The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'',

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino C ...

, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Located in the South Bay region, the peninsula contains a group of cities in the

Palos Verdes Hills The Palos Verdes Hills are a low mountain range on the southwestern coast of Los Angeles County, California. They sit atop the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Palos Verdes Hills are the landed end o ...

, including Palos Verdes Estates,

Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Palos Verdes (Spanish for "Green Sticks Ranch") is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Est ...

, Rolling Hills and

Rolling Hills Estates Rolling Hills Estates is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. On the northern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, facing Torrance, Rolling Hills Estates is mostly residential. Incorporated in 1957, Rolling Hills Estates has ...

, as well as the unincorporated community of Westfield/Academy Hill. The South Bay city of Torrance borders the peninsula on the north, the Pacific Ocean is on the west and south, and the Port of Los Angeles is east. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is 65,008. The hill cities on the peninsula are known for dramatic ocean and city views, distinguished schools, extensive horse trails, and high value homes.

History

Native Americans

The peninsula was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieliño Native Americans people for thousands of years. In other areas of the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountai ...

archeological sites date back 8,000 years. Their first contact with Europeans occurred in 1542 with

João Cabrilho João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * ...

(''Juan Cabrillo''). Chowigna and Suangna were two Tongva settlements of many in the peninsula area, which was also a departure point for their ''

ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...

s'' on the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Spanish and Mexican era

In 1846, José Dolores Sepúlveda and José Loreto received a

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

from Alta California Governor Pío Pico for a parcel from the huge original 1784

land grant of Rancho San Pedro to

Manuel Dominguez Don Manuel Domínguez (1803–1882) was a Californio ranchero, politician, and a signer of the Californian Constitution in 1849. He served as two terms as Alcalde of Los Angeles (mayor). He was one of the largest landowners in Southern Califor ...

. It was named Rancho de los Palos Verdes, or "ranch of the green sticks", which was used primarily as a cattle ranch. It was also briefly used as a whaling station in the mid-19th century.

American era

By 1882, ownership of the land had passed from the Sepulveda family through various mortgage holders to Jotham Bixby of Rancho Los Cerritos, who leased the land to Japanese farmers.

Frank Vanderlip Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1 ...

, representing a group of wealthy east coast investors, purchased 25 square miles of land on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1913 for $1.5 million. In 1914, Vanderlip vacationed at Palos Verdes in order to recover from an illness, and he was astounded by scenery he compared to "the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Amalfi Drive." He quickly initiated development of Palos Verdes. He hired the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

, the landscaping firm of

John Charles Olmsted John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920), was an American landscape architect. The nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, he worked with his father and his younger brother, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., in their father's firm. After their fath ...

and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., to plan and landscape a new subdivision. The Olmsted Brothers contracted Koebig & Koebig to perform engineering work, including surveying and road planning. However, the project stalled as World War I started, and Vanderlip accepted a chairmanship to the War Savings Committee in Washington, D.C. in 1916. By 1921, Vanderlip had lost interest in overseeing development of Palos Verdes and enticed

Edward Gardner Lewis Edward Gardner Lewis (March 4, 1869 – August 10, 1950) was an American magazine publisher, land development promoter, and political activist. He was the founder of two planned communities that are now cities: University City, Missouri, and Ata ...

to take over the project with an option to buy the property for $5 million. Lewis was an experienced developer, but lacked the capital to purchase and develop Palos Verdes. Instead, he established a real estate trust, capitalizing the project through the sale of notes which were convertible to Palos Verdes property. Under the terms of the trust, Lewis sought to raise $30 million for infrastructure improvements, effectively borrowing from investors for both the land and the improvements. He succeeded in attracting $15 million in capital, but far short of the $35 million needed. The trust dissolved and ownership of Palos Verdes reverted to Vanderlip. Vanderlip established a new real estate trust to purchase 3,200 acres from his land syndicate and establish the subdivision of Palos Verdes Estates. The new trust assumed not just the land, but also the improvements made by Lewis. They were not complete, but they were substantial: improvements included many sewers, water mains, and roads; landscaping, parks, and a golf course. They opened Palos Verdes for public inspection in June 1923. Palos Verdes Estates was organized and landscaped by the

and in their planning, they dedicated a quarter of the land area to permanent open undeveloped space.

