Gateway Cities

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Region of Los Angeles County, California, US

title: "Gateway Cities" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gateway-cities", "los-angeles-county,-california,-regions"] description: "Region of Los Angeles County, California, US" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Cities" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Region of Los Angeles County, California, US ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Gateway_Cities_in_Southern_California.png" caption="The Gateway Cities, shaded in blue (the boundary is generalized)"] ::

The Gateway Cities region, or Southeast Los Angeles County, is an urbanized region located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, between the City of Los Angeles 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 L.A., Long Beach, and Santa Ana in 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 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.

Cities of Southeast LA

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/GATEWAY_CITIES.jpg" caption="Gateway Cities"] ::

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 Region, East Los Angeles Region, the South Los Angeles Region, the Southeast LA (or SELA) region, and the Los Angeles Harbor Region.

Also members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments:

Higher education

Universities

The region hosts the following colleges and universities:

::data[format=table] | Institution || Location || Founded || Type || Enrollment || Shorthand || Nickname || Primary Conference || Division | |---| | Biola University | | California State University, Long Beach | | Whittier College | | Southern California University of Health Sciences | ::

Community colleges

::data[format=table] | Institution || Location || Founded || Enrollment || Nickname || Primary Conference || Division | |---| | Cerritos College | | Compton College | | Long Beach City College | | Rio Hondo College | ::

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 via the following commuter and light rail lines:

A Line (formerly the "Blue Line"), connecting to downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley
C Line (formerly the "Green Line"), connecting to LAX and the Beach Cities
Southeast Gateway Line (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 Greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. The following freeways directly service Southeast LA County:

Interstate 5 also known as the Santa Ana Freeway
Interstate 405 also known as the San Diego Freeway
Interstate 605 also known as the San Gabriel River Freeway
Interstate 105 also known as the Glenn Andersen Freeway
Interstate 710 also known as the Long Beach Freeway
Interstate 110 also known as the Harbor Freeway
California State Route 91 also known as the Artesia Freeway
California State Route 60 also known as the Pomona Freeway
California State Route 22 also known as the 7th Street Extension
California State Route 1 Pacific Coast Highway also known as the Pacific Coast Highway

References

(March 13, 2015). "On Location: Cerritos". [[KCET]].
"Demographics of the Gateway Cities COG Region".
[[List of United States cities by population density]] {{circular reference. (April 2019)
https://www.census.gov {{nonspecific. (April 2019)
"Gateway Cities Council of Governments".
"Gateway Cities Council of Governments".
"Airlines and Destinations".
White, Ronald D.. (2011-08-07). "Long Beach port chief's long voyage nears an end". Los Angeles Times.
"California Railroads".
Schlepp, Travis. (2024-01-22). "Metro project with 'confusing' moniker gets new name".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::