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110-530: The oil field is on and beneath the ranges of hills northwest, north and northeast of the city of Ventura. The Ventura River , flowing down from Ojai, cuts through the field, and empties into the Pacific Ocean at Ventura. Native vegetation in the hills is predominantly chaparral and coastal sage scrub , and riparian woodland is found along the course of the Ventura River. Terrain on the hills

220-465: A business exodus from Downtown Los Angeles since the COVID-19 pandemic , the city's urban core is evolving as a cultural center with the world's largest showcase of architecture designed by Frank Gehry . On September 4, 1781, a group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady

330-565: A day in 2016 from 414 wells in an area of 4,300 acres (1,700 ha). Aera's permits, approved from 1948 to 1956, were granted without environmental impact reviews. Shell and ExxonMobil agreed in 2022 to sell the all the assets of Aera to a German asset management group IKAV. 34°18′53″N 119°16′07″W  /  34.3146°N 119.2685°W  / 34.3146; -119.2685 Ventura River The Ventura River , in western Ventura County in southern California , United States, flows 16.2 miles (26.1 km) from its headwaters to

440-429: A diverse array of natural habitats, including grassland, coastal sage scrub , chaparral, oak woodlands and savannas; coniferous woodlands; riparian scrub, woodlands and wetlands; alluvial scrub; freshwater aquatic habitats; estuarine wetlands; and coastal cobble, dune and intertidal habitats. The Ventura River estuary, at the mouth of the Ventura River, is an exceptionally valuable wetland habitat and ecological resource in

550-542: A matter of hours. Major or moderate floods have occurred once every five years on average since 1933. The most damaging flood recorded in the Ventura River watershed occurred in 1969. The watershed above Ojai received 43 inches (1,100 mm) of rain in nine days in January. The floodwaters and associated debris flooded homes in Casitas Springs and Live Oak Acres. Much agricultural land, primarily citrus groves,

660-723: A number of factors, including trash, algae, water diversion/pumping, eutrophic conditions, low dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, fish barriers, coliform, bacteria, mercury, and total dissolved solids. The estuary has been on the Clean Water Act 303(d) list for trash impairment for 10+ years. In 2008 the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted the Ventura River Estuary Trash Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to address

770-485: A profit; the other, according to an analysis of contemporary newspaper reports, was the 1932 Summer Olympics , also held in Los Angeles. Racial tensions erupted on April 29, 1992, with the acquittal by a Simi Valley jury of four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers captured on videotape beating Rodney King , culminating in large-scale riots . In 1994, the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake shook

880-507: A single type, where industrial uses were prohibited. The proscriptions included barns, lumber yards, and any industrial land use employing machine-powered equipment. These laws were enforced against industrial properties after the fact. These prohibitions were in addition to existing activities that were already regulated as nuisances. These included explosives warehousing, gas works, oil drilling, slaughterhouses, and tanneries . Los Angeles City Council also designated seven industrial zones within

990-535: A watershed management plan. Approved in 2015, this comprehensive plan proposed ways to improve the health and sustainability of the watershed. Camping in the Ventura River bottom, which is dry most of the year, was outlawed by the Ventura City Council in 1995 after floods killed one man and prompted the evacuation of 12 other people near the Main Street bridge. The Ventura River Parkway Trail

1100-438: Is Mount San Antonio , locally known as Mount Baldy, which reaches 10,064 feet (3,068 m). Further afield, the highest point in southern California is San Gorgonio Mountain , 81 miles (130 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, with a height of 11,503 feet (3,506 m). The Los Angeles River , which is largely seasonal, is the primary drainage channel . It was straightened and lined in 51 miles (82 km) of concrete by

1210-575: Is 58% white, 37% Hispanic or Latino, 2% Asian, and 3% other races. Income varies widely, and several areas qualify as disadvantaged or severely disadvantaged communities. The river flows 16.2 miles (26.1 km) from its headwaters through to the Pacific Ocean . The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, the Ventura River's source stream is Matilija Creek , from its confluence with North Fork Matilija Creek. Matilija Creek

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1320-449: Is Ventura River's highest volume tributary, followed by San Antonio Creek, which joins the Ventura River from the east halfway to the ocean; Coyote Creek enters the river from the west about 7 miles (11 km) from the river mouth and Cañada Larga Creek from the east a few miles downstream. Much of the Ventura River's route is contained by the steeply sloped sides of the narrow Ventura Valley, with its final 0.7 miles (1.1 km) through

1430-722: Is a common problem in this population. Although Serieys et al. 2014 find selection of immune genetics at several loci they do not demonstrate that this produces a real difference which helps the bobcats to survive future mange outbreaks . Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire . The geologic instability has produced numerous faults , which cause approximately 10,000 earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most of them are too small to be felt. The strike-slip San Andreas Fault system, which sits at

