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CALIFORNIA 36 : West Los Angeles County; Manhattan Beach; Torrance

The 36th hugs the Pacific coast, running south from Venice to San Pedro and the port of Los Angeles. A swing district where party registration runs even overall, the 36th includes some of the most intensely Democratic and Republican areas in the state. While Venice is considered the state's most liberal haven outside of Berkeley, the Palos Verdes Peninsula is home to some of the most exclusive Republican enclaves in the Los Angeles region. Torrance, the district's largest city, is split politically.

A number of major companies maintain headquarters in the 36th, and aerospace firms in El Segundo and Redondo Beach drive the economy. The 36th has some of the state's most educated residents, but in the early 1990s, it wasn't unusual to see people with doctorates collecting unemployment compensation due to shrinking defense and aerospace spending.

In the 1990s, an effort to diversify the economy and encourage dual-use technology resulted in an economic boost as military and defense contractors converted their technologies to non-defense purposes.

Major Industry
Aerospace, high-tech, manufacturing

Military Bases
Los Angeles Air Force Base, 1,334 military, 990 civilian (1998)

Population
573,665 (1990)

Cities
Los Angeles (pt.), 163,650 (1990); Torrance, 143,600; Redondo Beach, 65,755 (1998 est.)

People
99% urban; 10% age 65+ (ranks 30 of 52 in state; bottom third nationally); 49% married couples, 20% married couples with children; 37% college educated (ranks third of 52 in state; top third nationally); 74% white collar (ranks fourth of 52 in state; top third nationally), 16% blue collar (ranks 46 of 52 in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Race
78% white, 3% black, 13% Asian; 15% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$48,522 (ranks fifth of 52 in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Los Angeles International Airport; Orson Welles used Venice as the location for the seedy town in "Touch of Evil" in 1958.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company