| San Gabriel Valley | |
|---|---|
 Looking north from the Puente Hills aboveRowland Heights | |
| Area | 200 sq mi (520 km2) |
| Geography | |
| Location | California, United States |
| Borders on | San Gabriel Mountains (north),San Rafael Hills (west),Puente Hills (south),Chino Hills andSan Jose Hills (east) |
| Coordinates | 34°06′N118°00′W / 34.1°N 118.0°W /34.1; -118.0 |
 | |
TheSan Gabriel Valley (Spanish:Valle de San Gabriel), sometimes referred to by its initials asSGV, is one of the principal valleys ofSouthern California, with the city ofLos Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern part ofLos Angeles County. Surrounding landforms and other features include:
The San Gabriel Valley derives its name from theSan Gabriel River that flows southward through the center of the valley, which itself was named for the SpanishMission San Gabriel Arcángeloriginally built in theWhittier Narrows in 1771.[4]
Once predominantlyagricultural, the San Gabriel Valley today is almost entirelyurbanized and is an integral part of theGreater Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country. Covering about 200 sq mi (520 km2) in area, the valley includes 31 cities and fiveunincorporated communities.[5] It is located entirely within Los Angeles County.
Pasadena is the largest city in the San Gabriel Valley. It was incorporated in 1886, making it the fourth city in Los Angeles County, following Los Angeles,Santa Ana, andAnaheim. The latter two are both now located inOrange County, which broke off from LA County in 1889. More recently,statewide droughts have further strained the San Gabriel Valley's and Los Angeles County'swater security.[6]
The incorporated cities and unincorporated neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley include:
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Whittier, likeMontebello, is considered a part of theGateway Cities region.[7] An unincorporated portion of Whittier,Rose Hills, sits below thePuente Hills. While Montebello is considered to be part of the Gateway Cities region, the northern portion of Montebello is part of the San Gabriel Valley.[8]
Claremont,La Verne, andPomona are adjacent to the San Gabriel Valley, and though they are properly considered part of thePomona Valley, they are also commonly considered[7] part of the San Gabriel Valley. The57 Freeway (Orange Freeway) is generally considered[7] the dividing line between the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys. However, for statistical and economic development purposes, the County of Los Angeles generally includes these three cities as part of the San Gabriel Valley.[7] The community ofEl Sereno, in the city ofLos Angeles, is situated at the westernmost edge of the Valley. Unofficial estimates[7] place the combined population of the San Gabriel Valley at around 2 million—roughly a fifth of the population ofLos Angeles County.
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Before the arrival of theSpaniards, the land along theRio Hondo River, a branch of the San Gabriel River, was populated by theTongva people.[9] The Tongva occupied much of the Los Angeles basin and the islands ofSanta Catalina,San Nicolas,San Clemente andSanta Barbara. In the northern part of the valley were the Hahanog-na[10] Indian tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation (part of theShoshone language group) who lived in villages scattered along theArroyo Seco and the canyons from the mountains down to the South Pasadena area. In 1542, when the explorerJuan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived off the shores of San Pedro and Santa Catalina.[11] The Tongva were the people who rowed the remarkable Ti'ats (plank canoes) out to meet Cabrillo.[9] The language of the Tongva was different from the neighboring Indian tribes and it was calledGabrielino by the Spanish. The Tongva also provide the origin of many current names; Piwongna – Pomona, Cucomog-na – Cucamonga. The Gabrielinos lived in dome-like structures with thatched exteriors. Both sexes wore long hair styles and tattooed their bodies. During warm weather the men wore little clothing, but the women would wear minimal skirts made of animal hides. During the cold weather they would wear animal skin capes. European diseases killed many of the Tongva and by 1870 the area had few remaining native inhabitants. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area.[9]
The first Europeans to see inland areas of California were the members of the 1769Portolà expedition, which traveled north by land after establishing the first Spanish settlement in today's state of California at San Diego.On July 30, the expedition crossed the San Gabriel River and continued north toward what is now the city of Los Angeles. To cross the river, the expedition built a rough bridge, which gave the nameLa Puente to today's San Gabriel Valley city, and hills to the south are called thePuente Hills. A few years later, a mission was established near the river crossing.
