Huntington Beach is a city of an approx. 200,000 residents in Orange County, California. Average annual visitors to this seaside beach community is around 11 million per year.

With 8.5 miles of ocean front along the Pacific Ocean, a large municipal pier and ideal temperate climate throughout the year, the city offers many sports activities and several annual sporting events.

Huntington Beach was incorporated in 1909, though it was named in 1904 "Huntington Beach" for Henry Huntington, a businessman who established the Pacific Electric rail line from Los Angeles to Newport Beach. A stop in Huntington Beach would assure tourism, so in exchange, the towns folks gave Huntington a namesake. Another city in Los Angeles County that was named for Huntington is Huntington Park. And his legacy can be seen at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena.

For over a century from the early 1900's to today, oil has played an integral part in the growth of the city. Rich on and off shore oil fields have been tapped, bringing a steady revenue source to the city until recently. The city now has shifted gears from its bedroom community approach to serving tourism as one source of revenue. Still industries such as Boeing and Quiksilver offer a steady employee base and bring extra tax sources to a place where land values have skyrocketed in recent years.  One of the top of home prices in the city is around $6.5 million (on Huntington Harbour), while an affordable one bed, one bath condo might be acquired for as low as $325K.

The bulk of adults residents who work commute to their jobs outside the city.  Commuters can travel distances to their jobs in Los Angeles or nearby cities such as Irvine, Long Beach and Costa Mesa. Freeways connect workers to their jobs and careers but these freeways are largely taxed in the mornings and afternoons. Each year the average speed of traffic decreases so that commuting time spent driving must be factored into jobs and hourly wages.

For those seeking to visit Huntington Beach, there are currently just over 1500 hotel rooms available. More hotels are coming on line soon. Hotels are not allowed to be built on the ocean side of the highway. Coastal regulations do not permit such development. Nearby cities Sunset Beach, Long Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Dana Point all have hotels directly at the beach. Perhaps Huntington Beach has all those oil rigs that once lined Pacific Coast Highway and beach to thank for its unique position as a wide open beach for tourists to enjoy.