Gateway Cities

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History

Historically, the Gateway region is the industrial heartland of Greater Los Angeles. The huge expanse of flat land in the floodplains of the lower Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers proved ideal for industrial development, and large-scale urbanization began in the 1900s. The cheap, fertile land was generally subdivided into long, narrow "railroad lots" aimed at Midwestern and Southern farmers starting new lives as workers in the region's factories. Explosive industrial growth and concurrent suburbanization occurred in World War II and continued throughout the Cold War; by the 1980s, Los Angeles County had become the leading center of industrial production in the United States, with the Gateway Cities leading the way. However, the end of the Cold War and the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico had a devastating effect on the region, and by the end of the 1990s industrial output was far below its historical peak. High-tech industries spurned the area as both lacking in modern buildings and also too polluted and crime-ridden, moving instead to locales such as the western San Fernando Valley, southern Orange County, and Santa Clarita. The logistics firms that grew exponentially with increased traffic at the Port of Los Angeles largely ignored the region as well, instead choosing inland cities such Corona, known as the gateway to the Inland Empire, and Colton. Most of the region's middle-class whites and blacks moved to other parts of Southern California (particularly the Inland Empire) or left the state altogether; the vacuum was filled primarily by persons of Mexican ancestry, with the result that most of the cities of the Gateway region have substantial Latino majorities, with the significant exception of Cerritos, which has a majority Asian population and Artesia, La Mirada, Lakewood, Signal Hill and Whittier, which remain predominantly white.

Education

Universities

*Biola University, in La Mirada
*California State University, Long Beach
*Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier
*Whittier College
*California State University Dominguez Hills

Community Colleges

*Cerritos College, in Norwalk
*El Camino College Compton Center, in Compton
*East Los Angeles College, in Monterey Park
*Long Beach City College
*Rio Hondo College

Cities of the Gateway region

Most area residents identify with the city of Los Angeles due to its propinquity, despite living in independent municipalities. The following cities are members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments:
*Artesia
*Bell
*Bell Gardens
*Bellflower
*Cerritos
*Commerce
*Compton
*Cudahy
*Downey
*Hawaiian Gardens
*Huntington Park
*La Habra Heights
*La Mirada
*Lakewood
*Long Beach
*Lynwood
*Maywood
*Montebello(Sometimes considered part of the San Gabriel Valley)
*Norwalk
*Paramount
*Pico Rivera
*Santa Fe Springs
*Signal Hill
*South Gate
*Vernon
*Whittier (Sometimes considered part of the San Gabriel Valley)Also members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments:
*Avalon (on Catalina Island)
*Los Angeles County
*Port of Long Beach

The following cities are also considered to be parts of other regions in Los Angeles County:

San Gabriel Valley: Montebello, Whittier

East Los Angeles: Commerce, Montebello, Pico Rivera, and Whittier

South Los Angeles: Compton, Lynwood, Inglewood, South Gate, and Huntington Park

Although Carson might seem like a 'natural' fit with the Gateway Cities, it is usually considered part of the South Bay.

External links

* [http://www.gatewaycog.org/ Gateway Cities Council of Governments]
* [http://www.gatewaycities.org/ Gateway Cities Partnership] - a non profit Community Revitalization and Education Organization