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded byFranciscan FatherJunipero Serra, first head of theSpanish missions in California, on September 8, 1771. Its original location, calledMission Vieja, was near where San Gabriel Boulevard now crosses the Rio Hondo, which is also near the present day Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe.[12] Angel Somera and Pedro Cambon were the first missionary priests at the new mission, which marked the beginning of the Los Angeles region's settlement by Spaniards. The San Gabriel mission was the third of twenty-one[13] missions that would ultimately be established along California'sEl Camino Real.
The San Gabriel mission did well in establishing cattle ranching and farming, but six years after its founding a destructive flood led the mission fathers to relocate the establishment to its current location farther north in present-day city ofSan Gabriel. The original mission site is now marked by aCalifornia Historical Landmark.[14]
During the early years of the mission, the region operated under a Rancho system. The lands which now compose the city of Montebello were originally parts ofRancho San Antonio,Rancho La Merced, andRancho Paso de Bartolo. The Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe, built in 1844, remains standing at the center of old Rancho La Merced in Eastern Montebello in the La Merced area. Recently restored, it is the city's oldest structure.
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel served a central role in Spanish colonial society, with many of the area's first Mexican settlers being baptized at the mission, includingPio Pico, who was born and baptized at the mission in 1801. He became governor of California twice, in 1832 and in 1845 and the city of Pico Rivera was named honoring him as the last Mexican governor of California.
TheBattle of Rio San Gabriel took place in Montebello on January 8, 1847, on the banks of the Rio Hondo.[15] This battle gave the control of Los Angeles and Alta California to the United States and was a decisive battle in theMexican-American War. Two days later, after several battle losses and defeats,Mexico was forced to cede Alta California to the United States. By 1852, after USA occupation, San Gabriel became one of the first townships in the County of Los Angeles. Today the battle site is California State Historical Landmark #385, and there are two old cannon and a plaque commemorating the battle overlooking the river on Bluff Rd. and Washington Blvd.[16]
In 1853, with a contingent of Army Engineers passing through searching for the best route to build a railroad, GeologistWilliam P. Blake observed that the once-extensive vineyards were falling to decay, with fences broken down and animals roaming freely through it. However, the mission church was still in use. Blake predicted, "I believe that when the adaptation of that portion of California to the culture of the grape and the manufacture of wine becomes known and appreciated, the state will become celebrated not only for its gold and grain, but for it fruits and wines.[17]
Following the U.S. Civil War, some 5,000 acres (20 km2) of the East Los Angeles region were owned by an Italian settler from Genoa, Alessandro Repetto. After Repetto's death in 1885, his brother sold his rancho to a consortium of five Los Angeles businessmen including banker Isaias Hellman and wholesale grocer/historian Harris Newmark for $60,000, about $12 an acre.[15]
Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and South Asian pioneers and settlers first came to the San Gabriel Valley in the mid-19th century. These emigrants worked the fields, picked the grapes and citrus fruit, and built part of the infrastructure of today's San Gabriel Valley.[18] In the 1920sJapanese immigrants arrived in Monterey Park to work as farmhands.
The discovery of oil byStandard Oil Company in the Montebello hills in 1917 brought about a revolutionary change to the locality. The agricultural hills soon became a major contributor to oil production. By 1920, the San Gabriel Valley's oil fields were producing one-eighth of California's crude oil. For several decades, the hills were dotted with active oil wells.[15]
The cities of Whittier, Covina, and Pasadena were formerly the sites of the citrus industry. In addition, the oil, dairy, and cattle industries used to flourish in the southern part of the region. Manyequestrian trails in the San Gabriel Valley — specifically, those in Covina and Walnut — have disappeared or fallen into disuse. The remaining rural areas include the land between eastern West Covina and Cal Poly Pomona and in Walnut, Diamond Bar, and La Puente.
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The total population of the San Gabriel Valley in the2000 Census was 1,510,378 people, of which 1,425,596 were living in the 30 incorporated cities. The average size of a household in the San Gabriel Valley according to the 2000 Census was 3.28 persons compared with 2.98 persons for Los Angeles County as a whole. Eight cities in the Valley have average household sizes of over four persons, while an unincorporated area, theSouth San Jose Hills, was at a significant 5.07 persons per household. (Most addresses do not use South San Jose Hills as the city but use La Puente, West Covina, or Valinda.) At the other end of this scale is Sierra Madre, at 2.20 persons per household.[19]
The age distribution in the San Gabriel Valley was a little unusual when compared with the county. A larger share of the population was aged 10–19, 15.5% versus 14.8% for the county. Also, the Valley had a higher share of people over 45 years of age. The income ranges in the San Gabriel Valley area are also quite wide. The highest median household income was found in San Marino ($117,267), followed by Bradbury ($100,454). At the other end of the scale was El Monte with a median household income of $32,439. Four other cities in the Valley had household incomes of less than $40,000.[20]
Significant percentages of all major ethnic groups reside in San Gabriel Valley communities, and the area is in general one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country. The largest groups residing in the San Gabriel Valley are those ofHispanic andAsian-American origin.[18][21][22] The communities of Glendora, La Verne, Claremont, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Pasadena, South Pasadena, and San Dimas have significantWhite populations.
