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51-559: Torrance, California is a town that was planned on the drawing board. Before 1912 there was no settlement in the area. After splitting off to the east from the Union Tool Company plant which was once a short distance south of the bridge, the line terminated at the new Torrance plant of the Llewellyn Iron Works which was opened in 1916 (and was since 1923 for most of its life a Columbia Steel Company plant). It ran up and over

102-716: A Japanese presence came. According to John Kaji, a Torrance resident quoted in Public Radio International who was the son of Toyota's first American-based accountant, the Japanese corporate presence in Torrance, beginning with Toyota, attracted many ethnic Japanese. Toyota moved its operations to its Torrance campus in 1982 because of its proximity to the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles International Airport , and many other Japanese companies followed suit. In 2014, Toyota announced it

153-457: A customer relations and services office, in Torrance. The Toyota Motor Company of Japan established a U.S. headquarters on October 31, 1957, at a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood. Toyota sold 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser during the company's first year of U.S. operation. It moved Toyota Motor Sales USA operations to Torrance in 1982, because of easy access to port facilities and

204-411: A male householder with no wife present. There were 2,152 (3.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 309 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 14,472 households (25.8%) were made up of individuals, and 5,611 (10.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58. There were 38,412 families (68.6% of all households); the average family size

255-475: A moderate year-round climate with average rainfall of 12 inches (300 mm) per year. Torrance was incorporated in 1921, and at the 2020 census had a population of 147,067 residents. Torrance has a beachfront and has 30 parks located around the city. It is also the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). For thousands of years, the area of Torrance was occupied by

306-488: A new planned community , with the architect Irving Gill designing the principal buildings. The resulting city, Torrance, California , was founded in 1911 and named after Jared Torrance. In 1920 Jared Torrance formed the Torrance Hospital Association, but he died before a hospital could be constructed in the new city. His widow Helena Childs Torrance followed through on Jared Torrance's vision, and in 1925

357-703: Is November through March, as shown in the adjacent table. Summers tend to be warm but dry, despite Torrance's proximity to the coast. The 2010 United States Census reported that Torrance had a population of 145,438. The population density was 7,076.1 inhabitants per square mile (2,732.1/km ). The racial makeup of Torrance was 74,333 (51.1%) White (42.3% Non-Hispanic White), 50,240 (34.5%) Asian , 3,955 (2.7%) African American , 554 (0.4%) Native American , 530 (0.4%) Pacific Islander , 7,808 (5.4%) from other races , and 8,018 (5.5%) from two or more races. There were 23,440 Hispanic or Latino residents, of any race (16.1%). The Census reported that 144,292 people (99.2% of

408-474: Is a major local issue. Torrance is also home to the main bakery facility for King's Hawaiian , the dominant brand of Hawaiian bread in North America. Younger Optics, Torrance's 10th-largest employer, created the first seamless or "invisible" bifocal. The headquarters of Mitsuwa Marketplace and Nijiya Market are both located in Torrance. All Nippon Airways operates its United States headquarters,

459-466: Is home to the U.S. headquarters of Japanese automaker American Honda Motor Company and its luxury vehicle division, Acura . Robinson Helicopters are designed and built in Torrance as are Honeywell 's Garrett turbochargers , used on automobile engines worldwide. Alcoa Fastening Systems (now known as Arconic) is headquartered in Torrance, producing aerospace fasteners. Pacific Sales , Pelican Products , Virco , and Rapiscan Systems are among

510-476: Is known to locals as Rat Beach (Right After Torrance). An urban wetland , the Madrona Marsh is a nature preserve on land once set for oil production and saved from development, with restoration projects enhancing the vital habitat for birds, wildlife, and native plants . Torrance has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb ), bordering with a semi-arid climate ( Bsk ). The rainy season

561-641: The 35th Senate District , represented by Democrat Steven Bradford . In the California State Assembly , it is in the 66th Assembly District , represented by Democrat Al Muratsuchi . In the United States House of Representatives , Torrance is split between California's 33rd congressional district , represented by Democrat Pete Aguilar , and California's 43rd congressional district , represented by Democrat Maxine Waters . The United States Postal Service operates

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612-579: The Alta California territory of independent Mexico . In the early 1900s, real estate developer Jared Sidney Torrance and other investors saw the value of creating a mixed industrial–residential community south of Los Angeles . They purchased part of an old Spanish land grant and hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design a planned community . The resulting town was founded in October 1912 and named after Torrance. The city of Torrance

