About the City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the second most-populous city in the United States. It is the city with the highest population in California, with about 4 million people. Well known for its diversity, you will find all kinds of people living there. LA is famous for its lively entertainment scene. A City Council and a mayor govern the city. Between these two offices, they take care of 14 districts. Los Angeles has a long history. Back in 1542, it was home to the Chumash and Tongva Native Indian Tribes. A Spanish governor named Filipe de Neve founded the City of Los Angeles in 1781. In time, the city moved from Spanish territory to become a part of Mexico. It became part the U.S. territory of California under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This occurred at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848.
Modern Los Angeles
The City of Angels, a nickname for LA, is home to Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world. It is more than movies and TV too – music, fashion, finance and industry. You name it, you will find it in Los Angeles. It is home to 6 companies that ascended to the Fortune’s list of the top 500 companies. As one can imagine, such a densely populated city has a great deal of traffic. Ask any resident and they will tell you that if you want to get to your destination on time you best leave early. Because almost anywhere you are going there will be a lot of traffic.
The City of Los Angeles is also big in sports. It is home to 10 of the best sports teams in the country. It was home to the now infamous football star OJ Simpson before he went to jail. As well as the King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson. The city hosted the Olympics twice – in 1932 and 1984 and it bidding for the 2024 Olympic games.
Cities with as dense a population as Los Angeles often have higher than average levels of crime. In LA the crime figures move up and down. In the 2000’s crime statistics were down. They are now now rising again in part due to drugs, early jail releases, and gangs. Sometimes called the Gang Heartland of America, LA has a. This should not dissuade one from visiting because the city has robust law enforcement.
Education in the City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles is home to the largest public school system in California and the second largest in the US – the Los Angeles Unified School District. It currently has more than 730,000 students, second only to New York. The LAUSD is so large in fact that it has its own police department. Because of its size, it is infamous for overcrowding in schools, high dropout rates, poor academic performance and administration, and high teen pregnancy rates. The city government has been working hard to fix these problems and today LAUSD is seeing slight improvements. The system provides lunch and bus transportation for all its students.
Los Angeles’ Top Universities
The University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California Los Angles (UCLA) are the biggest and best-known universities in the City of Los Angeles and among the best-known universities in the state. Established in 1880, USC is a private university and today has about 19,000 students. Set in a campus on 226 acres, it offers a diverse range of undergraduate programs. Los Angeles’s Downtown Arts and Education Corridor is the biggest UCLA campus and students get a rich academic offering. There are more than 700 programs in which students can participate. They can also be members of any of the 60 chapters. The university has other campuses in California, all of which provide excellent educational opportunities for Americans and foreigners alike.
UCLA is a publically funded institution. It boasts of 14 Nobel Laureates, 12 McArthur Fellowes and a host of other notable people graduated from UCLA. In fact, more than 140 companies use technology created at UCLA. The university, according to its website, moves forward by optimism and the willingness to see beyond the classroom and into the wider world. The curriculum offers more than 125 majors and more than 80 minors. UCLA has many programs, but there are some that stand out. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, for example, ranks among the top 5 in the country, and the UCLA Volunteer Day is almost the biggest event of its kind in the United States.
To conclude, the City of Los Angeles is a bustling, vibrant place with a diverse life and it has something to offer for everyone. For more information about a great community partner, check out Five Acres – Behavioral Health Services Los Angeles.