The Gabrieleno/Tongva of San Gabriel are headquartered in San Gabriel.[9] A smallNative American population is also located in Arcadia, Rowland Heights, Walnut, and Diamond Bar. Despite the European influx they remained an integral part of the Southern California community, and continue to in the present day.[9]
TheAfrican-American population in the San Gabriel Valley is relatively low. However, there are sizable, long-established African-American communities in the western Altadena area and in northwest Pasadena, as well as in Monrovia.[23]
Montebello is home to the oldest Armenian community in Los Angeles County. It containsHoly Cross Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, which was the only Armeniancathedral in California until Saint Leon Cathedral was built in Burbank in 2012.[24] TheArmenian Martyrs Monument at Bicknell Park commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks is the largest monument of the genocide found on public property in the world.[25] The Armenian community of Pasadena has its roots in the 1890s. The Pashgian Bros. Oriental Rugs and Fine Carpets was established in 1889.
Hispanic residents, predominatelyMexican Americans, are concentrated in Alhambra, Baldwin Park, City of Industry, El Monte, Hacienda Heights, La Puente, Montebello, Rosemead, San Gabriel, South El Monte, West Covina, Covina, Pomona, and Whittier, with significant populations in Pasadena and South Pasadena.[26]
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The San Gabriel Valley has the largest concentration ofEast Asian American communities in theUnited States, located primarily in the southwestern part of the San Gabriel Valley.[27] Eight of the ten cities in the United States with the largest proportion of Chinese Americans are located in the San Gabriel Valley.[27] The cities and communities of Monterey Park, Walnut, Alhambra, San Gabriel, San Marino, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Diamond Bar, and Arcadia form alarge Asian-American community.
There are manyFilipino Americans in the communities of West Covina and Walnut.Vietnamese Americans tend to be concentrated in San Gabriel, Rosemead, and El Monte. ManyKorean Americans live in Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, and Diamond Bar. A longstandingJapanese-American community exists in Monterey Park.[28]
Early Chinese pioneers settled into the Valley mostly as laborers.[29] They packed oranges, picked walnuts, did construction, owned or worked in laundries, and worked as cooks and servants in the homes of the wealthy. Mostly a bachelor society (especially after thePage Act of 1875 banned Chinese women), the early Chinese did not leave many descendants. By the late 1880s, there was a growing Japanese pioneer population. Filipinos and Asian Indians also served as laborers in the valley. Immigration of Chinese laborers was banned by the 1882Chinese Exclusion Act until 1943.
Almost a century later, the San Gabriel Valley's burgeoning population of Asian Americans has become a dominant cultural force.[30] Several business districts developed to serve their needs creating a collection of Southern California Chinatowns loosely connected along the Valley Boulevard Corridor. This trend began in the city ofMonterey Park during the late 1970s when many well-to-do Taiwanese professionals began settling in the area. Initially, many Chinese restaurateurs and business owners used primarilyTraditional Chinese script and not English names on their business signs. This changed in 1986, when the city council of Monterey Park enacted an ordinance requiring all businesses to translate their business signs and describe the nature of their businesses in English, deemed a matter of public safety.
Monterey Park is a microcosm of changing demographics, highlighting Asian American history and evolution in the San Gabriel Valley.Rosemead has a smaller group of Vietnamese and Chinese business districts. There are also small pockets of Chinese American businesses that are scattered throughout San Gabriel Valley cities. InRowland Heights, a handful of Korean American strip malls co-exist with Chinese American businesses. Another ethnic enclave is the Filipino American business district ofLittle Manila, inWest Covina along with an Asian indoor and outdoor shopping center. Small Chinatowns have sprung up in many cities throughout the valley.
