City, Los Angeles County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 90716
Small bedroom city located north of Long Beach on the border of Orange County. Median age of residents is 25. Under 18 years, 37 percent. Over 55 years, 12 percent. Many children. Family town. Population 15,900. www.mccormacks.com
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School rankings low but school district offers many choices, some top notch.
Hawaiian Gardens built about 70 percent of its current housing between 1940 and 1980. For the most part, the city built for working-class families getting a toehold in the housing market.
Among owner-occupied units, two-bedroom homes dominate. Housing styles mix the old and new. Many homes have security doors and window bars. Many look faded. But Hawaiian Gardens also has its homes and apartments where people take pride in appearances.
The state in 2008 counted 3,721 housing units: 1,525 single homes, 504 single attached, 1,417 multiples, 275 mobiles. In the 1980s, Hawaiian Gardens added 600 units and in the 1990s about 275 units. Just about built out.
Three homicides in 2005, one in 2004, four in 2003, zero in 2002, one in 2001, four in 2000, zero in 1999, and two in 1998. The counts for previous years are 3, 1, 3, 0, 3, 5, 8, 4. Hawaiian Gardens has its own police department. See Crime.
Served by ABC Unified School District. Sample rankings: Hawaiian Elementary School, 10th to 20th percentile; Fedde Middle, 10th to 20th percentile. See Schools.
The ABC District also serves Lakewood and Cerritos, middle-class towns, higher academic rankings. The kids all come together at the high schools and scores come up. The ABC district, mainly in Cerritos, has some of the highest scoring schools in the state. www.mccormacks.com
This means that Hawaiian Gardens kids will have a lot of variety in their educational choices and programs. Voters in ABC district in 1997 approved $59 million bond to renovate schools.
Four parks, library, close to a large regional park with a nature center and a golf course. Hawaiian Gardens has a popular casino that pumps a lot of tax revenue into the town's coffers.
A long way from downtown L.A., 22 miles, but the Long Beach area offers many jobs and this means a short commute for the lucky ones with these jobs. Hawaiian Gardens is close to many of the job centers of Orange County. Interstate 605 runs up the east side of the city.
With its older, smaller housing, Hawaiian Gardens remains a good town to get started in home ownership if you have little money.
For orientation on cities, towns and neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, see County Overview.
City hall: (562) 420-2641.
• In the 1920s, when prohibition (no booze) was the law of the land, a snack shack was opened. It was built with bamboo and fronds and called itself Hawaiian Gardens. Lore has it that the place became unusually popular because it sold illegal hooch. Whatever its charms, the shack ingratiated itself into the hearts of many and attached its name to the surrounding land and ultimately to the city. www.mccormacks.com
City web site: www.hgcity.org