663-576: The Mount Lowe Railway , above Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains , at the turn of the century. In the early 1900s Jared Torrance and other investors saw the value of creating a mixed industrial- residential community south of Los Angeles. They purchased part of the Spanish land grant Rancho San Pedro and hired nationally renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design

714-471: The Pacific Electric Railway . Torrance has a general aviation airport, originally named simply "Torrance Airport" and since renamed Zamperini Field after local track star, World War II hero and Torrance High graduate Louis Zamperini . The airport handles approximately 175,000 annual take-offs and landings (473 per day), down from the 1974 record of 428,000 operations. Airport noise abatement

765-685: The Tongva Native Americans . The land that is now part of the City of Torrance and much of the modern South Bay was part of the extensive marshlands. In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded Rancho San Pedro (including present-day Torrance), a tract of over 75,000 acres (300 km ) in the province of Las Californias of New Spain , to soldier Juan José Domínguez. It was later divided in 1846, with Governor Pío Pico granting Rancho de los Palos Verdes to José Loreto and Juan Capistrano Sepulveda in

816-663: The American Society of Civil Engineers in 2013. Though trackage, turnouts and remnants of a switch remain on the bridge, it is no longer in use nor has it been for quite some time. There is no chance of the bridge returning to service, since the right-of-way at either end has been redeveloped. Nevertheless, the Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge has become a symbol of the city as part of the Torrance Police Department's logo as of January 1, 2000, only

867-586: The City of Torrance, the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation (TOCA) provides diverse cultural, educational and entertainment experiences. Additional performances are provided by the Torrance Performing Arts Consortium, including The Aerospace Players , Torrance Art Museum, Los Cancioneros Master Chorale, South Bay Ballet, South Bay Conservatory, and The Torrance Symphony. In the 2010 Rose Parade , City of Torrance's entry won

918-590: The Jared Sidney Torrance Memorial Hospital was opened. It is now named the Torrance Memorial Medical Center . Torrance was also an amateur genealogist and did extensive research on his family roots. He wrote a book entitled The Descendants of Lewis Hart and Anne Elliott which was published posthumously by his wife in 1923. Jared Sidney Torrance died in 1921. This article about an American businessperson born in

969-484: The LAX airport. In 2013, it sold 2.2 million vehicles in the U.S. In 2014, it announced it would move 3,000 of its white-collar employees to Plano, Texas to be closer to its American factories. Numerous other Japanese firms followed Toyota to Los Angeles, because of its location and its reputation as the national trend-setter. The Los Angeles South Bay area, as of 2014, has the largest concentration of Japanese companies in

1020-577: The San Gabriel Mountains. The Olmsted Tract includes a number of buildings designed by the noted Southern California Architect Irving Gill, including the original train depot. The footprint of the downtown neighborhood, now called Old Torrance, was designed on a diagonal to allow the trade breezes coming from the Pacific Ocean to keep the air clean from industrial pollution for the residential and commercial neighborhoods. The industrial sections of

1071-580: The Theme trophy for excellence in presenting parade theme. In 2016, the City of Torrance float won the Princess trophy for most beautiful float 35 feet and under. These Torrance landmarks are on the National Register of Historic Places : The Torrance City Parks Department directs and maintains the thirty Torrance City Parks . They include: The City of Torrance is a charter city . The original city charter

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1122-969: The Torrance Post Office at 2510 Monterey Street, the Marcelina Post Office at 1433 Marcelina Avenue, the Walteria Post Office at 4216 Pacific Coast Highway, the North Torrance Post Office at 18080 Crenshaw Boulevard, and the Del Amo Post Office at 291 Del Amo Fashion Square. Zip codes 90277, 90501, 90503, 90504, 90505. There are two major hospitals in Torrance: Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Little Company of Mary Hospital . A third hospital, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Harbor-UCLA Medical Center , lies just outside

1173-466: The United States. The Armed Forces Day Parade in Torrance, which was first produced in 1960, is the longest-running military parade sponsored by a city. It is held annually on Armed Forces Day, and runs down Torrance Boulevard. The parade features military vehicles, school bands, and prominent community members. The Torrance Cultural Arts Center hosts cultural events year-round. In partnership with

1224-472: The automotive industry. Because of this, many Japanese restaurants and other cultural offerings are in the city, and Willy Blackmore of L.A. Weekly wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japan's 48th prefecture ". Japanese supermarkets, schools, and banks serve the community. In the pre- World War II period, the South Bay region was one of the few areas that allowed non-U.S. citizens to acquire property, so

