Silicon Beach

Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The port is North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor and is home to approximately 5,000 boats. The area is a popular tourism destination for both land and water activities such as paddle board and kayak rentals, dining cruises, and yacht charters. Land activities include bicycling on several bicycle paths, walking paths along the waterfront, and birdwatching (birding). Wildlife watching opportunities include California sea lions and harbor seals. Dolphins and whales occasionally visit the deeper waters of harbor. This Westside locale is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Santa Monica, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Los Angeles International Airport, and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) west-southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. The harbor is owned by Los Angeles County and managed by the Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH), but the waters are environmentally regulated by state government and federal government through their many agencies and departments with overlapping oversight. The Los Angeles Times said in a 1997 editorial that the harbor is "perhaps the county's most valuable resource". The population was 11,373 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Marina del Rey as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name; for example, the 90292 ZIP code includes all of Marina del Rey and portions of neighboring Los Angeles, such as Del Rey, and has a population of 21,576, more than double that of the CDP. Many residents of the 90292 ZIP code consider themselves to live in Marina del Rey even if they in fact live outside the official boundaries of the CDP.

Port Ballona is an archaic place name for an area near the center of Santa Monica Bay in coastal Los Angeles County, where Playa Del Rey and Del Rey Lagoon are located today. Port Ballona was a planned harbor and town site from circa 1859 to 1903. The name comes from the Rancho La Ballona Mexican land grant. Port Ballona consisted of the current Del Rey Lagoon Park but conceptually also included the current Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve alongside the estuarine river Ballona Creek, which flowed into and alongside the marsh within earthen levees built of soft-bottomed wetland soil. While these plans never came to fruition, and the area remains a primarily residential neighborhood, the wetlands immediately to the north were eventually developed into Marina del Rey, North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor.

Burton Chace Park is the largest public park in Marina del Rey, California. It is named after Burton W. Chace, a former Mayor of Long Beach and Los Angeles County Supervisor.Comprising approximately 10 acres (4.0 ha), the park is located on Mindanao Way near Admiralty Way. The park is surrounded on three sides by water, and a green knoll rises in its center, from which the entire community can be viewed. Public services include picnic grounds, shelters, barbecue grills, restrooms, community rooms, transient and guest docks, showers and facilities for boaters, and a seasonal cafe. Burton Chace Park is the location of many of the community's local fairs and festivals, including the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade, MarinaFest, Discover Marina del Rey, and the Marina Summer Concerts.

Fisherman's Village is a waterfront mall, commercial boat anchorage and tourist attraction located in the world's largest man-made small boat harbor in Los Angeles County at Marina del Rey, California. The Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve is just east of Fisherman's Village and immediately to the south is the federally-owned riverine estuary of Ballona Creek. The historical Fisherman's Village, built in 1967, is nestled on the eastern bank of main harbor entrance channel between Whiskey Reds restaurant to the south and the Windward boatyard to the north. Fisherman's Village was developed and built by the Sheldon L. Pollack Corporation. The company also developed and/or built several other similar projects in Southern California including San Diego Seaport Village, Port Hueneme Fisherman's Village (now called Fisherman's Wharf Channel Islands Harbor) and Oceanside Harbor Village. Constructed in the style of a New England fishing village, Fisherman's Village consists of five brightly painted wooden buildings, a waterfront promenade, a lighthouse, a water fountain and commercial boat docks. Tourist attractions include live music concerts, restaurant and café dining, harbor and fishing cruises, boat and bicycle rentals, a Catalina Island ferry service, souvenir shops, a nightclub and a public water shuttle (harbor ferry) service. The waterfront promenade offers panoramic views of the harbor, where approximately 5,300 pleasure boats, yachts, and commercial vessels are berthed across 21 individual marinas, including yacht clubs. Various types of ocean-going vessels can be seen as they pass Fisherman's Village en route to, or returning from, voyages into Santa Monica Bay, Catalina Island, the Pacific Ocean and beyond. On Wednesday evenings during March to September from 5 pm to 7 pm, up to 100 sailboats from 22 to 70 feet in length can be seen, sails unfurled, racing toward the finishing line in California Yacht Club's (CYC) Sunset Series regatta. The address of Fisherman's Village is 13755 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, California, 90292-6909. It is situated on Los Angeles County land (public land) and designated as parcel #56 by the DBH (Department of Beaches and Harbors). DBH lease the parcels on the public's behalf. The adjoining public parking lot #1 is managed by Parking Concepts International (PCI) on behalf of DBH. The lessee of Fisherman's Village is 'Gold Coast Village, LLC' who have appointed their property management company, 'Pacific Ocean Management'. The leasee also holds other parcels in Marina Del Rey such as Admiralty Apartments on Admiralty Way, Marina Beach strip mall on Washington Boulevard and Pier 44/Dock 77 marinas. Shoreline Village in Long Beach is another lease held. Other entities of note adjoining Fisherman's Village are: US Coast Guard station, MDR LA Sheriff's Department station, the LA County Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH) executive offices, Whiskey Red's restaurant, Villa Venetia apartment complex, UCLA rowing sheds to the south and Loyola Marymount University (LMU) rowing sheds, The Boatyard and DBH trailer offices to the North-east. Since the late 1970s, Fisherman's Village has faced a decline of stores closing due to the leasing issues. A seal cage was emptied and various arcades for pinball machines and video games closed, including an eponymous arcade owned by actor Gary Coleman in the early 1990s. At times, the boat tours were shut down as well. There has been an effort to rebuild Fisherman's Village with a parking complex, however, due to the millions of dollars involved in order to add new shops and stores, as well as the influx of heavy traffic, it had to go through several environmental impact reports before any demolition could take place. No decision has been made at this time. The parking lot had to start charging fees in order to pay for the maintenance of Fisherman's Village.