1540-452: Is complicated by rugged terrain, which has necessitated having different grids for each of the valleys that Los Angeles covers. Major streets are designed to move large volumes of traffic through many parts of the city, many of which are extremely long; Sepulveda Boulevard is 43 miles (69 km) long, while Foothill Boulevard is over 60 miles (97 km) long, reaching as far east as San Bernardino. Drivers in Los Angeles suffer from one of

1650-437: Is divided into many different districts and neighborhoods, some of which had been separately incorporated cities that eventually merged with Los Angeles. These neighborhoods were developed piecemeal, and are well-defined enough that the city has signage which marks nearly all of them. The city's street patterns generally follow a grid plan , with uniform block lengths and occasional roads that cut across blocks. However, this

1760-502: Is expected to continue to drop in the coming years because of aggressive steps to reduce it, which include electric and hybrid cars, improvements in mass transit , and other measures. The number of Stage 1 smog alerts in Los Angeles has declined from over 100 per year in the 1970s to almost zero in the new millennium. Despite improvement, the 2006 and 2007 annual reports of the American Lung Association ranked

1870-525: Is found in the underlying Santa Margarita Formation . Eight different oil-bearing zones have been identified by number, 1st through 8th based on depth, with the 2nd zone the first to be discovered, in March 1919 by the Shell Oil Company. The pools range in depth from 3,680 feet (1,120 m) to over 12,000 feet (3,700 m), although depth within each pool varies greatly; the discovery well into

1980-549: Is not known if they produced oil. In May 1916 the first commercially viable well, No. "Lloyd" 1, was drilled by State Consolidated Oil Company to a depth of 2,555 feet. Initial production consisted of 100 barrels a day. Shell Oil drilled the first well into what is now known as the 2nd Pool, in the Pico Formation, in March 1919, reaching a depth of 3,498 feet (1,066 m). A major real estate boom in Ventura resulted with

2090-745: Is protected by the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC), the Ventura Land Trust, Ventura County Watershed Protection District, Ventura County Parks, and the City of Ventura. The Ventura River Preserve, owned by the OVLC, protects 1,600 acres (650 ha) of land in and adjacent to the river, including 3 miles (4.8 km) of the river. The Ventura River Watershed Council, which includes government agencies, nonprofit groups, businesses, community groups, and individuals, prepared

2200-488: Is rich in native plant species partly because of its diversity of habitats, including beaches, wetlands , and mountains. The most prevalent plant communities are coastal sage scrub , chaparral shrubland, and riparian woodland . Native plants include: the California poppy , matilija poppy , toyon , Ceanothus , Chamise , Coast Live Oak , sycamore , willow and Giant Wildrye . Many of these native species, such as

2310-702: Is steep, and the roads to well pads, tanks, and other infrastructure make numerous switchbacks. Most of the field is hidden from view from the city because of the first steep range of hills. The oil field is one of several following the east-west trend of the Transverse Ranges at this point: to the west are the San Miguelito Oil Field and the Rincon Oil Field , and to the east, across the Santa Clara River valley ,

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2420-413: The 1916 New York City Zoning Ordinance did. Second, the residential zones did not distinguish types of housing; they treated apartments, hotels, and detached-single-family housing equally. In 1910, Hollywood merged into Los Angeles, with 10 movie companies already operating in the city at the time. By 1921, more than 80 percent of the world's film industry was concentrated in L.A. The money generated by

2530-805: The Army Corps of Engineers to act as a flood control channel. The river begins in the Canoga Park district of the city, flows east from the San Fernando Valley along the north edge of the Santa Monica Mountains, and turns south through the city center, flowing to its mouth in the Port of Long Beach at the Pacific Ocean. The smaller Ballona Creek flows into the Santa Monica Bay at Playa del Rey . Los Angeles

2640-694: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined there had been discharge to navigable waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act . The EPA's site assessment found that there were numerous leaking pipelines, leaking tanks and leaking production vessels throughout the abandoned property. The site was also out of compliance with Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board's Ventura River Estuary Trash Total Maximum Daily Load. The EPA issued an order that

2750-547: The Hillside Stranglers murder cases in 1977–1978. In early 1984, the city surpassed Chicago in population, thus becoming the second largest city in the United States. In 1984, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time . Despite being boycotted by 14 Communist countries , the 1984 Olympics became more financially successful than any previous, and the second Olympics to turn

2860-495: The Los Angeles sunflower , have become so rare as to be considered endangered. Mexican Fan Palms , Canary Island Palms , Queen Palms , Date Palms , and California Fan Palms are common in the Los Angeles area, although only the last is native to California, though still not native to the City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles has a number of official flora: The city has an urban population of bobcats ( Lynx rufus ). Mange

