Rancho Palos Verdes is a coastal city in southern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

, United States. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States census. The city sits atop the bluffs of the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...

and the Palos Verdes Hills, and neighbors Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance, and San Pedro. Rancho Palos Verdes is known for its nature preserve trails, its school district, as well as its high property values.

History

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. Japanese families farmed the most southern slopes, growing fields of beans, peas, and tomatoes in the area. Barley, hay, and grain were grown on the dryer northern slopes.

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 ...

, known as the "Father of Palos Verdes", representing a group of wealthy east coast investors, purchased 25 square miles of land on the

in 1913 for $1.5 million. The Olmsted Brothers contracted Koebig & Koebig to perform engineering work, including surveying and road planning. 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 Atas ...

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. Rancho Palos Verdes was incorporated on September 7, 1973 largely in response to rapid coastal development, including the construction of the Palos Verdes Bay Club and a rise in condominium projects along the California coast, such as in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. To block the development of more condos and zoning and land use, the community voted to form its own city. As a result, Rancho Palos Verdes remains one of the most zoning-restrictive jurisdictions in California.

Landslide area

A small section of the city, the Portuguese Bend area of the

has a history of landslides going back 250,000 years. The landslide spans with an average thickness of . The ground failure occurs on an overall smooth surface approximately below the surface. The ground failure over the years has been due to seaward-dipping strata, rock weakness and continual coastal erosion. In 2023, the city received a more than $23 million grant from the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) to help mitigate the effects of the land movement in the area. Later in the year, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council declared a local emergency due to increasing land movement following landslides. In July of 2024, So Cal Gas suspended services to 135 homes due to the severity of the land movement. On September 2, 2024, California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

declared a state of emergency, and officials cut power to 245 homes. As of February of 2025, land movement has slowed significantly, resulting in gas and electricity services being restored to a number of homes in the land movement area. The city also installed dozens of dewatering wells and drainage improvements as a long‑term stabilization project in the area. As of May of 2025, SoCalGas has begun to restore gas services to the majority of homes in the landslide area following reports that monitoring has shown no measurable movement in the land because of the city's mitigation efforts. RPVlandslide

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , virtually all of which is land.

Demographics

Historically, Rancho Palos Verdes has been majority White—Non‑Hispanic white residents comprised 63.1 % in 2000 and 56.0 % in 2010—but by the 2020 United States census, that share had declined to 48.4 %, with

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans with Asian diaspora, ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are Immigration to the United States, immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). A ...

rising to 31.7 %, multiracial residents to 5.7 %, and Hispanic or Latino individuals making up 10.7 % of the population.

2023 and 2024

The median household income rose to $175,307 in 2023, with approximately 4.1% of residents living below the poverty line, while the average annual household income in Rancho Palos Verdes has since risen to $230,857. As of July 1, 2023, the city's estimated population was 39,980, reflecting a 5.4% decrease since the 2020 Census count of 42,287. The racial makeup is 48.4% White alone, 31.8% Asian alone, 2.1% Black or African American alone, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, and 12.0% identifying as two or more races. Additionally, 12.0% of the population is Hispanic or Latino (of any race). Approximately 4.5% of residents are under 5 years old, 21.4% are under 18, and 26.0% are 65 or older. The population is 50.9% female. Much like its neighboring beach towns, Rancho Palos Verdes has become one of the most exclusionary cities in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

by limiting housing production, resulting in a median home costing a median home price of $1,882,393, making it one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area.

2020 census

Demographically, as of the 2020 census, the city consists largely of individuals of White and Asian descent.

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Rancho Palos Verdes had a population of 41,643. The population density was . The racial makeup of Rancho Palos Verdes was 25,698 (61.7%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(56.0% Non-Hispanic White), 1,015 (2.4%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 80 (0.2%) Native American, 12,077 (29.0%) Asian, 41 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 748 (1.8%) from other races, and 1,984 (4.8%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3,556 persons (8.5%). The census reported that 41,303 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 313 (0.8%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 27 (0.1%) were institutionalized. There were 15,561 households, of which 5,187 (33.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 10,465 (67.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,218 (7.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 460 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 304 (2.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships and 85 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,936 households (18.9%) were made up of individuals, and 1,810 (11.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65. There were 12,143

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(78.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.03. The population was diverse in age terms, with 9,248 people (22.2%) under the age of 18, 2,352 people (5.6%) aged 18 to 24, 7,045 people (16.9%) aged 25 to 44, 13,344 people (32.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,654 people (23.2%) aged 65 or older. The median age was 47.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 90.1 males. There were 16,179 housing units, at an average density of , of which 12,485 (80.2%) were owner occupied and 3,076 (19.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.4%. 33,015 people (79.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units, and 8,288 people (19.9%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States census, Rancho Palos Verdes had a median household income of $118,893, with 4.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Economy

Top employers

According to the city's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,the top employers in the city were:

Arts and culture

Library

The Palos Verdes Library District operates three libraries on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Landmarks

Point Vicente Lighthouse

The Point Vicente Lighthouse, built in 1926, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It is tall and stands on a cliff with a height of . It is between Point Loma Lighthouse to the south and Point Conception Lighthouse to the north.

