City, Los Angeles County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 90703
Fairly new, middle-class-plus bedroom city located about two miles northeast of Long Beach. Well-maintained. Many single homes. A handsome and unusual suburb. School rankings among the tops in the state. Population 54,870. In 2002, opened a striking and lovely library. www.mccormacks.com
Median age of residents is 39. Under 18 years, 24 percent. Over 55 years, 23 percent. These numbers suggest a rounded town, spread evenly across the age groups.
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Cerritos is a late bloomer. It did not get its start until the late 1960s and the 1970s. In the 1960s, it built 3,500 units and the 1970s, about 10,000. These two decades account for about 85 percent of all units in the town. In the 1980s, Cerritos constructed about 1,200 units; in the 1990s, about 400.
The U.S. came out of World War II fearing that the Depression would return. As prosperity took hold in the 1950s and 1960s, the homes and garages grew bigger, the lots smaller, the closets larger, the kitchens better equipped, the decorative touches nicer.
Coming to life when it did, Cerritos presents a more modern, more upscale look than its neighbors. A few homes approach opulence but the great majority fall into the category of middle-class comfortable. Terra cotta roofs, creamy stucco sides; Mediterranean. Utility lines have been buried and median strips and verges planted with grass and pines, maples and eucalyptus. Public art placed around town.
Rare for an L.A. County suburb, four-bedroom homes outnumber three bedrooms. If you want a large home, this is a good place to look. Many homes ascend to two stories. www.mccormacks.com
The state in 2008 counted 15,900 housing units: 13,389 single homes, 1,220 single attached, 1,259 multiples, 32 mobiles.
The city has been divided into neighborhoods (Shadow Park, Rancho Cerritos, etc.) and walls surround each section. This dampens noise and reduces the number of vehicles on residential streets.
One mall (Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's, movies) greets shoppers with a waterfall that cascades over boulders. A second mall has a Nordstrom, a Sears and Mervyn's. Other stores include a Borders Books, a Home Depot and a Macys. Sheraton Hotel.
Cerritos has a fair number of jobs, many of them concentrated in office/high-tech buildings on the north side of the city.
Cerritos academic rankings are not just high; they are, in many instances, among the top 3 percent in the state. In the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and 2005, Whitney High School posted the highest math SAT in California and in the 2005 contest was the only school to crack 700. It hit 710. www.mccormacks.com
Whitney owes some its prowess to its admissions policy. The school accepts the top 25 percent of the district's elementary students. Cerritos High accepts all students from its attendance zone and it is perhaps a better symbol of the town's dedication to academics. In 2005, it scored 607 on the math SAT, among the top 35 high schools in the state.
Cerritos is part of the ABC Unified School District, which also includes Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and Lakewood. School scores vary widely in each town but, speaking generally, Lakewood, Artesia and Norwalk land in the middle or middle-plus ranges; Bellflower in the 30th and 40th percentiles, and Hawaiian Gardens, in the 10th and 20th percentiles. Cerritos scores in the 90th percentile.
Cerritos — with exceptions, see profiles of these cities — towers over its neighbors in scores. Its schools seem to be high powered, well run and demanding. Without taking anything away from the schools and the teachers, parental influence must be given much credit. Cerritos seems to have attracted many professionals who place great value on their children's education. About 29 percent of the adults are college educated, unusually high.
In 1997, the ABC district passed a bond to modernize its schools — heating and air conditioning, upgraded fire alarms and electrical systems, seismic safety, general improvements to classrooms and buildings, boosts for high tech (wiring, internet, voice mail for teachers), new playground equipment. Much of the work was completed by 2004. www.mccormacks.com
The ABC district has set up magnet programs at five elementaries, two middles and one high school. These programs, designed to mix the kids, offer special instruction in certain fields — arts, technology, visual and performing arts, video-media production, science, math and more. Check with district for more information.
The district offers special classes for high-scoring kids and students with limited command of English. At high schools, advanced placement classes. See Schools.
For those who believe that architecture captures the soul of a people, the new library supports the theory. Reading rooms, computer stations, large children's section, a large aquarium (15,000 gallons), escalators, floors that seem to hang in the air — impressive and a lovely compliment to the town's values. The library borders a city hall with hidden jets that spray water over six metal dolphins. Kids frolic in water.
One homicide in 2005, three in 2004, two in 2003, one in 2002, three in 2001. For prior years 2, 0, 3, 0, 1, 3, 1, 5, 5, 1, 2. Cerritos contracts with sheriff for police protection. Sheriff station in town. See Crime.
Performing arts center — jazz, concerts, opera, recitals, pop, cooking classes. Seniors center. Two dozen parks (a lot), several of them large. Big county park on southeast side. Golf course. Community college (big plus; it offers advanced classes for high school students). Trails along river. Many activities for kids and adults. www.mccormacks.com
Highway 91 and I-605. About 18 miles to downtown L.A. Short drives to Orange County and to Long Beach, major job centers. Buses. Also short drive to Long Beach Airport, which has revived its passenger service (Jet Blue).
Chamber of commerce: (562) 467-0800.
• When Cerritos incorporated in 1956 as a legal city, it called itself “Dairy Valley.” At that time, it was inhabited by 3,500 human beings, 32,000 cows, 83,000 chickens and 9,600 turkeys, the city's historian reports. What land remained was used mainly to grow crops, mostly strawberries.
The farmers continued to plow, pluck and milk until the freeways came south and the light went on — homes are worth more than hens and heifers. In the 1960s, the herds migrated to Chino (in San Bernardino) and the homes started going up in great numbers. Cerritos looks modern and clean because almost all the housing is less than 50 years old. In 1964, rare for a city in those days, Cerritos drew up a master plan to guide development.
• Came the day when people realized that Diary Valley, running out of cows, had to go as a name. The local community college had called itself Cerritos and this more than probably anything else decided the new name.
But bossie and flossie have not been forgotten. In the 1990s, the city started a bus service called Cerritos on Wheels or for short, COW. www.mccormacks.com
• Darkest day in city's history. On Aug. 31, 1986, small plane collided with passenger airliner over Cerritos. Eleven homes destroyed, 15 killed on ground, 67 in the planes.
• Pat Nixon, wife of President Richard, was raised in Dairy Valley. Lovely lady who stuck with the old grizzly through thin and thick. The locals named a school in her honor.
• Cerritos is shaped like a horseshoe wrapped around the City of Artesia. In the 1950s, when these and other nearby communities incorporating, several plans were advanced, one of which would have placed Cerritos and Artesia and other neighborhoods in one city. But disagreements arose and the region divided into several cities. This scenario played out throughout California, making planning difficult, and ultimately led to commissions to decide annexations and incorporations. The ABC school district, with its larger area, suggests what Cerritos, etc., might have been had the locals been able to agree. In effect, there are two communities here: the city and the school district. The latter serves as an integrating force, blending the diverse groups and demographics of the region.
For orientation on cities, towns and neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, see County Overview.
City web site: www.ci.cerritos.ca.us
