Carson, California, United States

🇺🇸 Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in The Harbor region of Los Angeles, located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles (23 km) away from Los Angeles International Airport. It was Incorporated on February 20, 1968. The city is locally known for its plurality of Filipino-Americans and immigrants.

History The year 1921 marked the first drilling for oil at Dominguez Hill, on the north-west side of the Rancho San Pedro (also called Rancho Domínguez), site of the famous battle during the Mexican–American War called the Battle of Rancho Domínguez in 1846. The mineral rights to this property were owned by Carson Estate Company, the Hellman Family, the Dominguez Estate Company, and the Burnham Exploration Company of Frederick Russell Burnham. On September 7, 1923, Burnham Exploration partnering with Union Oil brought in the first producer on the site: Callender No. 1-A well at a depth of 4,068 feet (1,240 m) and 1,193 barrels per day (189.7 m³/d). Before long a number of refineries were up and running, with over 350 oil derricks, tank farms, and sprawling industrial complexes becoming a familiar part of the scenery. The principal leases were with Shell Oil Company and Union Oil of California and the first two wells were located west of Central Avenue and north of Victoria Street. Oil led to an increase in jobs in the community and a subsequent post-war population surge. An average of 300 barrels per day (48 m³/d) was produced from each of these wells through 1960.

In 2011, Shell was ordered by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to clean up the Carousel Tract neighborhood after the discovery of benzene and methane gas contamination, as well as soil and groundwater contamination.

In 2021, Carson was subjected to an air pollution event as a result of hydrogen sulfide emanating from the nearby Dominguez Channel.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, Carson has an area of 19.0 square miles (49 km²). 18.7 square miles (48 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (1.29%) is water.

Carson is bordered by West Rancho Dominguez on the north, Rancho Dominguez and Long Beach on the south-east, West Carson on the south-west, and Compton to the north.

Bixby Marshland, a 17-acre wetland habitat, is located in Carson.

Economy: Top employers As of 2021, the top ten employers in the city were: 1 Marathon Refining Logistics Services; 2 See's Candy Shops Inc.; 3 Select Staffing; 4 Lakeshore Learning; 5 Mag Aerospace Industries; 6 Natural History Museum of LA County; 7 Defense Contract Management Agency; 8 The Pepsi Bottling Group; 9 Prime Wheel Corporation; 10 Huck International Inc.

Former companies Nissan previously had its North American headquarters in Carson. The 42-acre (17 ha) property consisted of 13 buildings, with a total of 700,000 square feet (65,000 m²) of office and light industrial space. One of the buildings, a nine-story tower, had the Nissan logo on it. Vincent Roger of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it "was a familiar sight to drivers passing the intersection of the Harbor and San Diego freeways". Around 2006 the company had 1,500 employees at the headquarters. In 2005 a leak revealed that Nissan planned to move its offices to Tennessee. In the summer of 2006, the Nissan headquarters completed the move. Over half of the employees chose to stay in the Los Angeles area.

Arts and culture County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Carson Regional Library and the Dr. Martin Luther King Library. Both libraries are in Carson.

Carson is the site of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). CSUDH is a major commuter school, particularly for students from the surrounding cities of Long Beach, Compton, and the place of West Carson. It was founded as "South Bay College" and then renamed California State University at Palos Verdes. It moved to the City of Carson to meet a significant need for higher education opportunities in the largely black middle class suburbs of Los Angeles. Today it is among the most racially diverse campuses in the United States. The student body does not have a racial or ethnic majority. In 1965, Carson was chosen as the home for the relocating university over the communities of Friendship Park, Fort MacArthur and Torrance.

Carson is also the location of Dignity Health Sports Park, a sports complex including a soccer-specific stadium used by the Los Angeles Galaxy and formerly the Los Angeles Sol, C.D. Chivas USA, and the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL), a tennis stadium which hosted the LA Women's Tennis Championships, and a track and field facility. It is also the training headquarters for the United States men's national soccer team. It opened in 2003, adjacent to CSUDH. The ADT Event Center is the only permanent indoor velodrome in the U.S. In July 2007, the Galaxy signed international soccer superstar David Beckham to the team. In 2011, International Boxing Hall of Fame Promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank began publicizing professional boxing events.