Wayfarers Chapel

Wayfarers Chapel Wayfarers Chapel, or "The Glass Church" is a disassembled chapel designed by Lloyd Wright and originally located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The chapel had unique organic architecture sited on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. Affiliate ...

, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was designed by Lloyd Wright, and built between 1949 and 1951. It is noted for its organic architecture and location on cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Swedenborgian Church of North America and serves as a memorial to the 18th century scientist and theosopher,

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

announced a temporary closure "due to the accelerated land movement in our local area" in February 2024. As of May 2024, the firm Architectural Resources Group, with input from the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

and at a cost of $20 million, will be dismantling the chapel for placement in storage. As for where the church will be relocated, that remains to be seen.

Portuguese Bend and Palos Verdes Nature Preserve

The Portuguese Bend region is the largest area of natural vegetation remaining on the

. The Portuguese Bend landslide, is a continuously moving landslide located along the southern coastal part of Rancho Palos Verdes. In 2009, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, and the

Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC) is a non-profit organization that is based on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. Its mission is "Preserving land and restoring habitat for the education ...

, acquired of this region to create the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, the largest preserve of coastal open space north of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and south of Santa Barbara.

Terranea Resort

The site of the former

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 ...

(1954–87) was redeveloped in 1998 and is now occupied by the Terranea Resort.

Trump National Golf Club

Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles is a public

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

located in Rancho Palos Verdes. The course was designed by

Pete Dye Paul Dye Jr. (December 29, 1925 – January 9, 2020), commonly referred to as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye. Earl ...

and Donald J. Trump Signature Design. It is owned by

The Trump Organization The Trump Organization, Inc. is an American Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Privately owned by Donald Trump, it serves as the holding company for most of Business career of Donald Trump, Trump's business ventures and investments, with ar ...

. Originally owned by the Ocean Trails Golf Club, the area suffered a landslide where the 18th hole slid toward the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The Ocean Trails Golf Club subsequently went into bankruptcy, and on November 26, 2002,

bought the property for $27 million, with the intention of completely redesigning and rebuilding the course. On January 20, 2006, the 18-hole Trump National Golf Club opened in Los Angeles. That summer, 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.

Salvation Army College for Officer Training

The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters as well as their department for officer training is a 2-year college located on the former Marymount College Hawthorne Campus built in 1960 in Rancho Palos Verdes. It is also the administrative unit of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

that serves the thirteen

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

, the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

and

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

Fauna

Palos verdes blue butterfly insect glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis

As with other cities on the

, the city has had to find ways to control the population of wild

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

. Frank A. Vanderlip spearheaded a group that bought and began development of the peninsula. He is credited with introducing the birds here around 1910. The city has an abundance of peafowl. In 1982, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes began construction at Hesse Park, which destroyed one of the largest remaining populations of endangered butterflies, the Palos Verdes blue ('' Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis''). This resulted in a lawsuit against the city that was ultimately dismissed for the reason that a city as a legal entity could not be held responsible.

Government

Rancho Palos Verdes is a General Law city, meaning that it has no charter. The City elects five council members at large to four-year terms in staggered, non-partisan elections on the first Tuesday in November of every odd-numbered year. The mayor and mayor ''pro tempore'' are elected annually by the residing city council members. As of January 31, 2024, the city council consists of: * Mayor: John Cruikshank * Mayor Pro Tem: Eric Alegria * Councilmember: Barbara Ferraro * Councilmember: David L. Bradley * Councilmember: Paul Seo Mayor Pro Tem Alegria and Mayor Cruikshank have served on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council since November 2017. Councilmembers Bradley and Mayor Ferraro, (Ferraro previously served as mayor over a decade ago then left the council upon finishing her term of office before running again in 2019), were recently re-elected in November 2022. As outlined in the city's Municipal Code, the city council hires a city manager to manage the day-to-day operation of the city and its staff. The current city manager is Ara Mihranian.

County, state, and federal representation

In the County of Los Angeles, Rancho Palos Verdes is located in the 4th Supervisorial District, represented b
Janice Hahn
In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Rancho Palos Verdes is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Rancho Palos Verdes is in .

Education

Most of the city is served by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD), which includes Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and

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 ...