2970-593: The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , the first mission in the area. On September 4, 1781, a group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels';. The present-day city has the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States. Two-thirds of

3080-575: The Pacific Ocean . The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura Valley, with its final 0.7 miles (1.1 km) through the broader Ventura River estuary, which extends from where it crosses under a 101 Freeway bridge through to the Pacific Ocean. The Ventura River watershed encompasses 226 square miles (590 km ) consisting of steep mountains and foothills, with altitudes ranging from 6,010 feet (1,830 m) to sea level. Valley floors are home to communities and farms. Conditions in much of

3190-577: The Spanish Empire in 1542, while on an official military exploring expedition, as he was moving northward along the Pacific coast from earlier colonizing bases of New Spain in Central and South America. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769. In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of

3300-577: The siege of Los Angeles where 150 Mexican militias fought the occupiers which eventually surrendered. Mexican rule ended during following the American Conquest of California , part of the larger Mexican-American War . Americans took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847. The Mexican Cession

3410-434: The steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) in the Ventura river watershed (both above and below Matilija Dam) has shown them to be of native and not hatchery stocks. The watershed is challenged by invasive, non-native plants, such as giant reeds , ice plants and castor bean , which choke out the willows and estuary-area salt marsh which normally support the native fauna. Plans and projects have been underway since

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3520-497: The "Ojai Valley Trail" part (completed in 1987) extends from Foster Park into the City of Ojai. The 15.8-mile trail (25.4 km), with the steady grade of the former Southern Pacific Railway right-of-way, is very popular with bicyclists, as well as walkers and horseback riders (on the Ojai Valley Trail segment). As of 2015 , the vision of a "Ventura River Parkway," a network of trails, vista points, and natural areas along

3630-482: The  impairment and establish time schedule orders to improve water quality in this segment of the watershed. The installation of stormwater treatment devices for the Ventura Freeway crossing was included in funding from the 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . A USA Petrochem petroleum refinery, situated within the 100-year floodplain of the river, was shut down in 1985. In August 2012

3740-487: The 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The city was further expanded with the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which delivers water from Eastern California . Los Angeles has a diverse economy with a broad range of industries. Despite a steep exodus of film and television production since the COVID-19 pandemic , Los Angeles is still one of the largest hubs of American film production ,

3850-671: The 1930s, / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / has been most common. In 1934, the United States Board on Geographic Names decreed that this pronunciation be used by the federal government. This was also endorsed in 1952 by a "jury" appointed by Mayor Fletcher Bowron to devise an official pronunciation. Common pronunciations in the United Kingdom include / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z , - l ɪ z , - l ɪ s / loss AN -jil-eez, -⁠iz, -⁠iss . Phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis described

3960-481: The 1990s to restore natural features, flora and fauna to the river. Limited land development and large areas of protected habitat in the watershed help support surface water that is relatively clean compared with more developed areas in the region. However, all of the watershed major waterbodies are on the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies. Surface waters are impaired for

4070-507: The 20th century, Los Angeles substantially reduced the amount of housing that could be built by drastically downzoning the city. In 1960, the city had a total zoned capacity for approximately 10 million people. By 1990, that capacity had fallen to 4.5 million as a result of policy decisions to ban housing through zoning. Racial tensions led to the Watts riots in 1965, resulting in 34 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. In 1969, California became

4180-445: The 2nd zone, which has an average depth of 5,180 feet (1,580 m), had a total depth of only 3,500 feet (1,100 m). The underlying Monterey Formation is presumed to be the source of the oil accumulations in the Ventura field, as well as the other two fields in the same geologic trend. The Monterey Formation is rich in organic matter, averaging 3-5 percent but reaching 23 percent in some areas. Oil likely migrated upwards during

4290-596: The Associated Oil Company, was the deepest production well in the world in 1928, producing from a depth of 7,210 feet (2,200 m). Later wells reached even greater depths, as drillers attempted to find the bottom of this extraordinarily productive but challenging field. Shell Oil Company's Taylor 653 reached a depth of 21,500 feet (6,600 m), penetrating into the Miocene age Monterey Formation , but found no oil at those depths. Deeper reservoir oil

4400-558: The Buenaventura watershed—flank the Ventura River watershed's lower section and are dependent on its water. Water from the Ventura River watershed is used to irrigate avocado orchards in the North Ventura Coastal Streams watershed and serves a significant population within the City of Ventura. Santa Barbara Channelkeeper filed a lawsuit in 2014 alleging the city of Ventura was taking too much water from

4510-507: The City of Los Angeles from selling or providing water from the aqueduct to any area outside its borders, many adjacent cities and communities felt compelled to join Los Angeles. Los Angeles created the first municipal zoning ordinance in the United States. On September 14, 1908, the Los Angeles City Council promulgated residential and industrial land use zones. The new ordinance established three residential zones of

