast.
Atherton, California
Atherton, California: incorporated 1923 from Fair Oaks, named for Faxon Dean Atherton; a San Mateo County town of about 7,200 with single-family one-acre zoning, no commercial land, and median household income above $250,000.
Auburn, California
Auburn, California: Placer County county seat in the Sierra Nevada foothills at I-80 and Highway 49. Founded 1848 Gold Rush camp by Claude Chana; incorporated 1888; about 13,800 residents; Endurance Capital of the World.
Avalon, California
Avalon, California: the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island in Los Angeles County, incorporated 1913, population 3,460 (2020), a resort town of golf carts, the Catalina Casino, and over 1 million annual ferry visitors.
Azusa, California
Azusa, California: general law city in Los Angeles County, 27 miles northeast of Los Angeles at the entrance to San Gabriel Canyon; founded 1887, incorporated 1898; about 50,000 residents, municipal light and water utilities.
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California: county seat of Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley, ninth-largest California city (422,165 in 2025), founded by Thomas Baker, boomtown of the 1899 Kern River oilfield, home of the Bakersfield Sound, and ranked worst U.S. city for annual particle pollution.
Barstow, California
Barstow, California: Mojave Desert city in San Bernardino County midway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, founded 1886, incorporated 1947, population about 25,000, at the junction of I-15, I-40, and Routes 58 and 247, home to BNSF's largest classification yard and the approved $4 billion Barstow International Gateway rail project.
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon: a Washington County city of about 97,500 west of Portland, incorporated 1893, platted 1868, home of Nike world headquarters and part of the Silicon Forest.
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington: fifth-largest city in Washington on the east side of Lake Washington, incorporated 1953, population about 154,000-158,000, a high-tech Eastside hub with median household income $165,576 and light rail to Seattle since 2026.
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington: county seat of Whatcom County on Bellingham Bay, formed by the 1903 merger of Whatcom and Fairhaven. Population about 96,000; home of Western Washington University; high housing costs.
Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon: city in Deschutes County at a bend in the Deschutes River, incorporated 1905, population 99,178 (2020). Railroad and lumber boom town turned outdoor-recreation and tourism hub with severe housing affordability strain.
Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California: Alameda County city east of San Francisco, home of UC Berkeley (founded 1868), incorporated 1878, population about 122,000; known for the Free Speech Movement, Chez Panisse, BART service, and an active biennial-budget city government.
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California: independent city (incorporated 1914) surrounded by Los Angeles, population about 31,000, median home value over $2 million, Rodeo Drive luxury retail, own police, fire, and water utility, D Line subway arriving 2026-2027.
Big Bear Lake, California
Big Bear Lake is an incorporated San Bernardino County, California resort city at about 6,759 feet elevation, population about 5,000, built around a snow-fed reservoir dammed in 1884 and 1912, known for Big Bear Mountain Resort skiing and lake recreation.
Bishop, California
Bishop, California: small Inyo County city at the north end of the Owens Valley off US 395, gateway to the High Sierra and Mount Whitney, home of Mule Days, the Bishop Paiute Tribe, and world-class bouldering and trout fishing.
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington, a Kitsap County city on Port Orchard Bay founded in 1891 by William Bremer around Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Population 43,505 (2020); ferry links to Seattle; shipyard undergoing a multi-billion-dollar Navy modernization.
Brentwood, California
Brentwood, California: a city in eastern Contra Costa County, 55 miles east of San Francisco, incorporated 1948; farm town turned suburb of 64,292 (2020) with u-pick cherry orchards and median household income of $142,494.
Burbank, California
Burbank, California: charter city in the eastern San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, about 12 miles northeast of downtown LA. Known as the Media Capital of the World; 107,337 residents (2020); incorporated 1911; home to Warner Bros., Disney, and Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Calabasas, California
Calabasas is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, incorporated April 5, 1991, with about 22,000 residents, high incomes, and 43 percent protected open space.