About Southern California Communities

Southern California or SoCal is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population encompasses three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside Metropolitan Area with over 4 million inhabitants, and the San Diego Metropolitan Area with over 3 million inhabitants. The region is home to approximately 24 million people, which is more than half of California’s population, and is the nation’s second most populous region behind the urban seaboard of the Northeastern United States.

Though there is no official definition for the northern boundary of Southern California, most definitions in use include all the land south of the Tehachapi Mountains, located about 70 miles (113 km) north of Los Angeles.On the west of Southern California lies the Pacific Ocean; to the south is the international border between the United States and Mexico; to the east are the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and the Colorado River at the state’s border with Arizona and Nevada. Within its boundaries is a major world city, Los Angeles, and three of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. With a population of 1,336,865, San Diego is the second most populous city in California, and the eighth most populous in the U.S.

Counties of SoCal include Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside. SoCal is in the top 15 most populous counties in the United States and all five are the top 5 most populous counties in California.[3] The region is also home to Los Angeles International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the United States by passenger volume (see World’s busiest airports by passenger traffic) and the second by international passenger volume, San Diego International Airport the busiest single runway airport in the world, Van Nuys Airport (see Busiest airports in the United States by international passenger traffic), the world’s busiest general aviation airport, major commercial airports at Orange County, Ontario, Burbank and Long Beach and numerous smaller commercial and general aviation airports. Southern California is also home to the Port of Los Angeles, the United States’ busiest commercial port, the adjacent Port of Long Beach, and the Port of San Diego. Also of note in the region is the freeway system, which is the world’s busiest. Six of the seven lines of the commuter rail system, Metrolink, run out of Downtown Los Angeles, connecting Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties with the other line connecting San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties directly.
Part of downtown San Bernardino

The Tech Coast is a moniker that has gained use as a descriptor for the region’s diversified technology and industrial base as well as its multitude of prestigious and world-renowned research universities and other public and private institutions. Amongst these include five University of California campuses (Los Angeles (UCLA), Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and San Diego (UCSD) campuses), 10 California State University campuses (Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Northridge (CSUN), San Bernardino, San Diego (SDSU), and San Marcos campuses), as well as private institutions such as Caltech, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University,Chapman University, the Claremont Colleges and the University of San Diego (USD).

Southern California is also the entertainment (motion picture, television, and recorded music) capital of the world and is home to Hollywood, the center of the motion picture industry. Headquartered in Southern California are The Walt Disney Company (which also owns ABC), Sony Pictures, Universal, MGM, Paramount Pictures (parent company of Dreamworks), 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, and as well as Univision, Activision, and THQ. Southern California is also home to the world’s largest adult entertainment industry, located primarily in the San Fernando Valley.

Besides the entertainment industry, Southern California is also home to a large home grown surf and skateboard culture. Companies such as Volcom, Quiksilver, O’Neill clothing division, No Fear, Lost Enterprises, Sector 9, RVCA, Body Glove and Surfline are all headquartered here. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, professional surfers Rob Machado, Tim Curran, Bobby Martinez, Pat O’Connell, Dane Reynolds, and Chris Ward, and professional snowboarder Shaun White live in Southern California. Some of the world’s legendary surf spots are here as well, including Trestles, Rincon, The Wedge, Huntington Beach, and Malibu, and it is second only to the island of Oahu in terms of famous surf breaks. Some of the world’s biggest extreme sports events including the X Games, Boost Mobile Pro, and the U.S. Open of Surfing are all in Southern California. Southern California is also important to the world of yachting. The annual Transpacific Yacht Race, or “Transpac”, from Los Angeles to Hawaii, is one of yachting’s premier events. The San Diego Yacht Club held the America’s Cup, the most prestigious prize in yachting, from 1988 to 1995 and hosted three America’s Cup races during that time.

Southern California is home to many sports franchises and sports networks such as Fox Sports Net. Professional teams that are located in the region include the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, Los Angeles Riptide, and San Diego Chargers. Southern California also is home to a number of popular NCAA sports programs, such as the UCLA Bruins (Our Family Team), the USC Trojans, and the SDSU Aztecs.