Commerce

Areas of commerce include historic

Mediterranean Revival style Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

Malaga Cove Plaza and the Promenade on the Peninsula. Smaller shopping centers include the Peninsula Center, Lunada Bay Plaza, and Golden Cove Plaza. The largest peninsula commercial district is in

, with many shopping centers including The Promenade on the Peninsula with a

megaplex A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens within a single complex. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into s ...

movie theater and an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

. The Palos Verdes area has ocean views, coastline views and city light views. The Peninsula is home to the Promenade on the Peninsula mall, originally an enclosed regional mall with two department store anchors,

May Company California May Company California was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California and Nevada, with headquarters in North Hollywood, California. It was a subsidiary of May Department Stores and merged with May's other Southern California s ...

and

Bullocks Wilshire Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, is a Art Deco building. The building opened in September 1929 as a luxury department store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock's in Dow ...

, as well as the Peninsula Center, which originally had a Buffums department store.

Transportation

The

Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority The Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority is the primary provider of mass transportation in the Los Angeles suburbs of Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates, California. Six color routes provide lo ...

provides bus service within and to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is within 40 minutes of both

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

and

Long Beach Airport Long Beach Airport is a public airport three miles northeast of downtown Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is also called Daugherty Field, named after local aviator Earl Daugherty. The airport was an operating base ...

, which together provide access to most of the United States aboard all

major carrier The United States Department of Transportation defines a major carrier or major airline carrier as a U.S.-based airline that posts more than $1 billion in revenue during a fiscal year, grouped accordingly as "Group III". Airlines According to FY20 ...

Education

The

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) is a school district headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California with facilities in all four cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. History The Palos Verdes School District (PVSD) form ...

has one of the highest rated

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

scores in California and has one of the highest average

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

scores and one of the highest percentage of students successfully completing the Advanced Placement exams in the county. There are three high schools,

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, California, United States. History The school was formed in 1991 when Miraleste High School, Palos Verdes High School, and Rolling Hills High School were merge ...

(formerly called Rolling Hills High School),

Palos Verdes High School Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, Southern California, USA (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (formerly Rolling Hills High School) and Rancho ...

, and

Rancho Del Mar High School Rancho Del Mar High School is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, California, U ...

(located in Rolling Hills). The former

Marymount California University Marymount California University was a private Catholic university in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Originally founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RHSM), the university awarded associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees. T ...

, a

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

four-year college was located in

.Tyler Shaun Evans and Lisa Jacobs, ''Daily Breeze'
(28 September 2022) UCLA buys Marymount California University property in Palos Verdes Peninsula to ease crowding
"The 35-acre purchase is the largest in the public university’s history". A private K–12 school,

Chadwick School Chadwick School is a nonsectarian independent K-12 day school located in an unincorporated area on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Specifically it is located at the top of the neighborhood referre ...

, is also located there. Rolling Hills Country Day School, adjacent to the Botanic Garden, offers a private K-8 education. In total, there are 11 elementary schools, 3 intermediate schools, and 3 high schools located on the peninsula. In the Eastview neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes, however, residents have the option to choose either PV schools or the surrounding LAUSD schools (i.e. Dodson Middle School, Dana Middle School, San Pedro High School, etc.).

Libraries

The Peninsula is served by th
Palos Verdes Library District
which operates these three libraries: * Peninsula Center Library * Miraleste Library * Malaga Cove Library- on the National Historical Register The 40 Families Project based at Peninsula Center Library documents the history of the Japanese-American community on Palos Verdes before World War II.

Parks and recreation

South Coast Botanic Garden The South Coast Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in the Palos Verdes Hills, in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about south of Los Angeles International Airport. It has over 150,000 landscaped plants ...

