The most salient fact about the South Bay economy is the importance of high technology manufacturing and services. The area's high technology sector is a tapestry of industries linked to space systems, aeronautical services, and aviation; its output includes research and development services as...

The City of Long Beach and other centers of aerospace production that reaped the rewards of the 1980s defense-spending boom must now confront the realities of restructuring. Since World War II, the Douglas Aircraft plant made Long Beach an important center of the US aerospace industry and...