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4620-688: The Los Angeles area include the 1933 Long Beach , 1971 San Fernando , 1987 Whittier Narrows , and the 1994 Northridge events. All but a few are of low intensity and are not felt. The USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast , which models earthquake occurrence in California. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to tsunamis ; harbor areas were damaged by waves from Aleutian Islands earthquake in 1946, Valdivia earthquake in 1960, Alaska earthquake in 1964, Chile earthquake in 2010 and Japan earthquake in 2011. The city

4730-502: The Los Angeles area was the headquarters of six of the country's major aircraft manufacturers ( Douglas Aircraft Company , Hughes Aircraft , Lockheed , North American Aviation , Northrop Corporation , and Vultee ). During the war, more aircraft were produced in one year than in all the pre-war years since the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903, combined. Manufacturing in Los Angeles skyrocketed, and as William S. Knudsen , of

4840-755: The Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, Los Angeles suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley are susceptible to atmospheric inversion , which holds in the exhausts from road vehicles, airplanes, locomotives, shipping, manufacturing, and other sources. The smog season lasts from approximately May to October. While other large cities rely on rain to clear smog, Los Angeles gets only 15 inches (380 mm) of rain each year: pollution accumulates over many consecutive days. Issues of air quality in Los Angeles and other major cities led to

4950-457: The Matilija reservoir was significantly reduced by siltation from the flood. Unlike almost all of its neighbors in southern California, Ventura River watershed is 100% dependent on local water supplies. Lake Casitas serves as the major surface water supply reservoir in the watershed and groundwater is heavily relied upon. On average, surface water comprises about 55% of the water recovered from

5060-489: The Mexican or ( New Spain ) settlers were mestizo or mulatto , a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820, the population had increased to about 650 residents. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the historic district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street , the oldest part of Los Angeles. New Spain achieved its independence from

5170-523: The National Defense Advisory Commission put it, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." After the end of World War II Los Angeles grew more rapidly than ever, sprawling into the San Fernando Valley . The expansion of the state owned Interstate Highway System during the 1950s and 1960s helped propel suburban growth and signaled

5280-571: The Queen of the Angels'. The original name of the settlement is disputed; the Guinness Book of World Records rendered it as "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula "; other sources have shortened or alternate versions of the longer name. The local English pronunciation of the name of the city has varied over time. A 1953 article in the journal of the American Name Society asserts that

5390-696: The San Fernando Valley. Other hilly parts of Los Angeles include the Mt. Washington area north of Downtown, eastern parts such as Boyle Heights , the Crenshaw district around the Baldwin Hills , and the San Pedro district. Surrounding the city are much higher mountains. Immediately to the north lie the San Gabriel Mountains , which is a popular recreation area for Angelenos. Its high point

5500-527: The Southern Californian coast, is subject to a late spring/early summer weather phenomenon called " June Gloom ". This involves overcast or foggy skies in the morning that yield to sun by early afternoon. More recently, statewide droughts in California have further strained the city's water security . Downtown Los Angeles averages 14.67 in (373 mm) of precipitation annually, mainly occurring between November and March, generally in

5610-475: The Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo now existed within the new Mexican Republic . During Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles the regional capital of Alta California . By this time, the new republic introduced more secularization acts within the Los Angeles region. In 1846, during the wider Mexican-American war , marines from the United States occupied the pueblo. This resulted in

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5720-416: The United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022 . It is the third-most visited city in the U.S. with over 2.7 million visitors as of 2023. The area that became Los Angeles was originally inhabited by the indigenous Tongva people and later claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve , on

5830-474: The Ventura River. Casitas Municipal Water District sells water to both domestic and agricultural customers. The Matilija Creek, source stream and main tributary of the Ventura River, is controlled by the Matilija Dam . Completed in 1948, it was built to store 7,000 acre-feet (8,600,000 m ) of water, but sediment has reduced its capacity by 90%. The Matilija Dam was built by Ventura County, against

5940-683: The advice of the United States Army Corps of Engineers , who pointed out that the characteristics of waterways in the region would lead to sediment buildup, rendering the dam ineffective and dangerous. A major project underway to remove the Matilija Dam, in part to return access to the steelhead to spawning habitat while also enhancing the overall watershed. Since 1998, efforts to remove the dam have received regulatory approvals but little funding, with one ceremonial section last removed in 2001. The river bottom and adjacent land

6050-474: The area. This anticline dips steeply on both sides, with the dip angle ranging from 30 to 60 degrees, resulting in a series of rock beds resembling a long house with a gabled roof, under which oil and gas collect in abundance. Within this feature, the primary petroleum-bearing unit is the Pico Formation , a sedimentary unit of turbidite sands of high porosity (16 to 20 percent)). Additionally, oil