By the2010 census there were more than half a million Asian Americans living in San Gabriel Valley.[31] While smaller than the Latino population in the valley, it outnumbered the White population, and had a faster growth rate.[32] More than a quarter of the population in the region are Asian American.[33] The largest populations of Asian Americans in San Gabriel Valley wereChinese,Filipinos,Vietnamese,Korean,Taiwanese, andJapanese.[32]
Burmese Americans are concentrated in Alhambra.[34]
The San Gabriel Valley is home to the annualTournament of Roses Parade, which is broadcast live on television onNew Year's Day from Pasadena. After the parade, theRose Bowl game between two rival college football teams is also televised live.[35]
As the oldest incorporated community in the valley, the City of Pasadena serves as a cultural center for the San Gabriel Valley.[36] Severalart-house film and play theatres are located in Pasadena, including thePasadena Playhouse.[37] In addition, the local news/talkNational Public Radio stationKPCC 89.3 FM broadcasts fromPasadena City College, although it is operated byMinnesota Public Radio.[38]
Old Pasadena, which has been restored and rejuvenated, remains highly popular.[39] Old Pasadena has an active nightlife, ashopping mall, boutiques, outdoor cafés,nightclubs,comedy clubs, and varied restaurants. Other communities hope to emulate its successes through commercial redevelopment and reviving their own downtown areas or "Main Streets".
The city ofAzusa has attempted to encourage redevelopment of its once-dilapidated downtown section by using aRoute 66 theme.Covina has had moderate success with its nostalgic Downtown Covina, with emphasis placed on a small-town America atmosphere andmom-and-pop merchants rather than big-box retail chains;Monrovia has also embraced this theme for their "Old Town."[40]Alhambra has also worked to renovate its downtown along Main St.[41]San Gabriel Mission is the center of Historical Culture in SGV.
TheCalifornia Institute of Technology, Caltech, is located in Pasadena. The university is ranked in the top 10 universities worldwide by metrics such as citation index, Nobel Prizes, and general university rankings. Caltech is also responsible for the well-knownJet Propulsion Laboratory, which designs and engineers many ofNASA's spacecraft.[42]
The city ofBaldwin Park is the birthplace of the popularhamburger fast food chainIn-N-Out Burger. Its first location opened in the city in 1948.[43]
Huy Fong's Sriracha sauce, the ubiquitous Sriracha sauce found at Vietnamese restaurants across the western world, is manufactured next to the company's headquarters inIrwindale.[44]
Naked Juice, now a division ofPepsiCo, is headquartered inMonrovia.
Panda Express was launched as a fast food version of the Panda Inn restaurant inPasadena in 1983. The company's headquarters are inRosemead.
Trader Joe's opened its first location in Pasadena in 1967. The company's headquarters are now in Monrovia.
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Most cities have their own local mayor, city council, police and fire departments. Unincorporated areas such as Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights are governed by theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and theLos Angeles County Sheriff's Department has jurisdiction in these areas.
In many unincorporated areas, advisory town councils guide the decisions, made by a supervisor or city manager. Often these groups began as collaborations of localhomeowner associations. The Hacienda Heights Improvement Association,Rowland Heights Coordinating Council, andAltadena Town Council are examples of advisory bodies that are officially sanctioned by the county supervisor representing that community.
In 2003, voters in the unincorporated community ofHacienda Heights defeated a proposal to incorporate as a city. It remains an unincorporated district governed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors rather than by a locally electedmayor andcity council.
Foothill Transit and theLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority provide bus transit services throughout the valley.El Monte station, a large regional bus station, provides transportation to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles via theEl Monte Busway, an 11-mile (18 km) shared-use bus corridor (transitway).[19] TheMetrolinkSan Bernardino Line commuter train runs westward toDowntown Los Angeles and eastward toSan Bernardino through the valley. Most of the public transit via bus in the valley is provided byFoothill Transit.
On March 5, 2016, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority opened theMetro Gold Line Foothill Extension, expanding the current light rail service that previously traveled from East LA to Pasadena through Downtown LA to a new Northern terminus in Azusa.[45] It has since been taken over by theA Line, which goes fromDowntown Los Angeles toLong Beach and is also the longest light rail line in the world.