1275-583: The budget of the city. The City Council appoints the City Manager and the City Attorney. The city has 13 appointed boards and commissions which advise the council on matters of concern to local residents, such as the city airport, arts, parks, and libraries. In the California State Senate , Torrance is split between the 26th Senate District , represented by Democrat María Elena Durazo , and

1326-618: The city limits (in unincorporated West Carson ). Jared Sidney Torrance Jared Sidney Torrance (August 3, 1852 or 1853 – March 29, 1921) was an American real estate developer , best known as the founder of Torrance in southwest Los Angeles County , California . Jared Torrance was born in Gowanda, New York , in 1853, and moved to Southern California in approximately 1887 to settle initially in Pasadena where he worked in real estate. Among other notable transactions, he briefly owned

1377-518: The city of Redondo Beach to the west. The western portion of Torrance is in ZIP Code 90277 which is a city of Redondo Beach postal address. It is about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Downtown Los Angeles . Torrance Beach lies between Redondo Beach and Malaga Cove on Santa Monica Bay . The southernmost stretch of Torrance Beach, on a cove at the northern end of the Palos Verdes peninsula,

1428-559: The city were placed on the eastern side of the original tract. Public transportation played a key role in the founding of Torrance. The Pacific Electric Red Car connected downtown Los Angeles to the new development of downtown Torrance. Designed in 1912 by Irving Gill, the terminus depot of the Red Car line was designed in a Spanish revival style popularized during this era. In May 1913, the Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge

1479-644: The climate and geographical features common to the Greater Los Angeles area . Its boundaries are: Redondo Beach Boulevard and the cities of Lawndale and Gardena to the north; Western Avenue and the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of Los Angeles to the east; the Palos Verdes Hills with the cities of Lomita , Rolling Hills Estates and Palos Verdes Estates on the south; and the Pacific Ocean and

1530-457: The houses on these avenues reached the centennial mark in 2012. Both avenues are located in the area referred to as Old Torrance. This section of Torrance is under review to be classified as a historical district . Some of the early civic and residential buildings were designed by the renowned and innovative Southern California architect Irving Gill , in his distinctive combining of Mission Revival and early Modernist architecture . Torrance

1581-527: The mall spanning Carson Street joined the two centers by 1982, making it the largest mall in the world at the time. In 2005, the east end of the original mall north of Carson Street was demolished to make way for a new open-air shopping center, opened in mid-September 2006. This was followed in 2015 by the opening of an expanded northern Fashion Wing, with Nordstrom as the mall anchor and supplemented by luxury retailers such as Kate Spade , Hugo Boss , Uniqlo , Michael Kors , and Ben Bridge . The Old Towne Mall

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1632-583: The national headquarters of American Honda Motor Company , but the once double-tracked Torrance line was reballasted and rerailed with used welded rail in 2003 and is still in use for local runs by the Union Pacific Railroad . Gone too are the Pacific Electric's Torrance shops at the western branch of the split, now the site of an industrial park still serviced by the aforementioned local line. Designed by Irving Gill and built in 1913 as part of

1683-559: The neighboring city of Gardena. As of the census of 2000, there were 137,946 people, 54,542 households, and 36,270 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,715.7 inhabitants per square mile (2,592.9/km ). There were 55,967 housing units at an average density of 2,724.7 units per square mile (1,052.0 units/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 59.2% White , 28.6% Asian , 2.2% Black or African American , 0.4% Native American , 0.4% Pacific Islander , 4.6% from other races , and 4.7% from two or more races. 12.8% of

1734-470: The original layout of the city as determined by Jared Sidney Torrance and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. , the bridge became the city's second entry in the National Register of Historic Places on July 13, 1989 after Torrance High School . It is also listed with the California Office of Historic Preservation. The Pacific Electric Railway- El Prado Bridge, was dedicated as a Local Engineering Landmark by

1785-515: The other companies based in Torrance. According to the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the city's top 10 employers (by number of employees) are: The Del Amo Fashion Center , at 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m ), is one of the five largest malls in the United States by gross leasable area. The current mall was created when Del Amo Center, built in 1958, merged with Del Amo Fashion Square, built in 1972. Once located on opposite sides of Carson Street, an expansion of

1836-436: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 54,542 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

1887-404: The population) lived in households, 506 (0.3%) homeless who lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 640 (0.4%) were institutionalized. There were 56,001 households, out of which 18,558 (33.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 29,754 (53.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,148 (11.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,510 (4.5%) had