6160-769: The birthplace of the Internet, as the first ARPANET transmission was sent from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park . In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected as the city's first African American mayor, serving for five terms until retiring in 1993. Other events in the city during the 1970s included the Symbionese Liberation Army 's South Central standoff in 1974 and

6270-632: The boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate , passes through the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The segment of the fault passing through Southern California experiences a major earthquake roughly every 110 to 140 years, and seismologists have warned about the next "big one", as the last major earthquake was the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake . The Los Angeles basin and metropolitan area are also at risk from blind thrust earthquakes . Major earthquakes that have hit

6380-485: The boundary of a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb on the coast, Csa otherwise). Daytime temperatures are generally temperate all year round. In winter, they average around 68 °F (20 °C). Autumn months tend to be hot, with major heat waves a common occurrence in September and October, while the spring months tend to be cooler and experience more precipitation. Los Angeles has plenty of sunshine throughout

6490-420: The broader Ventura River estuary, which extends from where it crosses under a 101 Freeway bridge through to the Pacific Ocean. Rainfall varies geographically, seasonally, and from year to year. Median annual precipitation is 14.12 inches or 359 millimetres in the lower watershed, 19.20 inches or 488 millimetres in the middle watershed, and 28.74 inches or 730 millimetres in the upper watershed. However, even in

6600-404: The city as the most polluted in the country with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution. In 2008, the city was ranked the second most polluted and again had the highest year-round particulate pollution. The city met its goal of providing 20 percent of the city's power from renewable sources in 2010. The American Lung Association's 2013 survey ranks the metro area as having

6710-611: The city is 342 miles (550 km). Los Angeles is both flat and hilly. The highest point in the city proper is Mount Lukens at 5,074 ft (1,547 m), located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at the north extent of the Crescenta Valley . The eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains stretches from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean and separates the Los Angeles Basin from

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6820-468: The city proper lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending partly through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into the San Fernando Valley , with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to its east. It covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km ), and is the county seat of Los Angeles County , which is the most populous county in

6930-560: The city, causing $ 12.5 billion in damage and 72 deaths. The century ended with the Rampart scandal , one of the most extensive documented cases of police misconduct in American history. In 2002, Mayor James Hahn led the campaign against secession, resulting in voters defeating efforts by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to secede from the city. In 2022 , Karen Bass became the city's first female mayor , making Los Angeles

7040-497: The city. However, between 1908 and 1915, the Los Angeles City Council created various exceptions to the broad proscriptions that applied to these three residential zones, and as a consequence, some industrial uses emerged within them. There are two differences between the 1908 Residence District Ordinance and later zoning laws in the United States. First, the 1908 laws did not establish a comprehensive zoning map as

7150-405: The commercial, financial and cultural center of Southern California . Los Angeles has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of a metropolitan area of 12.8 million people (2023). Greater Los Angeles , which includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.3 million residents. The majority of

7260-481: The completion of Casitas Dam , which forms Casitas Reservoir . The dam is on Coyote Creek about 2 miles upstream of the junction with the Ventura River. The Robles Diversion Dam was constructed on the Ventura River in 1958 to divert up to 107,800 acre-feet of water per year through a four-and-a-half mile canal to Casitas Reservoir. About 40% of the total water in Lake Casitas is supplied from high winter flows in

7370-409: The country's largest oil producer, accounting for about one-quarter of the world's petroleum output. By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000, putting pressure on the city's water supply . The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, under the supervision of William Mulholland , ensured the continued growth of the city. Because of clauses in the city's charter that prevented

7480-477: The demise of the city's privately owned electrified rail system , once the world's largest. As a consequence of World War II, suburban growth, and population density, many amusement parks were built and operated in this area. An example is Beverly Park , which was located at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega before being closed and substituted by the Beverly Center . In the second half of

7590-462: The development of the oil fields in the 1920s. The affordability of automobiles and the building of better roads to Los Angeles and the opening of the Rincon Sea Level Road to Santa Barbara in 1913 also contributed to the rapid growth of the city. While the field was productive from the earliest years, it had a reputation for difficulty, and challenged the technological skill of the early 20th-century drillers . The Lloyd No. 102 well, operated by

7700-402: The difference between the average daily low and the average daily high is over 30 °F (17 °C). The average annual temperature of the sea is 63 °F (17 °C), from 58 °F (14 °C) in January to 68 °F (20 °C) in August. Hours of sunshine total more than 3,000 per year, from an average of 7 hours of sunshine per day in December to an average of 12 in July. Due to

