Manhattan Beach is a city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. Its population was 33,852 at the 2000 census. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. It is one of the three "beach cities" in the South Bay (Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach).

Manhattan Beach is middle to upper-class beach town, only seven miles south of LAX. It is one of the more expensive west coast beach cities in America, according to the most recent Fortune Magazine rankings.

In 1863, a Scottish immigrant, Sir Robert Burnett, purchased Rancho Sausal Redondo and Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela from Avila's heirs for $33,000. Ten years later in 1873, Burnett leased the ranch to a Canadian, Daniel Freeman (not the American Daniel Freeman, who was the first to file a claim under the Homestead Act of 1862). Burnett returned to Scotland. Freeman moved his wife and three children onto the ranch and started growing various crops. On May 4, 1885 Freeman bought the ranch from Burnett for $140,000.

George H. Peck owned a lot of the land that became part of the north section of Manhattan Beach. Supposedly, a coin flip decided the town's name. Around 1902, the beach suburb was named "Manhattan" after the developer's home town, Manhattan Beach, New York.

Geography

The city has a total area of 26.8 km² (10.4 mi²). Manhattan Beach features 2.1 miles (3.4 km) of ocean frontage. Much of Manhattan Beach was once sand dunes. The city is quite hilly, but the only remaining sand dune is at Sand Dune Park.

Neighborhoods

Residents have informally divided the city into several distinct neighborhoods, including "The Village", "Sand Section", "Hill Section", "Tree Section", "Gas Lamp" section, Manhattan Heights, East Manhattan Beach, Liberty Village, "Poet's Section" (Shelley, Tennyson, Longfellow), and El Porto (North Manhattan).

The Hill Section includes higher priced homes where many of the residences are remodeled and situated on steep hills allowing panoramic ocean and city views.

The nearby Sand Section is notable for its pockets of quiet neighborhoods adjacent to the ocean,

Along "The Strand" bike path, multi-million dollar ocean-front homes line it.

Locale

Manhattan Beach is considered to be among the most desirable cities in Los Angeles County because of its climate, excellent schools, low crime rate, and cleaner air than nearby smoggy Los Angeles.

City zoning provides for lenient dwelling-to-land coverage. Much of Manhattan Beach's housing stock has been remodeled from small, single-family, post-WWII era starter-homes, into large "McMansions."

Downtown

"Downtown" Manhattan Beach runs along Manhattan Beach Boulevard and the streets perpendicular to it in the area near the Manhattan Beach Pier up to Valley Drive. There are restaurants and stores and a mixed-use center, where once the pottery factory, famous for its colorful plates, stood for decades. The Metlox site closed in the early 1990s, and it took several years for the contaminated soil to be removed. The new "Metlox" site includes a boutique hotel and a few restaurants and shops.

The Manhattan Beach Library is near downtown on Highland Avenue two blocks north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. The library is part of the County of Los Angeles Public Library system, and includes internet accessible computers, WiFi, and access to the six million items in the county library collection.

Rosecrans Strip

The Rosecrans strip is located on the south side of Rosecrans Avenue, east of Sepulveda, and west of Aviation.

The area includes the small Manhattan Village Mall, which is located on the southeast corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue. The mall, built in the early 1980s, was once anchored by the department stores Bullock's and Buffums, which both went bankrupt in the early 1990s. Most of the original stores in the mall also went bankrupt in the 1980s and 1990s (Miller's Outpost, Contempo Casuals, Music Plus, Orange Julius, Tequila Willies, Kinney Shoes, B. Dalton bookstore). The mall was remodeled in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and is now anchored by Macy's on both ends. It also has higher-end stores such as Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and Williams and Sonoma.

The Manhattan Beach Country Club, the Marriott Hotel and Golf Course, restaurants, retail stores, supermarkets, and shopping centers are along the strip between the Manhattan Mall and Aviation Boulevard.

Sepulveda Strip

The "Sepulveda Strip" occupies the commercial zone, which runs north-south through the city. There is often very heavy traffic on this main thoroughfare.

Aviation Strip

The Aviation Strip is located along Aviation Boulevard (the city's eastern boundary), south of Rosecrans Avenue, and north of Marine Avenue. Aviation High School once stood there until it was closed in the early 1980s. The zone includes several major complexes, including the Manhattan Beach Film Studios and the Northrop Grumman Space Technology Plant (where TRW once stood).

Parks and recreation

The Strand path and bikeway along the beach is popular for biking, jogging, roller blading, and skateboarding. Volleyball nets are set up along the beach, and swimming, body boarding and surfing are popular among residents and visitors. Manhattan Beach is considered the birthplace of beach volleyball and Mira Costa High School, has long been known for its outstanding volleyball program.

Demographics

As of the census^[10] of 2000, there were 33,854 people, 14,474 households, and 8,394 families residing in the city. The population density was 8,606.7 inhabitants per square mile (3,325.8/km²). There were 15,034 housing units at an average density of 3,822.3 per square mile (1,477.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.99% White, 6.04% Asian, 0.61% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.23% from other races, including 2.81% from two or more races. 5.19% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 14,474 households, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18, 49.8% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 42.0% were non-families, 29.3% were individuals living alone, and 6.5% were individuals living alone who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34, and the average family size was 2.98.

Other census data showed that the age distribution in the city was 22.3% who were under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 37.5% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $100,750, and the median income for a family was $122,686 (these figures had risen to $124,048 and $149,396 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $84,256 versus $54,142 for females. The per capita income for the city was $61,136. About 2.0% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those ages 65 or over.

In February 2006, the median price of Manhattan Beach home sales was $1,925,000. In its "Best Places to Live" 2005 feature, Money Magazine ranked Manhattan Beach as the fourth most expensive beach town in America. Additionally, in 2005 it ranked 2nd in California for the number of million-dollar homes sold. Forbes has also ranked the local ZIP code 90266 as the 29th most expensive ZIP code in North America.

Economy

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: