Marina del Rey, California

History

Prior to its development as a small craft harbor, the land occupied by Marina del Rey was a salt-marsh fed by fresh water from Ballona Creek, frequented by duck hunters and few others. Burton W. Chace, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, referred to the area as mud flats, though today the area would more properly be referred to as wetlands.

In the mid-19th century, Moye C. Wicks and Louis Mesmer thought of turning this Playa del Rey estuary into a commercial port. He formed the Ballona Development Company in 1888 to develop the area, but three years later the company went bankrupt.

Port Ballona made by Louis Mesmer and Moye Wicks was then sold to Moses Sherman. Sherman purchased 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land around the Ballona lagoon and Port Ballona in 1902 under the name the Beach Land Company. Sherman and Clark renamed the land "Del Rey". Port Ballona was then renamed Playa Del Rey. The port was serviced by the California Central Railway opened in September 1887, this line later became the Santa Fe Railway, that later became the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The rail line ran from the port to Redondo junction. A street car tram line was made to the Port by the Redondo and Hermosa Beach Railroad company, that had incorporated on February 21, 1901. This company was part of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad owned by Sherman. The tram line opened December 1902 departed downtown at 4th & Broadway.

In 1916, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revisited the idea of a commercial harbor, but declared it economically impractical. In 1936 the U.S. Congress ordered a re-evaluation of that determination, and the Army Corps of Engineers returned with a more favorable determination; however, the Marina del Rey harbor concept lost out to San Pedro as a commercial harbor and development funding went to the Port of Los Angeles instead.

In 1953, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized a $2 million loan to fund construction of the marina. Since the loan only covered about half the cost, the U.S. Congress passed and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 780 making construction possible. Ground breaking began shortly after.

With construction almost complete, the marina was put in danger in 1962–1963 due to a winter storm. The storm caused millions of dollars in damage to both the marina and the few small boats anchored there. A plan was put into effect to build a breakwater at the mouth of the marina, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors appropriated $2.1 million to build it. On April 10, 1965 Marina del Rey was formally dedicated. The total cost of the marina was $36.25 million for land, construction, and initial operation.

Geography

Marina del Rey falls within unincorporated Los Angeles County and is southeast of the L.A. City community of Venice and north of the L.A. City community of Playa del Rey, near the mouth of Ballona Creek. It is located four miles (6 km) north of Los Angeles International Airport.

It is bounded on all sides by the City of Los Angeles. The beach-style homes, the strip of land against the beach, and the beach itself (see photo), west of the harbor, are within the City of Los Angeles limits, but share the same zip code as Marina del Rey. The name of this strip is the Marina Peninsula. Via Dolce and the southern portion of Via Marina are the boundaries between L.A. City and the unincorporated area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Marina del Rey has an area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²). Nine-tenths of a square mile (2.2 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) is water (40.91%).

The marina itself, a specially designed harbor with moorings for pleasure craft and small boats, is surrounded by high-rise condos, hotels, apartments, shops, and restaurants. The area also includes the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute and the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center.

The community is served by the three-mile-long (5 km) Marina Freeway (State Route 90), which links Marina del Rey directly to Interstate 405 and nearby Culver City.

The area codes of Marina del Rey are 310 and 424. Its ZIP code is 90292.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Marina del Rey had a population of 8,866. The population density was 6,094.6 people per square mile (2,353.1/km²). The racial makeup of Marina del Rey was 7,071 (79.8%) White (74.7% Non-Hispanic White), 465 (5.2%) African American, 31 (0.3%) Native American, 749 (8.4%) Asian, 10 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 154 (1.7%) from other races, and 386 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 686 persons (7.7%).

The Census reported that 8,860 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 6 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 5,600 households, out of which 429 (7.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,317 (23.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 215 (3.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 126 (2.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 541 (9.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 45 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. Of the households, 3,037 (54.2%) were made up of individuals and 601 (10.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.58. There were 1,658 families (29.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.32.

The population was spread out with 565 people (6.4%) under the age of 18, 487 people (5.5%) aged 18 to 24, 4,150 people (46.8%) aged 25 to 44, 2,473 people (27.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,191 people (13.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.0 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males.

There were 6,742 housing units at an average density of 4,634.5 per square mile (1,789.4/km²), of which 644 (11.5%) were owner-occupied, and 4,956 (88.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 11.4%. 936 people (10.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,924 people (89.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Marina del Rey had a median household income of $95,248, with 9.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,176 people, 5,315 households, and 1,520 families residing in the Census Designated Place (CDP). The population density was 9,289.5 inhabitants per square mile (3,587.2/km²). There were 6,321 housing units at an average density of 7,181.8 per square mile (2,773.4/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.46% White, 4.68% African American, 0.16% Native American, 8.21% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 1.30% from other races, and 3.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.34% of the population.

There were 5,315 households out of which 6.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 22.7% were married couples living together, 3.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 71.4% were non-families. Of all households, 57.3% were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.54 and the average family size was 2.31.

In the CDP, the population was spread out with 6.4% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 50.4% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 108.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $68,447, and the median income for a family was $84,390. Males had a median income of $66,928 versus $51,854 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $58,530. About 6.5% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Parks and recreation

Marina del Rey has two main parks: Chace Park and Yvonne B. Burke Park, renamed from the original Admiralty Park in 2009 to honor long-time Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

Economy

The following organizations are headquartered in Marina del Rey:

Transportation

The Marina Expressway, California State Route 90, terminates at Lincoln Blvd (California State Route 1) in northeastern Marina del Rey and links the area with Culver City. A water shuttle service, the WaterBus, serves the harbor between July 4 and Labor Day.

Street layout

The harbor has eight basins separated by six strips of land, each of which has at least one street on it. From the northeastern end of the Marina, going clockwise, these streets are: Bali Way, Mindanao Way (with west terminus at Burton Chace Park), Fiji Way (bordering the southeastern edge of the Marina), Bora Bora Way, Tahiti Way, Marquesas Way, Panay Way, and Palawan Way. Panay Way, Marquesas Way, Tahiti Way, and Bora Bora Way are all on the western side of the Marina and all terminate at Via Marina. Palawan Way is also on the west side, but it terminates at Washington Bl.

Washington Boulevard bounds the Marina to the northwest. Palawan Way and Via Marina end to the north at Washington Blvd.

Government

Marina del Rey is managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. All of the area's land is owned by the County of Los Angeles, which issues long-term leases to private citizens.

Marina del Rey is in the Fourth District of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, represented by Don Knabe.

In the California State Legislature, Marina del Rey is in the 26th Senate District, represented by Democrat Ben Allen, and in the 62nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Autumn Burke.

In the United States House of Representatives, Marina del Rey is in California's 33rd congressional district, represented by Democrat Ted Lieu.

Infrastructure

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) has a substation in Marina del Rey.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) serves Marina del Rey and is based at Station #110, a part of Battalion 1, at 4433 Admiralty Way. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has an office in Marina del Rey as well.

Education

Marina del Rey is in the Los Angeles Unified School District, although there are no schools in the area proper. As of 2009 Steve Zimmer represents the district. Students from Marina del Rey attend Coeur d'Alene Avenue Elementary School, Marina del Rey Middle School, and Venice High School.

Public libraries

The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Lloyd Taber-Marina del Rey Library. The library has a nautical collection to serve small boaters in the area.