7810-471: The entire region is riddled with natural seeps, and tar was used by the native Chumash peoples as a sealant for their watercraft. Oil gravity and sulfur content is similar in all pools in the field, with an API gravity of 29-30 and approximately 1 percent sulfur by weight. The area was worked initially in 1885, followed by Ventura County Power Company drilling 7 shallow gas wells in 1903. While they reached depths of between 400 and 800 feet (240 m), it

7920-524: The era of Spanish colonization). The historic center of Tongva power in the region was the settlement of Yaanga ( Tongva : Iyáangẚ ), meaning "place of the poison oak ", which would one day be the site where the Spanish founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles . Iyáangẚ has also been translated as "the valley of smoke". Maritime explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area of southern California for

8030-454: The few remaining independent operators in the area. Their neighbor on the abutting San Miguelito and Rincon fields to the west is Vintage Petroleum, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum. In 2009 Aera was still producing an average of 11,600 barrels of oil a day from the field, making the company the largest oil and gas producer in Ventura County. Aera reported the production of 14,000 barrels of crude oil and 7.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas

8140-429: The field, provides much of the vehicular access, and other access roads come directly from the city of Ventura to the south. Climate in the area is Mediterranean , with cool, rainy winters and mild, dry summers, cooled by morning coastal clouds. Elevations on the field range from about 40 feet (12 m) above sea level along the Ventura River to around 1,200 feet (370 m) on the highest ridges both east and west of

8250-407: The form of moderate rain showers, but sometimes as heavy rainfall during winter storms. Rainfall is usually higher in the hills and coastal slopes of the mountains because of orographic uplift. Summer days are usually rainless. Rarely, an incursion of moist air from the south or east can bring brief thunderstorms in late summer, especially to the mountains. The coast gets slightly less rainfall, while

8360-565: The industry kept the city insulated from much of the economic loss suffered by the rest of the country during the Great Depression . By 1930, the population surpassed one million. In 1932, the city hosted the Summer Olympics . During World War II Los Angeles was a major center of wartime manufacturing, such as shipbuilding and aircraft. Calship built hundreds of Liberty Ships and Victory Ships on Terminal Island, and

8470-521: The inland and mountain areas get considerably more. Years of average rainfall are rare. The usual pattern is a year-to-year variability, with a short string of dry years of 5–10 in (130–250 mm) rainfall, followed by one or two wet years with more than 20 in (510 mm). Wet years are usually associated with warm water El Niño conditions in the Pacific, dry years with cooler water La Niña episodes. A series of rainy days can bring floods to

8580-472: The large South Mountain Oil Field adjacent to Santa Paula and the smaller Saticoy Oil Field along the Santa Clara River east of Saticoy . To the north are the smaller Ojai and Santa Paula fields. Total productive area of the field, projected to the surface, encompasses 3,410 acres (13.8 km). California State Route 33, which follows the route of the Ventura River through the hills and through

8690-575: The largest U.S. city to have ever had a woman as mayor. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games , making Los Angeles the third city to host the Olympics three times. The city of Los Angeles covers a total area of 502.7 square miles (1,302 km ), comprising 468.7 square miles (1,214 km ) of land and 34.0 square miles (88 km ) of water. The city extends for 44 miles (71 km) from north to south and for 29 miles (47 km) from east to west. The perimeter of

8800-487: The late Pliocene , becoming trapped in the folds and structural traps of the higher rocks of the anticline which form an impermeable caps. Some of the oil-bearing zones, such as the 4th and 5th, are capped by the Barnard Fault, which provides an additional structural trap . Even with the impermeable caps and structural traps, there are enough breaks in the structure for significant natural tar seeps to occur; indeed

8910-490: The lowest is 28 °F (−2 °C), on January 4, 1949. Within the City of Los Angeles, the highest temperature ever officially recorded is 121 °F (49 °C), on September 6, 2020, at the weather station at Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills . During autumn and winter, Santa Ana winds sometimes bring much warmer and drier conditions to Los Angeles, and raise wildfire risk. Owing to geography, heavy reliance on automobiles, and

9020-505: The lowlands and mudslides to the hills, especially after wildfires have denuded the slopes. Both freezing temperatures and snowfall are extremely rare in the city basin and along the coast, with the last occurrence of a 32 °F (0 °C) reading at the downtown station being January 29, 1979; freezing temperatures occur nearly every year in valley locations while the mountains within city limits typically receive snowfall every winter. The greatest snowfall recorded in downtown Los Angeles

9130-530: The most common one, / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z / , as a spelling pronunciation based on analogy to Greek words ending in -‍es , "reflecting a time when the classics were familiar if Spanish was not". The settlement of Indigenous Californians in the modern Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley was dominated by the Tongva (now also known as the Gabrieleño since

9240-546: The mountainous terrain of the surrounding region, the Los Angeles area contains a large number of distinct microclimates , causing extreme variations in temperature in close physical proximity to each other. For example, the average July maximum temperature at the Santa Monica Pier is 70 °F (21 °C) whereas it is 95 °F (35 °C) in Canoga Park, 15 miles (24 km) away. The city, like much of