Several cities provide their own in-city transportation shuttles. Cities that provide such services are:
The San Gabriel Valley is served by several major freeways:
I-710 ends abruptly at the western border of Alhambra, nearCalifornia State University, Los Angeles, with an unsigned spur of I-710 starting again in Pasadena at California Boulevard and ending at the junction of I-210 and SR 134. Efforts to complete the freeway were met with fierce opposition, including the possibility of using advanced tunneling technologies to overcome objections by South Pasadena.[58] The gap will no longer be closed, and both Pasadena and Alhambra are exploring options on the future of their respective spurs.
At the eastern end of the San Gabriel Valley, the freeway segment of SR 210 (formerly designated SR 30 and still signed as such in some places in San Bernardino County) between SR 57 and I-15 had been a source of similar contention in the bordering community ofLa Verne, but a connector was finally constructed and added to the Foothill Freeway in 2002.
State Route 39 leads north into the San Gabriel Mountains to theCrystal Lake Recreation Area.[59] The portion connecting the recreation area to the Angeles Crest Highway (State Route 2) has been closed to the public since the early 1970s due to massive damage and rockslides.
General aviation is served bySan Gabriel Valley Airport (EMT) in El Monte andBrackett Field (POC) in Pomona. Commercial aviation is served by the five major Southern California airports:Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR),Ontario International Airport (ONT),Long Beach Airport (LGB), andJohn Wayne Airport (SNA).
The local daily English-language newspapers are theLos Angeles Times, which includes a real estate and automotive advertising section for the San Gabriel Valley/Inland Empire, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribune, and thePasadena Star-News, which operates from its Monrovia office. ThePasadena Star-News covers the Pasadena/Alhambra area and theTribune covers the central and eastern San Gabriel Valley communities. Business news is covered by theSan Gabriel Valley Business Journal.[60]
Other San Gabriel Valley-wide publications include the weeklyMountain Views News,San Gabriel Valley NOW,[61] and theSan Gabriel Valley Examiner that serve the foothill communities, theMid Valley News which serves the central San Gabriel Valley, and the Beacon Media weekly newspaper chain, whose weekly newspapers cover several San Gabriel Valley cities. TheSouth Pasadena Review serves South Pasadena and theSan Marino Tribune serves San Marino. Additionally, the cities of Alhambra, Glendora, Azusa, San Dimas and La Verne have monthly community newspapers that are published on the first Friday of every month. These papers includeAround Alhambra,[62] theGlendora Community News,[63]Azusa Community News,[64]San Dimas Community News[65] and theLa Verne Community News,[66] all distributed directly to each mailing address. TheAlhambra Source[67] is a USC Annenberg–backed community news site founded in 2010 and folded in 2018. The site is based on research into local information need and includes a multilingual cadre of volunteer and young adult contributors. It is published online every weekday and includes select content in Spanish and Chinese as well as English. In the eastern part of the valley,Claremont has its own community newspaper called theClaremont Courier.
Several large newspaper publishing companies serve the large Chinese-speaking readership in theGreater Los Angeles Area; a number of them are based in the San Gabriel Valley. The national daily Chinese-language newspapersChinese Daily News (Los Angeles edition of theWorld Journal newspaper) andInternational Daily News are both printed in Monterey Park. The Los Angeles edition of the Hong Kong–basedSing Tao is printed in Alhambra and the newspaper is specifically tailored to the Cantonese-speaking readership.The Epoch Times (大纪元) is based inNew York City and has its Los Angeles office in San Gabriel. These newspapers are circulated and distributed throughout Chinese American communities in the San Gabriel Valley,Chinatown,San Diego, and inLas Vegas, Nevada (where the latter two cities generally receive the Los Angeles editions due to a relatively lower population density of Chinese-speaking Americans).
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Many films have been filmed on location in the San Gabriel Valley. Chantry Flats above Arcadia is featured as the landing site of aliens in the original filmWar of the Worlds. South Pasadena and Alhambra served as the gloomy backgrounds of a fictionalIllinois town ofHaddonfield inJohn Carpenter's 1978 horror filmHalloween. Some areas of Pasadena and South Pasadena have a distinctly Midwestern look.[68] Pasadena's distinctive domed City Hall has doubled as a courthouse or capitol building in countless television commercials and movies, and its South Lake shopping district filled in for Rodeo Drive inBeverly Hills Ninja.
