Torrance is located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. It was incorporated during the year 1921 and presently hosts a population of around 149,111. The city is the 8th largest in the county and the 35th biggest within the state. Even with it's beautiful, 1.5 mile shore front beaches bordering on the Pacific Ocean and the year round warm temperatures, Torrance is less visited by people as opposed to several parts of Southern California, like Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes Estates. There is an average rainfall of 12.55 inches per year.
The city has numerous residential and tech businesses, with several automotive companies using Torrance as its head office. Some of these businesses include: American Honda Motor Company, Honeywell's Garret Turbochargers, Toyota Motors Sales, Speed Star Racing Wheels, Tanabe racing Development, Alpine Electronics, Koyo Radiators, Stoptech Brakes, Cosworth, and Edelbrock. Various businesses that have headquarters in Torrance are Lakai, Globe, Sunrider International, Tecmo, and Tablet Kiosk. Panasonic has a Blue-Ray and DVD-RAM media manufacturing plant in the city. King's Hawaiian, which markets the dominant brand of Hawaiian bread in North American, has its main baking facility situated in Torrance. Robinson Helicopters are built and designed within the city as well.
Torrance is likewise a major player in the oil industry and offers most of Southern California's gasoline supply. Before, the city was littered with thousands of oil wells and derricks but as the supply of oil gradually diminishes, the number of wells goes down too. In the northern part of the city is the ExxonMobil refining facility. Before the Pacific Electric Railway closed down, Torrance was an essential hub and shop location of the train.
The city prides itself in combining the ideal metropolitan lifestyle with the beauty of nature. There are more than 90,000 street trees lining the roads and thirty parks located all over the city.
Torrance was the birthplace of AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and is likewise the headquarters of Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy.
Zamperini Field is Torrance's busy general aviation airport. It was at first named Torrance Airport but was renamed after Louis Zamperini, who was a local track star and WWII hero. During the year 1974, it handled over 428,000 landings and take offs, but has since declined to a yearly average of 175,000 (around 473 each day). One of the major local concerns of the city is the abatement of airport noise. Zamperini Field is the proud home of the Western Museum of Flight, that moved there during 2007.