One of the Goodyear Blimps was based in Carson. The 1st and 2nd U.S. and International Aviation Meets was held at the Dominguez Hill Rancho in 1910 and 1911, which featured many blimps and zeppelins. The International Printing Museum, which has one of the largest collections of antique printing presses in the United States, is located in Carson.

Carson Mall, now SouthBay Pavilion, opened in 1973 and is located at the Avalon Boulevard exit off the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405). Major tenants include Burlington, IKEA, JCPenney, Ross, ALDI, Target, and 24 Hour Fitness.

Sports

One professional sports team currently plays their home games in Carson; LA Galaxy, Major League Soccer, Dignity Health Sports Park. The Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL played their home games in Carson from 2017 to 2019.

2028 Summer Olympics Rugby union, modern pentathlon, tennis, field hockey and track cycling will all be held in Carson during the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Former NFL stadium proposals As Carson has large tracts of undeveloped land, unusual for a city in such close proximity to metropolitan Los Angeles, various plans for the use of the land have been proposed. One such tract of land located at Del Amo Boulevard, west of the 405, attracted particular attention in the past as a potential site for a National Football League stadium. An outdoor power centre complex called Carson Marketplace was originally planned for the site. In February 2015, however, the Marketplace plans were scrapped in favor of a $1.2 billion NFL stadium, backed by Goldman Sachs, that would have hosted both the then-Oakland Raiders and the then-San Diego Chargers. The NFL had previously considered the site as a location for a stadium, but the plans stalled after it was discovered that the site was once used as a toxic waste dump and would require an extensive clean-up operation before construction was legally allowed to commence. In May 2015, the Carson City Council allocated $50 million to clean up the site for either the dual NFL stadium or the originally planned Carson Marketplace as a fallback should the NFL stadium not come to fruition.

On January 12, 2016, NFL owners rejected Carson's bid to host an NFL stadium in favor of the competing bid of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood backed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Despite this rejection, the Los Angeles Chargers temporarily played their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson from 2017 to 2019 while waiting for the construction of SoFi Stadium to be completed.

Municipal government According to the city's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $96.3 million in revenues, $81.8 million in expenditures, $611.4 million in total assets, $129.2 million in total liabilities, and $187.2 million in cash and investments.

Education Primary and secondary schools Carson is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

High schools serving portions of Carson include Carson High School in Carson, Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School in Long Beach, and Banning High School in the Wilmington area of Los Angeles. The area is within Board District 8.

Magnolia Science Academy-3, a public span school (serving grades 6-12) in Carson, is a Magnolia Public Schools campus.

Circa 2019 there were plans to open a campus of the charter school Ganas Academy on the campus of the LAUSD public school Catskill Avenue Elementary School, but there was opposition to this move.

Although the California Academy of Mathematics and Science is located in Carson on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, it is actually a part of the Long Beach Unified School District. The school accepts residents of LBUSD, Compton USD, portions of LAUSD (including sections serving Carson), and other districts.

Emergency services Fire protection in Carson is provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department which operates out of Fire Stations 10, 36, 105, 116, and 127. Ambulance transportation is provided by McCormick Ambulance Service Station 17. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Carson Station in Carson.

Health care The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Torrance Health Center in Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, near Torrance and serving Carson.

Transport Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city operated the Carson Circuit bus that serves the local community and connects to other bus and rail transit services including the Los Angeles Metro A Line at the Del Amo Station. Service was suspended on March 28, 2020. However, their Dial-A-Ride services remained in service during that time.

On September 26, 2021, Long Beach Transit began serving Carson with three new routes. On January 3, 2022, Carson Circuit was reinstated with two revised routes.

Historically, the city was served by the Pacific Electric Long Beach Line.