The city of San Marino has acted as a backdrop for a number of films and television shows. Major studio motion pictures filmed in San Marino includeMr. & Mrs, Smith,Disturbia,Enough,Monster-in-Law,Memoirs of a Geisha,Frailty,Men in Black II,The Hot Chick,One Hour Photo,Anger Management,The Wedding Planner,Starsky & Hutch,Intolerable Cruelty,Mystery Men,Legally Blonde 2,The Nutty Professor,Beverly Hills Ninja,The Sweetest Thing,S1m0ne,Charlie's Angels,Indecent Proposal, andAmerican Wedding. Prime time television programs filmed within city borders includeFelicity,The Office,The West Wing, andAlias. In addition, San Marino High School students in the graduating classes of 2004 and 2005 were documented in two separate reality television programs byMTV, which aired on the cable television network in 2005.
The cities of Temple City and Rosemead served as the backdrop for the Emmy Award–winning television seriesThe Wonder Years (1988 to 1993). While Temple City's Las Tunas Drive served as the downtown for the Arnold Family's fictitious hometown, Rosemead High School stood in for the town's high school. Downtown Covina was used in the show "Roswell."
The city of Whittier also hosts film crews for variousmotion picture, television andfeature films. InRobert Zemeckis'Back to the Future trilogy of time travel adventure movies (1985, 1989, 1990),Whittier High School was used as Hill Valley High School.Michael J. Fox's character travels back in time on the huge parking lot of thePuente Hills Mall in the City of Industry that served as the location of the fictitious Twin Pines Mall/Lone Pine Mall. TheGamble House in Pasadena provided the exterior ofChristopher Lloyd's character's 1950s mansion. The city of El Monte served as a dilapidated future neighborhood. Another movie starring Fox,Teen Wolf. was largely filmed in Arcadia. The Pasadena Chapter building of the Red Cross served as JAG Headquarters for the TV seriesJAG, and theCaltech campus is regularly seen as the "Cal Sci" campus in the TV series Numb3rs. The actual house used as the residence of the main characters is also located in the southern end of Pasadena. Uptown Whittier was a principal location for the 1987 releaseMasters of the Universe, and many scenes of the film show the buildings of the neighborhood as they appeared before most of them were damaged or destroyed by theWhittier Narrows earthquake of that year.Forrest Gump (1994), starringTom Hanks, was partially filmed atEast Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. The downtown portion of Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia has been used in many movies and television commercials. Multiple locations throughout Monrovia also played the role of the fictitious Rome, WI in the TV seriesPicket Fences.Pinky's Record Store in Friday; The 90s television showRoswell filmed in Covina, most noticeably the downtown area. Most recently, the former location of a now closedIKEA in the City of Industry was used to film scenes in the movieMr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), starringAngelina Jolie andBrad Pitt. Across the street from the defunctIKEA is Speed Zone, an amusement center with 4 race tracks, it has been featured in the filmsGuess Who andClerks 2 and on TV inMelrose Place (2009 TV series),CSI: Miami,Hell's Kitchen,Attack of the Show!,Freaks And Geeks, and more.[69]
Like much of the Los Angeles region, the San Gabriel Valley enjoys a warm, sunny year-roundMediterranean climate. Rain is sporadic. Due to the Eastern San Gabriel Valley, (East of State Route 57) being more inland, the area is subject to hotter summers and colder winters. Light snow is extremely rare in the Valley but can often be viewed on the nearbySan Gabriel Mountains.
| Climate data for Baldwin Park, California: one of the cities in the San Gabriel Valley | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 70 (21) | 71 (22) | 72 (22) | 77 (25) | 79 (26) | 84 (29) | 89 (32) | 90 (32) | 88 (31) | 83 (28) | 76 (24) | 71 (22) | 75 (24) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 43 (6) | 45 (7) | 47 (8) | 50 (10) | 55 (13) | 59 (15) | 62 (17) | 63 (17) | 61 (16) | 55 (13) | 46 (8) | 42 (6) | 50 (10) |
| Source: weather.com[70] | |||||||||||||
The San Gabriel Valley is home to a number of post-secondary educational institutions, including theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech), theClaremont Colleges, andCalifornia State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona)."[71]
Most of the San Gabriel Valley lies within the 626 area code. Montebello, Whittier, and portions of its valley neighbors are in the 323 and 562 area codes. Some of northwestern Pasadena is also serviced by the 818 area code. Most of the communities in the Eastern San Gabriel Valley which lie east of State Route 57 are located in the 909 area code.
Its original location near the Whittier Narrows experienced frequent flooding, and in 1775 it moved to its present site closer to the mountains.
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