The Gateway Cities Region, or Southeast Los Angeles County (also shortened to Southeast Los Angeles and Southeast LA) is an urbanized region located in southeastern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

, between the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

proper, Orange County, and the Pacific Ocean. The cluster of cities has been termed "Gateway Cities" in that they serve as a "gateway" between the LA and Orange counties, with the city of Cerritos equidistant from downtown LA, Long Beach, and the center of Orange County. As such, the area is central to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and has a population of approximately 2,000,000 residents. Despite a predominating urban fabric of single-family homes and low-rise

multifamily residential Multifamily residential (also known as multidwelling unit or MDU) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units ca ...

structures, Southeast LA County comprises some of the most densely populated municipalities in the United States. As with other regions of Los Angeles, Southeast LA's demographics are notable for ethnic and age diversity. The Gateway Cities Council of Governments (GCCOG), the coordinating body for the Southeast LA Region, is located in the city of

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Cities of Southeast LA

Area residents generally identify as being part of urban Los Angeles, despite technically living in separate, independent municipalities. The following cities are members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, though these cities at times may also be considered part of other LA regions, including the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

Region,

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...

Region, the

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

Region, and the Los Angeles Harbor Region. * Artesia *

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

* Bell Gardens * Bellflower * Cerritos *

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...

* Compton * Cudahy * Downey * Hawaiian Gardens * Huntington Park * La Habra Heights * La Mirada *

Lakewood Lakewood may refer to: Places Australia * Lakewood, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Western Australia Canada * Lakewood, Edmonton, Alberta * Lakewood Suburban Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Philippines * Lakewood, Zamboanga del S ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...

* Lynwood * Maywood * Montebello * Norwalk *

* Pico Rivera * Santa Fe Springs * Signal Hill * South Gate * Vernon * Whittier Also members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments: *

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in th ...

(on Catalina Island) *

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

* Port of Long Beach * City of Industry

Higher education

Universities

The region hosts the following colleges and universities:

Community colleges

Infrastructure

Air

Southeast LA County's Long Beach Airport (LGB) provides Southeast LA regular direct flights to and from approximately a dozen cities in the Western United States.

Sea and heavy rail

The Port of Long Beach, located in Southeast LA, is the second busiest port in the United States, Significant freight rail infrastructure runs through Vernon, Commerce, Industry, Santa Fe Springs, and Pico Rivera; as well as lines running between the Port of Long Beach and Vernon & Commerce.

Commuter and light rail

The LA Metro connects Southeast LA County to

Greater Los Angeles 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 ...

via the following commuter and light rail lines: * A Line (formerly the "Blue Line"), connecting to downtown Los Angeles * C Line (formerly the "Green Line"), connecting to LAX and the Beach Cities *

West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor The West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric's historic West Santa Ana Branch, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the City of Artesia and other cities in southeastern Los Angeles ...

(planned and funded under Measure M)

Freeways

Given its high population, Southeast LA is noticeably crisscrossed with regional freeway infrastructure, connecting it to other parts of

, Orange County, and the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities ...

. The following freeways directly service Southeast LA County: *

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Calif ...

also known as the

Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego Fre ...

* Interstate 405 also known as the San Diego Freeway * Interstate 605 also known as the San Gabriel Freeway * Interstate 105 also known as the Glenn Andersen Freeway *

Interstate 710 Route 710, consisting of the non-contiguous segments of State Route 710 (SR 710) and Interstate 710 (I-710), is a major north–south state highway and List of auxiliary Interstate Highways, auxiliary Interstate Highway in th ...

also known as the Long Beach Freeway * Interstate 110 also known as the Harbor Freeway *

California State Route 91 State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue i ...

also known as the Artesia Freeway *

California State Route 60 State Route 60 (SR 60) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It serves the cities and communities on the eastern side of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and runs along the south side of the San Gabriel Valley ...

also known as the Pomona Freeway *

California State Route 22 State Route 22 (SR 22) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves southern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County. It runs between Pacific Coast Highway ( State Route 1) in Long Beach and the Costa Me ...

also known as the 7th Street Extension * California State Route 1 Pacific Coast Highway also known as the Pacific Coast Highway

References

External links

Gateway Cities Council of Governments
{{California Los Angeles County, California regions