– 35 hectare (87 acre) landscaped

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, event venue, and arboretum with over 150,000 landscape plants and trees from approximately 140 families, 700 genera, and 2,000 different species. It is a classic example of

land recycling Land recycling is the reuse of abandoned, vacant, or underused properties for redevelopment or repurposing. Land recycling aims to ensure the reuse of developed land as part of: new developments; cleaning up contaminated properties; reuse and/or ...

by reclaiming a site that was previously a sanitary landfill and

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of minin ...

diatomite Diatomaceous earth (), diatomite (), or kieselgur/kieselguhr is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 μm to le ...

mine from 1929 until 1956. * Point Vicente Park is a popular spot for watching the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

of gray whales to and from their breeding lagoon in

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. *

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative annex ...

Military Museum is located near Point Fermin in San Pedro. * Del Cerro Park is a popular spot to hike trail at end of Crenshaw Blvd. * Ryan Park is Rancho Palos Verdes's first established park in the city, overlooking a view of nearby island Santa Catalina. Park features include baseball diamond, picnic areas with barbecue, and a community room. The peninsula is frequented by runners, hikers, horseback riders, bird watchers, surfers, scuba divers, fishermen, and bicyclists. The area is home to several

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

s and

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

s. In addition, nude sunbathers formerly frequented Sacreds Cove (or "Smugglers Cove") until the city of

enacted a 1994 ordinance that ended such use of that beach. The infamous Palos Verdes surf spots have been in the spotlight many times over issues of localism. The most notorious surf spot for localism in Palos Verdes is Lunada Bay, which can hold any winter swell and has been known to rival Sunset Beach, Hawaii on a big day. Localism in Palos Verdes reached a turning point in 2001 when a civil rights lawsuit was filed after a particularly violent confrontation with Hermosa Beach surfers. Surveillance cameras were placed in the surfing area but were later removed. In 2016, The Coastal Commission targeted the group after "renewed reports that their unpermitted structure uilt along Lunada Baywas being used as a spot for ongoing bullying and intimidation." On July 12, 2016, City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch recommended the removal of the illegal structure after pressure from the California Coastal Commission. The Trump National Golf Club is a

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

venture with a golf course on the Ocean Trails cliffs. The 18th hole of the prior golf course fell victim to a landslide caused by a leak in the sanitary pipes underneath it. In the summer of 2006, the golf club erected a 70-foot flagpole for an American flag; critics claimed it was illegal, but the golf club was allowed to retain it after a City Council vote. The

Marineland of the Pacific Marineland of the Pacific was a public oceanarium and tourist attraction located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast in Los Angeles County, California. Architect William Pereira designed the main structure. It was also known as Hanna-Barbera's ...

site near Portuguese Bend is currently home of Terranea, a luxury oceanfront resort. There are numerous nature reserves in Palos Verdes: Palos Verdes Estates Shoreline Preserve, Agua Amarga Reserve, and Portuguese Bend Reserve. The reserves contain

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

s habitats, a community of fragrant and drought resistant shrubs and flowering plants. In August 2009, wildfire burned approximately 165-acres of the Portuguese Bend Reserve. As a result, restoration has been done to reinstall native plants and animals to the area.

Flora and fauna

Native plants

Succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

Shrubs A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

Vines A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

Herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials. Definition ...

s *

Marah (plant) ''Marah'' (the manroots, wild cucumbers, or cucumber gourds) are flowering plants in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to western North America. The genus (which Kellogg noted was characterized by extreme bitterness) was named for Marah ...

Native animals

* Palos Verdes blue butterfly * opossum *

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littor ...

* coyote * black phoebe *

water strider The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, or water skimmers. Consistent with the classification of the Gerridae as tr ...

* western fence lizard * red tailed hawk *

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

cottontail rabbit Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...

Notable places

6505-ShipWreck-PalosVerdesPeninsula-1965

* The

Wayfarers Chapel Wayfarers Chapel, also known as "The Glass Church" is located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. It is noted for its unique organic architecture and location on cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Swedenborgian Church of North Amer ...

, a transparent glass chapel in a redwood forest, was designed in 1951 by the renowned architect and landscape architect

Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. (March 31, 1890 – May 31, 1978), commonly known as Lloyd Wright, was an American architect, active primarily in Los Angeles and Southern California. He was a landscape architect for various Los Angeles projects (192 ...

