Ontario

Ontario, California 

35 miles (56 km) east of downtown Los Angeles and 23 miles (37 km) west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat, is the city of Ontario, which is located in the southwest of San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California. It is a component of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is situated in the western portion of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, just east of Los Angeles County. 175,265 people called the city home as of the 2020 Census. 

The city is home to Ontario International Airport, the 15th busiest airport by cargo transported in the United States. Between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the rest of the nation, Ontario manages the majority of the freight traffic. 

Its name comes from the Ontario Model Colony, a settlement built in 1882 by Canadian engineers George Chaffey, William Chaffey, and Charles Chaffey, as well as their brothers. They gave the town their home province of Ontario as its name. 

Geography 

The area of the city overall, as measured by the United States Census Bureau, is 50.0 square miles (129 km2). 49.9 square miles (129 km2) of that are land, and 0.26 km2 are water. Water makes up 0.13% of the entire area. 

Climate 

With hot summers and mild winters, BSh semi-arid environments have an impact on Ontario's climate. Throughout the fall and winter, the region is frequently battered by Santa Ana Winds. The temperature ranges from extremes of 118 °F (48 °C) to 25 °F (4 °C). Ontario has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, designated "Csa" on climate maps by the Köppen Climate Classification system. 

Economy 

The economy of Ontario was fueled by its status as a health resort in the years after its foundation. Soon after, growers of citrus started establishing lemon and orange plantations on Ontario's stony terrain. Also drawn by the agricultural potential were vintners and olive farmers. One of the oldest institutions in Ontario and a local historical site, the Graber Olive House still produces olives today. Dairy farming is still common, as it is in the nearby city of Chino. There are still many dairy farms and other agricultural operations in southern Ontario. However, plans are currently being made to convert the land into the New Model Colony, a mixed-use community that would include town centers, industrial and business parks, and residential residences. 

The city's General Electric plant, which produced clothing irons, was a significant pre-war industry. Ontario witnessed a housing boom during and after World War II, which was typical of many suburbs. Many settlers were drawn to the city by the growth of the defense sector in Southern California. The Ontario International Airport served as a pilot training facility due to the concentration of California's aerospace sector in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Ontario still maintains a manufacturing sector today, with Maglite, which makes flashlights, being the most well-known. The decline of manufacturing has led to a shift in Ontario's economy toward services and warehousing. Companies including AutoZone, Cardinal Health, MBM, Genuine Parts/NAPA, and Nordstrom run significant distribution centers. 

Niagara Bottling, The Icee Company, Famous Stars and Straps and Shiekh Shoes, Scripto U.S.A., and Phoenix Motorcars, which employs over 150 people in Ontario, are all located there. 

Culture and the Arts 

The Chaffey Community Museum of Art, the Ontario Police Museum, and the Ontario Museum of History and Art are three museums located in Ontario. 

The Granada Theatre, which was built in 1925, was rented out to West Coast Junior Theater. The theater joined the Fox West Coast Theater network by the 1940s. L.A. Smith, a designer, created the Granada Theatre. 

Road to California, the second-largest consumer quilt show in the US, is also located in Ontario. Almost 2,400 accommodation nights are reserved for the quilt show, which attracts over 40,000 visitors in total. 

Two oil on canvas murals by WPA muralist Nellie Geraldine Best, The Reality, which portrays a view of completed Euclid Avenue, and The Dream, which shows founder Chaffey with surveyors, are both located at the Ontario Post Office. Both were created in 1942. 

Since 1959, Ontario has displayed three-dimensional nativity scenes throughout the Christmas season on the median of Euclid Avenue. The scenes, which include statues by the sculptor Rudolph Vargas, were contested in 1998 by an atheist resident who claimed they violated the California Constitution's prohibition against interfering with church and state affairs. However, the conflict was settled when private organizations started paying for the storage and labor necessary to set up and maintain the scenery as a whole. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce established a craft market named "Christmas on Euclid" to raise money for the nativity scenes. 

A Fourth of July festival known as the All-States Picnic was first held in 1939 to honor the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the city's citizens. Along Euclid Avenue's median, there were picnic tables with signage for all 48 states from Hawthorne to E Street. When the picnic was restarted in 1948 after being put on hold during World War II, 120,000 people attended. In a 1941 cartoon from Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Ontario's picnic table was referred to be the "world's longest." The celebration's appeal dwindled as the proportion of Californians born outside the state increased until it was abandoned in 1981. In 1991, it was brought back to honor local pride. 

Sports 

A multifunctional arena called the Toyota Arena debuted in late 2008. Although Ontario owns it, SMG Worldwide runs it. The Inland Empire's largest enclosed arena, with 11,000 seats, is a multi-purpose facility. A total of about 125 events, including sporting contests, musical performances, and family entertainment, are conducted annually. 

The Ontario Reign, an ECHL team that played there from 2008 to 2015, had called the arena home. The 9,736-seat Toyota Arena hosted the Los Angeles Kings' affiliate. They had an average of 5856 spectators per game during their inaugural season in 2008–09, which placed them second in the league. Every year after that, the Reign had the highest average attendance in the ECHL. 

ECHL All-Star Game 2010 was held in Ontario. Ontario is the fourth California club to host the league's midseason showcase, following Bakersfield (2011), Fresno (2006), Stockton (2008), and Stockton (2008). According to reports, the minor league All-Star Game contributed more than $1 million to the regional economy. 

The American Hockey League, a junior level above the ECHL, stated in January 2015 that it was creating a new Pacific Division and would be substituting a relocated club for the ECHL Ontario Reign. Beginning with the 2015–16 AHL season, the Kings relocated the Manchester Monarchs, a team they had owned and run since 2012. Instead, they are now known as the Ontario Reign. 

The USAC, Formula One, NHRA, and NASCAR had competitions at the Ontario Motor Speedway, which was situated in Ontario. Following the Chevron Land Company's acquisition of the land in 1980, it was destroyed. 

Education 

There are five school districts in Ontario: Chaffey Joint Union in the city limits, Mountain View Elementary, Cucamonga Elementary, and Ontario/Montclair Elementary. Together with two private military schools, the city is home to numerous other private institutions. There are nine trade schools in Ontario. Downtown Ontario is where the University of La Verne College of Law is situated. There is a satellite campus for National University, Argosy University, San Joaquin Valley College, and Chapman University close to Ontario Mills. There is a church called Ontario Christian. Ontario is home to a campus of Gateway Seminary. 

Population 

California's San Bernardino County contains the city of Ontario. It is the 155th largest city in the United States and the 27th largest city in California with a projected population of 178,667 in 2023. The population of Ontario has grown by 1.94% since the most recent census, which showed a population of 175,265 in 2020, and is now expanding at a pace of 0.64% annually. Ontario has a population density of 3,576 persons per square mile, spanning more than 50 kilometers. 

With a 16.86% poverty rate, Ontario has a $77,568 average household income. The median monthly cost of rent in recent years has been, and the median value of a home is. In Ontario, the average age is 32.3 years, 31.7 years for men and 33.1 years for women. 

About 35 miles east of Los Angeles, in southwest San Bernardino County, California, is the city of Ontario. The Inland Empire of Southern California, which also includes the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, includes Ontario. Moreover, it is a component of the Greater Los Angeles metro region, which has a population of 18.7 million and is the second-largest metropolitan area in the US.