9350-483: The name's pronunciation with a hard g ( / ɡ / ), reported that there were at least 12 pronunciation variants. In the early 1900s, the Los Angeles Times advocated for pronouncing it Loce AHNG-hayl-ais ( / l oʊ s ˈ ɑː ŋ h eɪ l eɪ s / ), approximating Spanish [los ˈaŋxeles] , by printing the respelling under its masthead for several years. This did not find favor. Since

9460-514: The passage of early national environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act . When the act was passed, California was unable to create a State Implementation Plan that would enable it to meet the new air quality standards, largely because of the level of pollution in Los Angeles generated by older vehicles. More recently, the state of California has led the nation in working to limit pollution by mandating low-emission vehicles . Smog

9570-423: The pronunciation / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / lawss AN -jəl-əs was established following the 1850 incorporation of the city and that since the 1880s the pronunciation / l oʊ s ˈ æ ŋ ɡ əl ə s / lohss ANG -gəl-əs emerged from a trend in California to give places Spanish, or Spanish-sounding, names and pronunciations. In 1908, librarian Charles Fletcher Lummis , who argued for

9680-400: The public with access to nature and nature-based recreation opportunities. Los Angeles Los Angeles , often referred to by its initials L.A. , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California . With an estimated 3,820,914 residents within the city limits as of 2023 , it is the second-most populous city in the United States, behind only New York City ; it is also

9790-400: The reinjection of produced water to increase reservoir pressure, allowing wells with diminishing returns to flow more freely – commenced in most zones in the late 1950s and 1960s, and continues in the present. Aera Energy LLC , a joint venture of ExxonMobil and Shell Oil Co. , eventually acquired the entire field, by consolidation of their predecessor company's operations and acquisition of

9900-563: The rest of the surrounding landscape. Most construction is done in separate units, rather than wall-to-wall . However, Downtown Los Angeles itself has many buildings over 30 stories, with fourteen over 50 stories, and two over 70 stories, the tallest of which is the Wilshire Grand Center . Los Angeles has a two-season semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) with dry summers and very mild winters, but it receives more annual precipitation than most semi-arid climates, narrowly missing

10010-519: The river, hurting habitat for steelhead trout and other wildlife. The city filed a cross-complaint in response to bring in other users of the river, including the Casitas Municipal Water District. Mediation talks began among major users of the Ventura River. The Ojai Valley Sanitary District collection system operates within the watershed. The flow of the Ventura River and its tributary Coyote Creek have been reduced by

10120-726: The river, is being actively pursued by a coalition of stakeholders. State Route 33 also roughly parallels the river through the Ventura River Valley. A portion of SR 33, north of the SR 150 , is officially designated as a state scenic highway , and the entire Ventura River Valley section is eligible for the designation. The watershed is a recreation destination for hikers, walkers, bikers, surfers, campers, fishermen, boaters, backpackers, equestrians, and birders, as well as artists, spiritual seekers, and students of natural history. Many local organizations are committed to providing

10230-550: The river. Runoff from the oil field is into the Ventura River, although some of the eastern portions of the field drain south into the Santa Clara River. In the Ventura field, the large-scale structural feature responsible for petroleum accumulation is the Ventura Anticline, an east-west trending geologic structure 16 miles (26 km) long, visible in the numerous rock outcrops in the rugged topography of

10340-628: The site must be cleaned up or daily fines would be sought from the owner. In 2015, the site owner agreed to remove all machinery and equipment, which would complete the cleanup of the plant. Rainfall in the Matilija Wilderness , the river's headwaters, is the highest in Ventura County, with average annual rainfall that is over twice that of rainfall at the coast. The steep terrain of the Ventura River watershed, coupled with intense downpours that can occur in its upper portions, result in flash flood conditions where floodwaters rise and fall in

10450-404: The subhumid upper basin, rainfall is infrequent – falling on as few days in a year as in hot, arid Phoenix , Arizona – but when rain does fall it can be extremely heavy with totals of 20 inches or 510 millimetres in a week not uncommon in the middle and upper basins. Consequently, cycles of drought and flood are the norm: as an illustration, in the main settlement of Ojai since 1906, 67 percent of

10560-650: The village of Yaanga . It became a part of the First Mexican Empire in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence . In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War , Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and became part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood . The discovery of oil in

10670-410: The watershed and groundwater comprises about 45%. Cycles of drought and flooding occur regularly. Annual rainfall in downtown Ojai has ranged from a low of seven inches to a high of 49 inches—a sevenfold variation. Because the annual amount of rainfall received is highly variable, water supplies must be managed with caution. Two small coastal watersheds—the North Ventura Coastal Streams watershed and

