Long Beach at 100

Long Beach always has been more than just another suburb of Los Angeles. But for too many years that city was known mostly as a grimy oil and Navy town and a refuge for Iowans. Now it is known by too many as a sort of sideshow city--the home of the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose and the place where near-shore oil rigs are lamely disguised as pastel-colored apartment buildings.

Those who have not visited there for a while may be surprised if they wander down to Long Beach in 1988, the city’s centennial year. The celebration began with a ceremony at--you guessed it--the Queen Mary, featuring Gov. George Deukmejian, a Long Beach resident for many years. Other 1988 events, not necessarily connected with the centennial, will include the 14th Long Beach Grand Prix auto race, the first direct election of a full-time city mayor and possibly the America’s Cup sailing contest between a giant sloop from New Zealand and a catamaran from this country.

The most striking change in Long Beach during recent years is commercial development along Ocean Boulevard--with the modern skyline featuring new hotels, office buildings and the under construction World Trade Center. Long Beach residents have rescued their symphony orchestra from financial troubles, and they enjoy excellent theater, opera and ballet companies. They have one of the best marinas on the West Coast. Most of them can get to the Long Beach airport in about 10 minutes, and they have direct-flight service to New York, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Seattle and other major cities. The combined ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles make up one of the nation’s leading import-export centers. The population has now topped 400,000.

Located almost anywhere else, Long Beach would be recognized as a bustling major city and trade center. Going into a new century, it is in fact emerging rapidly from the shadow of Los Angeles. Happy birthday to Long Beach, the city that is not just another L.A. suburb.