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 Downey's population around 102,000. Like many L.A. County cities, Downey had its boom in the years right after World War II. The city built about 44 percent of its current housing in a single decade, the 1950s. When you add the housing built over the two following decades, you have about 75 percent of all of Downey's housing.
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Downey Education
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 Educated by the Downey Unified School District. Academic rankings straddle the 50th percentile, the national average.
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Downey Employment
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Downey, the city that used to be an aerospace center and is undergoing major changes. The largest firm, Boeing, which employed about 2,800, is being closed. The property is being taken over by the city to be developed.
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Downey History
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Historic McDonald's restaurant
The 1953 McDonald's restaurant at 10207 Lakewood Blvd. (at Florence Ave.) was the third franchised McDonald's built and is the oldest surviving McDonald's. It was listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 1994 list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. It was one of the first restaurants franchised by Dick and Mac McDonald, prior to the involvement of Ray Kroc in the company, and it still has the original "Golden arches" and a 60-foot animated neon "Speedee" sign.
With low sales, damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and the lack of a drive-up window and indoor seating, the restaurant was closed. However with both the public and preservationists demanding the restaurant be saved, McDonald's spent two years restoring the restaurant and reopened it. Customers today can visit the original restaurant and an adjoining gift shop and museum.
The first Taco Bell
Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell restaurant on 21 March 1962 in Downey.
Johnie's Broiler
Johnie's Broiler (originally Harvey's Broiler) was a drive in restaurant and coffee shop. The drive in restaurant has been in movies and sitcoms as well as TV commercials and music videos. Completed in 1958, it is an example of Googie architecture. Johnie's was well known to Southern California locals, many of which drove miles to cruise through its massive lot. The restaurant was closed in 2001, and a used car dealership has since leased the property. In January 2007, the leasers of Johnie's started to illegally tear it down. The destruction of the building was halted, with extreme damage to the building, though the sign is intact.
In April, 2008, Jim Louder, owner of the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Torrance, California, entered into a long-term lease agreement with the owner of Johnie's Broiler. The restaurant will be rebuilt as a Bob's Big Boy and will incorporate the surviving architectural elements of the old structure into the new restaurant.
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Downey Housing
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The three-bedroom home with family room was the favorite of this era. The 1990 census disclosed that among owner-occupied units in Downey the three-bedroom home made up about 55 percent of the total. The two-bedroom home followed with 27 percent of the total.
This conjures up a picture of Downey as a typical suburb with tract homes laid down one after the other. In reality, the town comes across as much prettier. Downey's demographics show that it attracted many executives and professionals. Many of the homes have been teased upscale with brick facing, imaginative landscaping and custom touches. The styles include colonials, Tudors and some homes that in size and appointments rise into mini-mansions. Downey also has its plain housing but the level of care throughout the city appears high. The state in 1999 counted 34,593 housing units: 20,092 single homes, 1,368 single attached, 12,934 multiples, 199 mobiles.
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Downey News
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Search for "Downey CA" - Lendon Harvey Griffin - TheSpectrum.com
| Lendon Harvey Griffin 91, Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Brother passed away peacefully of natural causes in Cedar City, UT on July, 28, 2010. |
- Lendon Harvey Griffin - The Spectrum Online Edition
| Password: Close Close Close OR Close Lendon Harvey Griffin Lendon Harvey Griffin 91, Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Brother passed away peacefully of natural causes in Cedar City, UT on... Lendon Harvey Griffin 91, Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Brother passed away peacefully of natural causes in Cedar City, UT on July, 28, 2010. |
- Ponytail teams advance to Nationals - Downey Patriot
| DOWNEY a ' Downey Ponytail fast-pitch softball participated in the annual State Tournament this past weekend in Lancaster and each of the four divisions have qualified for Nationals, a record in Downey Ponytail history. |
- Could America Graduate from the Electoral College? - James Wolcott
| The Electoral College, one of middle school's most elusive mysteries, has been tossed into Boston Harbor, so to speak . |
- It's Politics: Bell can't be unrung - Pasadena Star-News
| Editor's note: It's Politics reports Saturdays on the ins and outs of national, state and local politics. |
- 1958 Ford Thunderbird - Mexican Blackbird - Street Rodder
| Billy F. Gibbons: custom car connoisseur and guitar collector extraordinaire. It seems most hot rodders like to collect. |
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Downey Recreation
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Movies, roller-skating rink, two golf courses, 11 parks, 10 playgrounds, civic theater, fishing lakes, two museums, senior center, bowling alley; Downey appears to do very well in the recreation department.
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Downey Transportation
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Interstates 105 and 51ead to downtown L.A., about 13 miles to northwest. Metrolink (commuter rail) in nearby towns.
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Downey Weather
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