1938-482: The railroad's east/west Torrance local line in much the same manner as a viaduct and is the only part of the PE which crossed itself in such a manner; indeed, the map on the following reference link refers to the bridge as a viaduct. This was due to the area's geography; simply building a spur off of the main line would have resulted in too steep a climb to the steel mill. The steel mill has since been demolished to make way for

1989-511: The third such change in the department's history. Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area , located in southwest Los Angeles County, California , United States . The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. A small section of the city, 1.5 miles (2.4 km), abuts the Pacific Ocean . Torrance has

2040-576: The top Lathrop K. Leishman trophy for its Garden of Dreams float, judged as the "Most Beautiful Non-Commercial" float. In 2011, Torrance won the Tournament Volunteers' Trophy for best floral design of parade theme under 35 feet in length. In 2012, the city's entry won the Governor's Trophy for best depiction of life in California. In 2015, an entry honoring Rose Parade Grand Marshal Louis Zamperini won

2091-436: The train depot located on Cabrillo Avenue. The bridge no longer carries any rail cars, with Pacific Electric closing the Red Car line to Torrance in the 1940s. The bridge became the city of Torrance's second entry in the National Register of Historic Places on July 13, 1989, and is used as a logo for the city's new wayfinding signage and city materials. Torrance is a coastal community in southwestern Los Angeles County sharing

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2142-527: Was $ 79,312, and the median income for a family was $ 98,473. Males had a median income of $ 50,606 versus $ 36,334 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 39,118. About 4.7% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over. As of 2014, Torrance had the second-largest concentration of people of Japanese ancestry of any U.S. city, after Honolulu . The city has offices of numerous Japanese companies, including those in

2193-399: Was 0.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.3%. 85,308 people (58.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units, and 58,984 people (40.6%) lived in rental housing units. As of March 2019, Torrance had a median household income of $ 85,070 and a median family income of $ 102,637. Torrance has the second-highest percentage of residents of Japanese ancestry in California (8.9%), after

2244-409: Was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, 23.0% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.8% was from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males. The median income for a household in the city in 2008

2295-579: Was 3.14. There were 31,831 people (21.9%) under the age of 18, 10,875 (7.5%) aged 18 to 24, 38,296 (26.3%) aged 25 to 44, 42,710 (29.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 21,726 (14.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. There were 58,377 housing units at an average density of 2,840.3 units per square mile (1,096.6 units/km ), of which 31,621 (56.5%) were owner-occupied, and 24,380 (43.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate

2346-415: Was an entertainment-themed mall operating in the 1970s. As a major oil-producing region, Torrance was once dotted with thousands of oil wells and oil derricks . Though the oil wells are not as common as they once were, the Torrance oil refinery owned by PBF Energy in the north end of the city is responsible for much of Southern California's gasoline supply. Torrance was an important hub and shop site of

2397-540: Was built. Often called the "El Prado Bridge", it further expanded the industrial heart of the South Bay. The concrete double-tracked arch bridge was the Pacific Electric Railway's first interurban line that connected north–south to San Pedro via the Gardena Line. The bridge was used for transporting freight and commuting workers to Torrance factories. The Red Car line connected under the bridge as it connected to

2448-456: Was formally incorporated in May 1921, the townsite initially being bounded by Western Avenue on the east, Del Amo Boulevard on the north, Crenshaw Boulevard on the west, and on the south by Plaza del Amo east of where it meets Carson Street, and by Carson Street west of where it meets Plaza del Amo. The first residential avenue created in Torrance was Gramercy and the second avenue was Andreo. Many of

2499-456: Was moving its U.S. headquarters to Plano, Texas . As of 1992 , about 60% of the Korean population in the South Bay region lived in Torrance and Gardena . In 1990, 5,888 ethnic Koreans lived in Torrance, a 256% increase from the 1980 figure of 1,652. In 2022, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority 's Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count counted 306 homeless individuals in Torrance. Torrance

2550-525: Was planned as a new prototype of a balanced industrial city based on the principles of the Garden City Movement . The original tract developed by the Olmstead Brothers consists of 109 city blocks divided into three sub-districts: residential, commercial, and industrial. The plan is most notable for its axial landscaped downtown commercial neighborhood aligned to have a view of Mount San Antonio in

2601-726: Was voted on and ratified by the qualified electors at an election held August 20, 1946, and filed with the Secretary of State January 7, 1947. The elective officers of the city are the mayor, six members of the City Council, five members of the Board of Education, the City Clerk and the City Treasurer. Using the council-manager form of government, the City Council, as the elected body, adopts legislation, sets policy, adjudicates issues, and establishes

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