Port Areas Booming as Bay Cities Level Off

The already built-up, high-priced communities of the South Bay are growing more slowly during the 1980s than the rest of Los Angeles County, according to a report on population growth released this week.

However, three Los Angeles communities that the county does not include in its South Bay statistics--Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Wilmington--have shown dramatic growth during the past decade.

Based on Census Data

The county’s Bulletin of Population and Housing Estimates, issued twice a year by the Department of Regional Planning, bases its statistics on housing and census data.

The report shows that the South Bay--which by the county’s definition stretches from Inglewood to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, including the beach communities, Lawndale, Hawthorne, Torrance and Gardena--grew at a rate of 5.6% between Jan. 1, 1980, and Jan. 1, 1988.

By comparison, the county’s population grew 12.4% during the same period, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the Harbor City/Harbor Gateway communities grew at a rapid clip, with a combined 23.7% jump in population since the beginning of the decade--from 29,083 in 1980 to 36,000 in 1988. (Figures for 1989 are not available.)

And Wilmington was right behind, with a population increase of 21.3%, from 45,070 in 1980 to 54,670.

Aides to Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who represents Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Wilmington, attributed the growth to a boom in apartment building in those areas, particularly Harbor Gateway and Wilmington. In Wilmington, however, a moratorium on apartment building has slowed such developments in recent years.

In Harbor Gateway, Flores aide Nikki Tennant said, “there’s more room for growth, and there have been several areas where commercial property has been rezoned residential. . . . I know there are several vacant lots that have been rebuilt with either condos or apartments.”

Little Room Elsewhere

But elsewhere in the South Bay, there is little room for new development, and this--combined with the high price of real estate--slows population growth, according to George Malone, supervising regional planner for the county.

“The Peninsula area is very slow in growing, as (are) most of the beach cities. . . .,” Malone said. “I would say it’s the coastal environment and the affluence of the area that has kept growth down. . . . It’s just extremely expensive to live there, so if you get people moving in at all, they’re more likely to be just couples, rather than families.”

Indeed, according to the county report, one of the most affluent cities in the South Bay--Rolling Hills Estates--actually showed a population decline since 1980, although the city manager disputes the county’s figures.

The county showed Rolling Hills Estates losing 31 people between 1980 and 1988, with a population that dipped 0.3%, from 7,701 to 7,672.

But that “does not seem at all possible because we’ve had areas that have been developed since 1980,” said City Manager Ray Taylor.

Taylor said that as of Jan. 1, 1988, the city had a population of 7,933, a number it submitted to the state Department of Finance in order to receive state revenue. “It’s a pretty solid number,” he said.

SOUTH BAY POPULATION CHANGES

Community Jan. 1, Jan. 1, Percent 1988 1980 change Athens* 39,680 36,666 8.2 Carson 87,867 81,221 8.2 El Segundo 15,308 13,752 11.3 Gardena 49,471 45,165 9.5 Harbor City/Gateway** 36,000 29,083 23.7 Hawthorne 62,433 56,437 10.6 Hermosa Beach 19,160 18,070 6.0 Inglewood 100,472 94,162 6.7 Lawndale 26,473 23,460 12.8 Lennox* 19,556 18,445 6.0 Lomita 20,293 18,807 7.9 Manhattan Beach 34,539 31,542 9.5 Palos Verdes Estates 14,865 14,376 3.4 Rancho Palos Verdes 43,116 36,577 17.9 Redondo Beach 61,845 57,102 8.3 Rolling Hills 2,179 2,049 6.3 Rolling Hills Estates 7,672 7,701 -0.3 San Pedro** 68,529 62,323 10.0 Torrance 133,736 129,881 2.9 Westchester** 43,827 41,037 6.8 Wilmington** 54,670 45,070 21.3

* Athens and Lennox are unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County.

** Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Westchester and Wilmington are parts of the city of Los Angeles.

Source: Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.