81 articles
San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano is an Orange County, California city incorporated in 1961, population about 35,000, built around Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded November 1, 1776 as the seventh of 21 Alta California missions.
San Marino, California
San Marino, California: affluent San Gabriel Valley city in Los Angeles County, incorporated 1913 by Henry E. Huntington and neighbors; home of the Huntington Library; about 12,500 residents, 68% Asian, median household income $214,167.
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California: county seat of Orange County, founded 1869 by William H. Spurgeon on the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana; about 315,000 residents, 76.6% Hispanic, dense transit-served urban center.
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California: coastal city and Santa Barbara County seat between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific; population about 91,930, Mediterranean climate, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, 1782 presidio, 1786 mission, 1925 M6.3 earthquake, severe housing unaffordability.
Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita, California: a Los Angeles County city incorporated December 15, 1987, 30 miles north of downtown LA, comprising Saugus, Newhall, Valencia, and Canyon Country; third-largest county city with about 230,000 residents.
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is the largest city in Santa Barbara County, California, incorporated in 1905, with about 110,000 residents, a Latino-majority population, an agricultural and oil-based economy, and a 2045 general plan for 16,000 new homes.
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California: beachside city of 8.3 square miles in Los Angeles County, founded 1875 by Jones and Baker, incorporated 1886; about 90,000 residents, Santa Monica Pier, Silicon Beach economy, and 8 million annual tourists.
Seal Beach, California
Seal Beach, California: coastal Orange County city between Long Beach and Huntington Beach, incorporated 1915 as Seal Beach (formerly Bay City), population about 25,000, home to California's second longest wooden pier and the Naval Weapons Station covering two thirds of its land.
Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley is a city in southeastern Ventura County, California, about 37 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Incorporated in 1969, population 126,356 (2020 census), third largest of the county's ten cities.
Solvang, California
Solvang, California: a Santa Ynez Valley city in Santa Barbara County founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants, known for Danish-style architecture and about 1 million annual visitors; incorporated 1985, population about 6,000.
South Gate, California
South Gate, California, a city in Los Angeles County incorporated January 20, 1923, named for the south gate of the Rancho San Antonio land grant; about 90,000 residents, Council-Manager government, and a twentieth-century industrial base.
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks, California: a Ventura County city in the Conejo Valley, incorporated September 29, 1964 and named for its oak trees. Known for 15,000+ acres of open space, entirely imported water, and Janss-family development history.
Torrance, California
Torrance, California: a city in southwest Los Angeles County founded in 1912 by developer Jared Sidney Torrance and the Dominguez Land Company, planned by Olmsted Brothers with architect Irving Gill, incorporated May 1921; 2020 population 147,067.
Valencia, Santa Clarita, California
Valencia is a master-planned community in Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County, California, begun by Newhall Land in 1965 with a Victor Gruen plan and famed for grade-separated paseos; a separate FivePoint Valencia (formerly Newhall Ranch) expands it west of I-5.
Ventura, California
Ventura (San Buenaventura), California: coastal county seat of 109,000 founded around Mission San Buenaventura in 1782, incorporated 1866, known for its pier, surf point, harbor, and Channel Islands gateway.
Vernon, California
Vernon, California: a 5.2-square-mile exclusively industrial city southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, incorporated 1905, with 112 residents, over 1,800 businesses, and a documented governance-reform and fiscal-history record.
West Covina, California
West Covina is a San Gabriel Valley city in Los Angeles County, California, incorporated in 1923 by 507 residents to block Covina's sewage farm; it boomed after World War II and had 109,501 people in 2020.
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, California: a 1.9-square-mile city incorporated in 1984, first U.S. city with a majority openly gay council; about 35,000 residents, the Sunset Strip, and the planned K Line extension.
Westlake Village, California
Westlake Village is a city in western Los Angeles County, California, incorporated in 1981 from the LA County half of a 1960s American-Hawaiian Steamship master-planned community; population 8,029 (2020), median household income $179,954.
Whittier, California
Whittier, California: charter city in Los Angeles County about 12 miles southeast of Los Angeles, incorporated 1898, founded by Quakers and named for poet John Greenleaf Whittier; about 87,000 residents.
Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda is a city in north Orange County, California, population 68,336 (2020), incorporated November 2, 1967, birthplace of Richard Nixon and home to his presidential library and museum.