Torrance is located within the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. It was incorporated in the year 1921 and now hosts a population of about 149,111. The city is the 8th biggest within the county and the 35th biggest in the state. Even with it's gorgeous, 1.5 mile shore front beaches bordering on the Pacific Ocean and the year round warm temperatures, Torrance is less visited by people compared to several parts of Southern California, like for example Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes Estates. There is an average rainfall of 12.55 inches every year.
The city is mostly centered on residential and light high tech industries. Some automotive companies have chosen Torrance as their headquarters. These consist of, but are not limited to, Honeywell's garret Turbochargers, Toyota Motor Sales, American Honda Motor Company, Alpine Electronics, Speed Star Racing Wheels, Tanabe Racing Development, Koyo Radiators, Stoptech Brakes, Cosworth, and Edelbrock. Various businesses that have head office in Torrance are Globe, Sunrider International, Lakai, Tecmo, and Tablet Kiosk. Panasonic has a DVD-Ram and Blue-Ray media manufacturing plant in the city. King's Hawaiian, which advertises the leading brand of Hawaiian bread in Northern American, has its main baking facility located in Torrance. Robinson Helicopters are designed and built in the city too.
Torrance is even a major player within the oil business and offers most of Southern California's gasoline supply. Before, the city was littered with thousands of derricks and oil wells but as the supply of oil gradually diminishes, the number of wells goes down as well. In the north part of the city is the ExxonMobil refining facility. Before the Pacific Electric Railway closed down, Torrance was an essential hub and shop site of the train.
The city of Torrance has prided itself on being able to combine the beauty of the surrounding nature to the ideal metropolitan lifestyle. In the city, there are 90,000 or more lining the roads and 30 parks located all over the city.
Torrance was the birthplace of AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and is also 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 1974, it handled over 428,000 take offs and landings, but has ever since declined to a yearly average of 175,000 (approximately 473 each day). Amongst the major local problems of the city is the abatement of airport noise. Zamperini Field is the proud home of the Western Museum of Flight, which moved there in 2007.