. Since 2013, the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' has consistently recognized Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in the publication's list of "America's Most Challenging Schools" and once listed it as the 8th best public or private high school in the nation. School data website, niche.com ranked Palos Verdes Peninsula High School #9 of California's best public high schools of 2016 and #8 in all of the Los Angeles Area in 2024. A portion of the district is within the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

(LAUSD, in the Eastview area of the city). Children living in the Eastview neighborhood have the option of attending public school in either the PVPUSD or the LAUSD. In 1992 84.5% of relevant voters voted approved Proposition Z to move the LAUSD portion to PVPUSD but Stephen E. O'Neil, a judge of the

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses throughout the county. Curr ...

, blocked the transfer. PVPUSD has one of the highest rated

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

scores in California, 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 Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

scores, and one of the highest percentage of students successfully completing the

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

exams in the county. The district is also one of the top performing districts in Los Angeles County as well as in the United States. As of 2025, it consistently ranks in the top two districts located in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

and top six in California, surpassing La Canada Unified and San Marino Unified but trailing Redondo Beach Unified. Rolling Hills Country Day School (K-8) and Chadwick School (K-12) are private schools that serve the region. Marymount California University, a private liberal arts institution, offered bachelor's and master's degrees until it closed in August 2022. Marymount has since been replaced by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

South Bay, which is part of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

system. The

system purchased the campus for $80 million towards the end of 2022.

Infrastructure

Emergency services

Fire protection in Rancho Palos Verdes is provided by the

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities through Contract city, contracting, including the city of ...

, and ambulance transport by McCormick Ambulance Service. Rancho Palos Verdes contracts with the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

for law enforcement services through a joint regional law enforcement agreement with the cities of Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates. The Lomita Sheriff's Station serves the Peninsula Region Cities, as well as the City of Lomita and the unincorporated areas of Academy Hill and Westfield. The

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Health Services Los Angeles County, officially the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and is the United States' second largest municip ...

operates the Torrance Health Center in Harbor Gateway,

, near Torrance and serves Rancho Palos Verdes as well.

Notable people

Notable people of Rancho Palos Verdes include Merrill Moses, the Olympic water polo player, who lived there.

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher Eli Morgan was born and grew up there. World number one tennis player

Pete Sampras Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...

grew up here from 7 years old. Top-10 tennis player

Eliot Teltscher Eliot Teltscher (born March 15, 1959) is a retired professional American tennis player. He won the 1983 French Open Mixed Doubles. His highest ranking in singles was No. 6 in the world and in doubles was No. 38 in the world. Tennis career Earl ...

also lived there, and top-10 tennis player

Taylor Fritz Taylor Harry Fritz (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on November 18, 2024, and a doubles ranking of ...

lives there. Professional basketball player Shawn Weinstein is from there.

Christen Press Christen Annemarie Press (born December 29, 1988) is an American professional Women's association football, soccer player, entrepreneur, and sports journalist. She plays for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Unit ...

, a forward for the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

and two-time World Cup champion, grew up there. Professional poker player Barry Greenstein and artist

John Van Hamersveld John Van Hamersveld (born September 1, 1941, Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an Americans, American graphic artist and illustrator who designed record jackets for pop and psychedelic bands from the 1960s onward. Among the 300 albums are the ...

have resided in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...

of rock band

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

was a longtime resident of Palos Verdes. Christopher John Boyce, a former American defense industry employee who was convicted for selling United States spy satellite secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1970s, grew up there. Author

Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer and journalist. She is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism, along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. Didio ...

lived in the Portuguese Bend Club area of Rancho Palos Verdes for a brief period with her husband John Gregory Dunne and their daughter. Chris Doughty, Massachusetts politician and businessman, was born and raised in Palos Verdes, and was eliminated in the primary for the 2022 Gubernatorial race for the Republican Party.

In popular culture

Because of its scenic location and proximity to the

, Rancho Palos Verdes has been the site of many films and television shows.

Movies

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action heist film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by inf ...

'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

'', ''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the st ...

,'' '' Step Brothers,

Horrible Bosses 2 ''Horrible Bosses 2'' is a 2014 American crime comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris (filmmaker), John Morris. A sequel to 2011's ''Horrible Bosses'', the film features Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeiki ...

'', ''

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' and the ''

Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In ''Lethal Weapon'', a pai ...

'' movie franchise were filmed in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Television

Many television shows, such as ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American Action fiction, action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing two situatio ...

'', '' The O.C.'', ''

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

,'' ''

,'' and ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

,'' have been filmed on location in Rancho Palos Verdes.

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Los Angeles County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California Palos Verdes Peninsula Populated coastal places in California Populated places established in 1846 1973 establishments in California South Bay, Los Angeles