10780-475: The watershed remain natural and undeveloped, with 57% of its land area in protected status. Most of the watershed's primary streams and drainages are unchannelized, though the natural hydrologic patterns have been modified by two dams (the Casitas and Matilija) and three levees (the Ventura River, Casitas Springs, and Live Oak). Developed land (excluding grazing) comprises only about 13% of the total land area in

10890-433: The watershed, 13-mile inland (21 km) at an elevation of 746 feet (227 m). Only 13% of the larger city of Ventura lies within the watershed, adjacent to the coast on the lower stretch of the Ventura River. The population of the watershed is relatively small and the rate of growth low. The population is approximately 44,140, which represents just 5.4% of Ventura County's population (as of 2010 Census). The population

11000-638: The watershed. The watershed is home to numerous protected species and habitats, including 137 plants and animals protected at either the federal, state, or local level. The federally endangered southern California steelhead (listed in 1997) is of particular importance, given the watershed's often dry and always variable climate. The steelhead found in the Ventura River are part of the Southern California Steelhead Distinct Population Segment (DPS) were listed as federally endangered . Genetic analysis of

11110-503: The watershed. The northern half of the watershed lies within Los Padres National Forest . The watershed's southern half has agriculture as the dominant land use, with irrigated citrus and avocados as the primary crops while a significant area of land is used for cattle grazing. The populated area includes two cities and a number of unincorporated communities. The smaller of the two cities, Ojai , lies entirely within

11220-512: The world's largest by revenue; the city is an important site in the history of film . It also has one of the busiest container ports in the Americas. In 2018, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of over $ 1.0 trillion, making it the city with the third-largest GDP in the world, after New York and Tokyo . Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984 , and will also host in 2028 . Despite

11330-635: The worst rush hour periods in the world, according to an annual traffic index by navigation system maker, TomTom . LA drivers spend an additional 92 hours in traffic each year. During the peak rush hour, there is 80% congestion, according to the index. Los Angeles is often characterized by the presence of low-rise buildings, in contrast to New York City. Outside of a few centers such as Downtown , Warner Center , Century City , Koreatown , Miracle Mile , Hollywood, and Westwood , skyscrapers and high-rise buildings are not common in Los Angeles. The few skyscrapers built outside of those areas often stand out above

11440-633: The year, with an average of only 35 days with measurable precipitation annually. Temperatures in the coastal basin exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on a dozen or so days in the year, from one day a month in April, May, June and November to three days a month in July, August, October and to five days in September. Temperatures in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys are considerably warmer. Temperatures are subject to substantial daily swings; in inland areas

11550-431: The years have had less than the mean rainfall. Many parts of the Ventura River stream network are typically dry during much of the year. Surface water readily disappears underground in some stream reaches (segments); in others, groundwater regularly feeds streamflow. The watershed's rugged topography, largely undeveloped status, and Mediterranean climate combine to make for an area of exceptional biodiversity. It supports

11660-502: Was 2.0 inches (5 cm) on January 15, 1932. While the most recent snowfall occurred in February 2019, the first snowfall since 1962, with snow falling in areas adjacent to Los Angeles as recently as January 2021. Brief, localized instances of hail can occur on rare occasions, but are more common than snowfall. At the official downtown station, the highest recorded temperature is 113 °F (45 °C) on September 27, 2010, while

11770-454: Was built on an abandoned railroad spur (CA_VEN-1109H) that was constructed by the Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad in 1898 and acquired by Southern Pacific in 1899. The rail trail , that runs along the easterly bank of the river, was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2014. The "Ventura River Trail" part of the trail (completed in 1999) extends from the coast to Foster Park, and

11880-504: Was extremely hot; the temperature of oil in the 4th zone, discovered in 1925, and determined later to have an average depth of 9,150 feet (2,790 m), was approximately 300 °F (149 °C). Production at the field peaked in the 1950s, at which time the field became the 12th most productive in the United States. In 1954 alone the field produced over 31 million barrels of oil. As production began to decline after 1954, technologies for enhanced recovery became available. Waterflooding –

11990-502: Was formalized in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ceded Los Angeles and the rest of Alta California to the United States. Railroads arrived with the completion of the transcontinental Southern Pacific line from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1876 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1885. Petroleum was discovered in the city and surrounding area in 1892, and by 1923, the discoveries had helped California become

12100-417: Was seriously damaged or destroyed. All over Ventura County, transportation facilities, including roads, bridges, and railroad tracks, were damaged. The wastewater treatment plant below Foster Park was severely damaged and dumped raw sewage into the Ventura River. In addition, sewer trunk lines were broken along the Ventura River and San Antonio Creek. Untreated sewage polluted the river and beach. The capacity of

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