287 articles
Paradise, California
Paradise is a Sierra Nevada foothill town in Butte County, California, incorporated 1979, destroyed by the November 8, 2018 Camp Fire (85 deaths, 18,804 structures) and slowly rebuilding to about 9,100 residents.
Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California: incorporated 1886 city in Los Angeles County, home of the Tournament of Roses (first held 1890), Rose Bowl (1922), Caltech, and JPL; 138,699 residents in 2020, recovering from the January 2025 Eaton Fire.
Paso Robles, California
Paso Robles, officially El Paso de Robles, is a city of about 31,000 in northern San Luis Obispo County, California, known for hot mineral springs and its surrounding wine country.
Perris, California
Perris, California: Riverside County city (pop. 83,237 est. 2025) incorporated 1911, named for railroad engineer Fred T. Perris; home of Lake Perris State Recreation Area, the Southern California Railway Museum, and a major Inland Empire warehouse hub.
Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California: Sonoma County city on the Petaluma River, 40 miles north of San Francisco; incorporated 1858, 2020 population 59,776, historic dairy and egg shipping center.
Pismo Beach, California
Pismo Beach, California: small San Luis Obispo County coastal city (pop. ~7,900), the 'Clam Capitol of the World', known for its pier, Pismo clam fishery history, monarch butterfly grove, and tourism-driven economy.
Placerville, California
Placerville, California, historically known as Hangtown, is a Gold Rush city and the county seat of El Dorado County on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, incorporated in 1854.
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton, California: Alameda County Tri-Valley city, incorporated 1894 and named for General Alfred Pleasonton. Formerly Alisal, a Gold Rush stop; now about 75,000 residents and a Hacienda business park economy.
Pomona, California
Pomona, California: charter city in Los Angeles County named for the Roman goddess of fruit, incorporated 1888, population about 148,000, home of Cal Poly Pomona and the Metro A Line's San Gabriel Valley terminus.
Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles, Washington: Clallam County city on the northern Olympic Peninsula, gateway to Olympic National Park and ferry link to Victoria, BC. Population about 20,000; incorporated 1890; timber, port, and Coast Guard history.
Port Townsend, Washington
Port Townsend, Washington: county seat of Jefferson County on the Quimper Peninsula, founded 1851, incorporated 1860, a Victorian seaport boom town whose railroad hopes ended in 1893; population about 10,000, home to Fort Worden State Park.
Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon: largest city in Oregon, seat of Multnomah County, at the Willamette-Columbia confluence. Founded 1845 by coin toss, incorporated 1851; 2025 population about 635,000; new council-mayor government since 2025.
Poway, California
Poway, California: "City in the Country," a city in northeast San Diego County incorporated December 1980, population about 49,000, over half its 39.4 square miles preserved open space, served by Poway Unified School District.
Pullman, Washington
Pullman, Washington: largest city in Whitman County and home of Washington State University's main campus, incorporated 1888, population about 33,756 (2025 estimate), set in the Palouse's four-hill college town.
Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rancho Cucamonga is a general law city in western San Bernardino County, California, incorporated in 1977 from Cucamonga, Alta Loma, and Etiwanda; population about 174,453 (2020), area 46.5 square miles.
Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage is a Coachella Valley city in Riverside County, California, incorporated in 1973, known for country clubs, golf resorts, Desert Modern architecture, and the Disney Cotino community; population about 17,900, heavily retired and affluent.
Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Rancho Palos Verdes is a 1973-incorporated general law city in Los Angeles County on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, population about 39,654 (2025 estimate), known for the ongoing Portuguese Bend landslide, FEMA-funded buyouts, and dewatering remediation.
Redding, California
Redding is a city and the county seat of Shasta County, California, at the northern end of the Sacramento Valley on the Sacramento River, incorporated in 1887.
Redlands, California
Redlands, California: Inland Empire city in San Bernardino County, founded 1881, incorporated 1888, once the Washington Navel Orange Growing Capital of the World; population about 74,000, home of the University of Redlands and Redlands Bowl.
Redmond, Washington
Redmond, Washington: King County city in the Sammamish Valley, incorporated December 31, 1912, once a logging town called Salmonberg, now home to Microsoft's headquarters with about 80,040 residents in 2023.
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is a coastal city on Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County, California, incorporated in 1892 with a 1.5-mile shoreline and horseshoe-shaped pier.
Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California: San Mateo County seat on the San Francisco Peninsula, incorporated 1867. Gold Rush lumber port, home of the South Bay's only deep water port; population about 82,000-84,000.
Renton, Washington
Renton, Washington: King County city on the southeast shore of Lake Washington, south of Seattle. Incorporated 1901, named for Captain William Renton; home of Boeing 737 production, about 105,000 residents, mayor Armondo Pavone.
Rialto, California
Rialto, California: Inland Empire city in San Bernardino County, incorporated 1911, named after Venice's Rialto Bridge; former citrus town, now a 106,000-person logistics and warehouse hub.
Richland, Washington
Richland, Washington: a Tri-Cities city at the Columbia-Yakima river confluence, founded 1892, incorporated 1910, rebuilt in 1943 as the government town for the Hanford plutonium project, self-governing since 1958, population 60,560 (2020).
Richmond, California
Richmond, California: Bay Area city in western Contra Costa County, 16 miles from San Francisco. Known for the Kaiser WWII shipyards (747 ships), the Port of Richmond, the Chevron refinery, and the Rosie the Riveter home front park; 2020 population 116,448.
Ridgecrest, California
Ridgecrest, California: a city in the Indian Wells Valley, northeastern Kern County, incorporated 1963; support community for Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake; site of the 2019 M6.4 and M7.1 earthquakes.
Riverside, California
Riverside, California: Inland Southern California county-seat city founded in 1870, birthplace of the navel orange industry and Mission Revival architecture, home of the Mission Inn and UC Riverside, population about 319,000.
Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg, Oregon: county seat of Douglas County in the Umpqua Valley, founded by Aaron Rose in 1851, incorporated 1868 (or 1870 per county records), a former timber capital now centered on healthcare, wine, and I-5 trade.
Roseville, California
Roseville, California, is the largest city in Placer County, northeast of Sacramento. Founded as a Central Pacific rail junction in 1864, incorporated 1909; population 147,773 (2020), a retail, healthcare, and technology hub.