El Segundo, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007)

El Segundo is also the name of a champion Australian racehorse.

City of El Segundo, California
The El Segundo skyline, as seen from the Century Freeway (I-105)
Nickname: 'Gundo
Location of El Segundo in Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates: 33°55′17″N 118°24′22″W / 33.92139, -118.40611
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
Incorporated (city)	1917-01-18[1]
Government
- Mayor	Kelly McDowell[2]
- Mayor Pro Tempore	Eric Busch
- Councilmember	Jim Boulgarides
- Councilmember	Bill Fisher
- Councilmember	Carl Jacobson
Area
- Total	10.80 sq mi (27.97 km²)
- Land	5.54 sq mi (14.35 km²)
- Water	5.26 sq mi (13.63 km²)  48.72%
Elevation	115 ft (35 m)
Population (2000)[3]
- Total	16,033
- Density	2,894.6/sq mi (1,117.6/km²)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP Code	90245[4]
Area code(s)	310
FIPS code	06-22412
GNIS feature ID	1660605
Website: http://www.elsegundo.org/

El Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California on the Santa Monica Bay, incorporated on January 18, 1917. The population was 16,033 at the 2000 census.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Economy 3 Geography 4 Demographics 5 Politics 6 Education 7 In popular culture 8 Notable residents 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Overview

The area was once a part of Rancho San Pedro and later became El Rancho Sausal Redondo ("The Clump of the Willows"). The most common story of how the city received its current name is that it became the site of the second ("el segundo" in Spanish) Standard Oil refinery on the West Coast in 1911.^[5] In 2006, El Segundo won an Eddy award for being the most business friendly city in Los Angeles county.^[6][7] El Segundo is in transition from being a Caucasian, blue-collar 'company town' to being a 'corporate' town where the tax base relies on a non-resident working population. Pollution and toxic waste cleanup remain issues as El Segundo restores industrial sites to shopping malls and sports facilities. To date the social problems in areas east of El Segundo have not spread west of the Burlington-Northern/Santa Fe railway. Many east-west avenues in El Segundo do not penetrate the neighborhoods lying east; the elevated commuter rail also runs north-south on the east edge of the town. The north and south boundaries of the town are the LAX airport and prosperous Manhattan Beach with the Pacific as the western boundary. The most prominent feature of the town is the massive oil refinery which borders the town center and the massive sewage treatment facility on the west side of the town. Office towers are not a prominent feature of this town from any but a very select vantage point (the towers are no longer occupied by Hughes although the helipad #1 remains in place.) Aircraft noise from LAX is a major issue for residents on the north side of El Segundo. The town's decision to destroy vast numbers of Ficus trees remains very controversial: the trees can still be found near the city hall where they offer abundant shade. The trees were blamed for the high cost of sidewalk repairs in the town. Residents are currently active in tree-planting along Imperial Highway.

[edit] Economy

Many large aerospace companies have facilities in El Segundo, including Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and The Aerospace Corporation, which is headquartered there. It is also home to the Los Angeles Air Force Base and the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), which is responsible for space-related acquisition for the military. In addition to the Chevron oil refinery, El Segundo is also home to the El Segundo power plant and adjacent to the Hyperion sewage treatment plant. Los Angeles International Airport is located immediately to the north of El Segundo. Dockweiler State Beach is partially located in El Segundo, including the only RV park on the beach in Los Angeles County. The North American headquarters to the Australian company Globe Shoes are located in El Segundo as well as Toy manufacturer Mattel, satellite TV provider DirecTV, IT services firm Computer Sciences Corporation, power semiconductor company International Rectifier, and the internet company Internet Brands.

[edit] Geography

El Segundo is located at 33°55′17″N, 118°24′22″W (33.921313, -118.406233).^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.0 km² (10.8 mi²). 14.3 km² (5.5 mi²) of it is land and 13.6 km² (5.3 mi²) of it (48.70%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2007, El Segundo's population is 16,526 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 3.07 percent. The median home cost is $1,080,000. Home appreciation the last year has been -1.50 percent. Compared to the rest of the country, El Segundo's cost of living is 91.16% Higher than the U.S. average. El Segundo public schools spend $5,494 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $6,058. There are about 23 students per teacher in El Segundo. The unemployment rate is 4.40 percent(U.S. avg. is 4.60%). Recent job growth is positive, increasing by 0.84 percent.

As of the 2000 Census, the population density was 1,117.4/km² (2,894.6/mi²). There were 7,261 housing units at an average density of 506.0/km² (1,310.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.61% White, 1.17% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 6.41% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 3.51% from other races, and 4.55% from two or more races. 11.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,060 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.6% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 38.7% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $61,341, and the median income for a family was $74,007. Males had a median income of $52,486 versus $41,682 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,996. About 3.1% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

In the state legislature El Segundo is located in the 28th Senate District, represented by Democrat Jenny Oropeza, and in the 53rd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Ted Lieu. Federally, El Segundo is located in California's 36th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +11^[9] and is represented by Democrat Jane Harman.

[edit] Education

The El Segundo Unified School District serves western El Segundo. The school district is listed as one of the state's 29 academic outperformers by Standards and Poor's in 2005.

• El Segundo High School
• Vistamar School

Eastern El Segundo is served by the Wiseburn School District and the Centinela Valley Union High School District.

[edit] In popular culture

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

• The hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest wrote the song "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo," which was included on their 1990 album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The elderly landlady (Irma P. Hall as Marva Munson) in The Ladykillers repeatedly complained about the insanity of this lyric.
• The singer Robbie Williams sings a reference to "I left my wallet in El Segundo" in his song Me & my monkey.
• The city is referenced in post-hardcore band Glassjaw's song Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence from their debut album of the same name.
• Besides mentioning Watts, Redd Foxx often referred to El Segundo on the 1972 hit TV show Sanford and Son. In one episode, he refers to his Ripple wine as coming from "the vineyards of El Segundo. He was also thrown off a bridge by a bigot in El Segundo"
• The alternative ending of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery states that subsequent to the crash-landing of Dr. Evil's Bob's Big Boy rocket, Dr. Evil found work as the night manager of a Big Boy restaurant in El Segundo, though one does not nor ever did once exist in the city.
• The movie Dude, Where's My Car? was filmed in El Segundo, in front of the ice cream parlor formerly known as Scoops which closed down due to a drug bust, but now is known as Likity-Split.
• A "roadmap to El Segundo" generally refers to the state of something as soiled or messy.^{[citation needed]}
• The beginning of the Blink 182 video of their song "First Date" lists El Segundo, 1974 as its location.
• El Segundo High School has been featured in many films and television shows, including Superbad, WarGames, Joe Dirt, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Boston Public, The Hot Chick, Yours, Mine and Ours, Even Stevens, 24, Joan of Arcadia, The O.C., Room 222, Epic Movie, Shredderman Rules and many others. Some promotional T-shirts sold in El Segundo claim that El Segundo High School has appeared in more films and TV shows than any other high school.
• David Spade mentioned El Segundo on The Showbiz Show with David Spade.
• An episode of Bones was filmed at a water treatment facility which lies on El Segundo's West border.
• Many years ago a Ripley's Believe It Or Not newspaper item suggested that El Segundo was one of the few U.S. cities where every street had a hill. However, that is only true of the western residential area of the city.
• CSI: Miami is filmed in parts of El Segundo.

[edit] Notable residents

• Jamie Storr- Former L.A Kings Goaltender
• Ken and George Brett, baseball players, grew up in El Segundo and graduated from El Segundo High School.
• Roseanne Barr - Actress^[10]
• Derryl Cousins- MLB Umpire

[edit] References