. It is under the stewardship of the Swedenborgian Church, a well-known landmark on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, and overlooking the ocean at the western entrance of Portuguese Bend. * Portuguese Bend is one of the most geologically unstable areas in the world. Constant shifting of the soil (approximately 1/3 of an inch a day) and rock slides mean that Palos Verdes Drive South, the main road through the bend, is under constant repair. *

Point Vicente Lighthouse Point Vicente Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, United States, north of Los Angeles Harbor. It is tall and stands on a cliff with a height of . It is between Point Loma Lighthouse to the south and Point Concept ...

is on the

. *

Korean Bell of Friendship The Korean Bell of Friendship (more commonly called Korean Friendship Bell) is a massive bronze bell housed in a stone pavilion in Angel's Gate Park, in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Located at the corner of Gaffey and ...

is located near Point Fermin in San Pedro. *

is the location of the former aquatic theme park on the coast. *

MTV Beach House ''MTV Beach House'' was a one-hour music video block that first aired in 1993. The first year was hosted by comedian Bill Bellamy, and the following years were hosted by Carson Daly. In June 2017 MTV confirmed Beach House would be rebooting later ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

filmed some scenes of its

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, ''The OC'', at locations in and around Palos Verdes.

Wrecks

* The wreck of the SS Dominator, SS ''Dominator'', a freighter that ran aground in 1961, was for years an attraction for those willing to hike down the cliffs to the shoreline. Very little is left of the ship today. * In 2006, the 45-foot cabin cruiser ''Lady Hawk'' sank two miles from the Palos Verdes coast due to an engine fire.

Notable people

;Sports * Tracy Austin, former World No. 1 female professional tennis player * Heather Burge, pro basketball player * Heidi Burge, pro basketball player * John Cook (golfer), John Cook, pro golfer, graduated from Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District#Schools, Miraleste High School * Lindsay Davenport, former World No. 1 female professional tennis player * Taylor Fritz, professional tennis player * Michelle Kwan, 5-time world champion figure skater, attended Soleado elementary school * Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, lived in city * Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton, lived in city * Former pro basketball player Elden Campbell of the Los Angeles Lakers, currently resides in Palos Verdes Estates * Bill Laimbeer, Notre Dame and NBA basketball star, WNBA coach, attended

* Jeremy Lin, pro basketball player of the Los Angeles Lakers, lives in city * Billy Martin (tennis), Billy Martin, pro tennis player, UCLA coach, attended

* Joe Montana, Hall of Fame NFL quarterback of San Francisco 49ers lived in Palos Verdes Estates during off-season * John Morrison (wrestler), John Morrison, professional wrestler * Christen Press, forward of the United States women's national soccer team * Pete Sampras, former World No. 1 male professional tennis player * Anderson Silva, List of UFC champions, UFC Middleweight Champion, lives in city * Eliot Teltscher, professional tennis player ;Entertainment * Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park * Christina Crawford, actress and author of ''Mommie Dearest'', adoptive daughter of Joan Crawford, attended Chadwick School * Best-selling author and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin * Musician Hyde (musician), HYDE, lead singer of Japanese rock band L'Arc~En~Ciel owns property in the region * Juan Croucier, bass player and songwriter of the bands Ratt and Dokken * Actor Michael Dudikoff * Actress Liza Minnelli, attended Chadwick School, a private K–12 school located on the Peninsula * Author, actor and filmmaker Scott Shaw * Model and actress Coco Austin, wife of actor-rapper Ice-T ;Other * Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets, portrayed in book and movie ''The Falcon and the Snowman'' * Galorath Inc. CEO and President Dan Galorath * Natalie Pack, 2012 Miss California USA, contestant ''America's Next Top Model, Cycle 12'' * Frank A. Vanderlip, known as the Father of Palos Verdes

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Palos Verdes has a Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.

References

External links

Official Palos Verdes Library District

Palos Verdes Daily Photo blog

Official South Coast Botanical Garden

Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center
{{Coord, 33.7586472222, N, 118.345844444, W, source:dewiki_region:US-CA_type:landmark_scale:100000, format=dms, display=title Palos Verdes Peninsula, Peninsulas of California Geography of Los Angeles County, California Landforms of Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, California regions South Bay, Los Angeles