Long Beach Population 2010: 462,257, #36 in U.S., #7 in California 1950: 250,767, #41 in U.S. Long Beach is part of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area. Setting Long Beach was founded in 1888 along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. It grew for many years as a seaside resort, with a beach six miles long. Much of the downtown was rebuilt after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in 1933. The Port of Long Beach, near downtown, is the second busiest container port in the U.S. Buildings Tallest building: One World Trade Center (1989), 397 feet List of tallest buildings Stores The Wal-Mart in the downtown City Place retail development closed in 2016. City Place replaced the
demolished Long Beach Plaza enclosed mall in 2002. The development no longer uses the City Place name. The Pike was an amusement park along the waterfront that closed in 1979. Trains Amtrak has no service to Long Beach. The Metro Blue Line light rail runs from downtown Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles. It opened in 1990.
|  Downtown Long Beach (Photo by Christoph Finot) Museums The Long Beach Museum of Art, Museum of Latin American Art, Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, and Aquarium of the Pacific are located downtown.Theaters The Cinemark at the Pike is a first-run movie theater. The Art Theater of Long Beach, just east of downtown, shows independent films in a small 1924 theater. The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and Long Beach Opera play at the Terrace Theater (1978) of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Sports Long Beach has no professional sports teams. Downtown Long Beach Associates Convention and Visitors Bureau |