CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH COMMUNITY PROFILE

A sunny small beach City of 1.43 square miles, Hermosa Beach sits at the center of Los Angeles County's South Bay coastline, just 6 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport and twenty-one miles from Downtown Los Angeles. A bedroom community with a flourishing downtown, the City of Hermosa Beach serves a stable population of 19,018, according to the State's latest population estimate. However as a lively beach city and tourist destination, Hermosa experiences a high visitor population. Due to this high visitor population, the City operates in many ways like a larger city. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, beach attendance ranged from a low of 81,900 in November 2022 to a high of 898,000 in July 2022, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Lifeguard Division.

The town is the very essence of the Southern California lifestyle, with temperatures ranging on average from highs of 78 degrees in the summer to 65 degrees in winter, and nighttime temperatures that rarely fall below 55 degrees. There are architecturally diverse residences on the Strand, bungalows scattered throughout the town, and multilevel homes in the hills with ocean views. There are a myriad of regular outdoor activities such as volleyball, surfing, skateboarding, and boogie boarding to name a few. Other favorite activities include jogging, skating or biking along the Strand - the paved strip paralleling the beach and connecting Hermosa with the neighboring beach cities. The City has a police department, a robust park system, green belt, and exceptional schools and facilities. Beginning December 30, 2017, the City contracted with the Los Angeles County Fire Department for Fire Services.

Hermosa Beach is also well known for its entertainment offerings, which include live music from rock to jazz, as well as festivals and special events which abound on weekends. The three-day weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day bring thousands of visitors to the Fiesta Hermosa street fair, which has been a tradition for many years and features hundreds of crafters, artists and musicians. In addition, Hermosa Beach is well known for its diverse restaurants and shops along the City’s avenues.

HISTORY

Hermosa Beach was originally part of the 1784 Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant that later became the ten-mile Ocean frontage of Rancho Sausal Redondo. In 1900, a tract of 1,500 acres was purchased for $35 per acre from A. E. Pomroy, then owner of the greater part of Rancho Sausal Redondo. Messrs. Burbank and Baker, agents, bought this land for Sherman and Clark who organized and retained the controlling interest in the Hermosa Beach Land and Water Company.

In the early days, Hermosa Beach — like so many of its neighboring cities — was one vast sweep of rolling hills covered with fields of grain. During certain seasons of the year, large herds of sheep were grazed over this land, and corrals and large barns for storing the grain, as well as providing shelter for horses and farm implements were located on the ranch between Hermosa and Inglewood.

The first official survey was made in the year 1901 for the board walk on the Strand, Hermosa Avenue and Santa Fe Avenue; with work on these projects commencing soon after. In 1904, the first pier was built, constructed entirely of wood by the Hermosa Beach Land and Water Company. In 1913 this old pier was partly washed away and later torn down and replaced with one built of concrete and paved with asphalt its entire length. The Los Angeles Pacific Railway, a "trolley" system, was the first railway in Hermosa Beach, running the entire length of Hermosa Ave. on its way from L.A. to Redondo Beach. A few years later it was merged with most all other "trolley" companies in the region to form the new Pacific Electric Railway Company. In 1926, the Santa Fe Railway Company built a modern stucco depot and installed Western Union telegraph service on the railway platform near Santa Fe Avenue, which would later be renamed Pier Avenue.

The first city election for city officers was held December 24, 1906. On January 14, 1907, Hermosa Beach became the nineteenth incorporated city of Los Angeles County.

GOVERNMENT AND SERVICES

Hermosa Beach functions under a Council-Manager form of government. Policy-making and legislative authority are vested in a governing council consisting of five members of the City Council elected on a non-partisan basis at large for a four-year term. In December 2016, City Council adopted Ordinance 16-1373 to move the date of the City’s General Municipal Election from the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of odd-numbered years to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years starting with the November 2022 General Election. Council members typically serve four-year, staggered terms, with an election every two years. One member is chosen by fellow members to serve as Mayor for a period of nine months; one is chosen to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. The Council is responsible for, among other things, establishing policy, passing ordinances, adopting an annual budget; appointing members to various City Commissions and Boards and hiring the City Manager and City Attorney. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the City Council, for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government, and for appointing the heads of the various departments.

In the California State Legislature, Hermosa Beach is in the 24th Senate District, represented by Democrat Ben Allen, and in the 66th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Al Muratsuchi. In the United States House of Representatives, Hermosa Beach is in California's 36th congressional district, represented by Democrat Ted Lieu.

The City offers a full range of municipal services, including police, community development (planning and zoning), cultural, recreation and parks, maintenance and construction of public improvements, parking and animal control, and general administration. Fire protection services are provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), under contract, as of December 30, 2017.

LOCAL ECONOMY

Hermosa Beach is a “bedroom community” as evidenced by a household count of +10,000 and an in-city business count of under 1,000 (excluding apartments and home occupations). As of the 2023 Assessor’s Report Hermosa Beach had growth of 8.5 percent in secured and unsecured assessed valuation, as compared to 5.9 percent for Los Angeles County. The 8.5 percent growth was the 8th highest of 88 cities in Los Angeles County. Median home prices in Hermosa Beach as of February 2024 were $2,345,000, compared to $817,100 for Los Angeles County. Home values adjacent to the beach increased for the eleventh year in a row after declining 2009-2011.

As a beach city, the three highest occupations are management, sales, and administrative support, however residents enjoy access to a much more diverse employment base with the close proximity of all of the other cities in Los Angeles County, as well as many of the largest and best known names in corporate America in such fields as aerospace, high tech, industrial, service and finance. The unemployment rate in Hermosa Beach is 3.2 percent, compared with 5.3 percent for Los Angeles County, and 4.9 percent for California as of June 2023.