The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors is responsible for 20 beaches and the Marina Del Rey small-craft harbor in Los Angeles County, California.

The Ballona Lagoon is a soft-bottomed channel and 16-acre (65,000 m2) tidal marsh in the Marina Peninsula neighborhood of Los Angeles that feeds the Venice Canals with water from the Pacific Ocean via a tide gate.

Machado refers to three locations in Los Angeles, California, all named for the rancho-era Machado family. Machado is a name derived from Portuguese meaning "hatchet", the stop was probably more directly named for the Machado family of the Rancho era. The family, however, may have used a hatchet to mark their lands. An 1855 real estate description mentions a "cottonwood tree marked with cuts of a hatchet."(1) Machado is a former rail stop in Los Angeles County, California. It laid at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m). Machado was a stop on the Venice–Inglewood Line just north of Alla Junction; the line, which dated to the late 19th century, was lightly used for both passengers and freight. Machado still appeared on USGS maps as of 1934.(2) Machado post office was organized circa 1878 an application was made to the Post Office Department. The new Machado post office station was located northwest quarter section 12 township 2W range 15 west, half a mile north of Ballona Creek and one mile west of La Ballona station.(3) Machado Lake was a 19th century name for Bixby Slough, now Harbor Regional Park lake.

The UCLA Marina Aquatic Center (or MAC) is a waterfront recreation facility located in Marina del Rey, California at the northeastern end of the Entrance Channel, which is owned and operated by the University of California, Los Angeles. The MAC, which is operated by UCLA Recreation, was opened in 1965 to house the Collegiate Rowing and Sailing programs. Since that time the MAC has expanded to offer recreational classes in small boat sailing, surfing, rowing, kayaking, windsurfing and stand-up paddle boarding to UCLA students. Construction on the facility began in 1965. A cinder block boathouse was built to replace a wooden boathouse structure on Ballona Creek. In 1967 a dock was added to the entrance channel. In 1984 the installation of new trailers (which were previously used for the Los Angeles Olympics) was added to the facility.

Oxford Basin (also known as Oxford Lagoon or Marina Sanctuary) is a 10.7-acre (43,000 m2) constructed wetland and wildlife conservation area in the northwest corner of Marina del Rey, California, located between Washington Boulevard and Admiralty Way.The basin is a remnant of the historic Ballona Valley ecosystem and one of the last remaining intertidal mud flat habitats in Los Angeles County.Oxford Basin collects urban runoff from a 600-acre (2.4 km2) watershed and remediates it in part through the use of bioswales, low-flow storm drain diversions, native landscaping and a circulation berm. Other inputs to the lagoon are groundwater and tidal inflows from Marina del Rey Harbor.Oxford Basin is ringed by a 0.7 mi (1.1 km) nature walk loop that runs parallel to the Coastal Bike Trail on the Oxford Avenue side. Observation decks offer opportunities for wildlife viewing; the lagoon is host to between 50 and 100 species of birds. The Basin is “currently favored” for wading bird roosting and nesting because it “does not have significant human-bird conflicts.”

The USC Information Sciences Institute (ISI) is a component of the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering, and specializes in research and development in information processing, computing, and communications technologies. It is located in Marina del Rey, California.ISI actively participated in the information revolution, and it played a leading role in developing and managing the early Internet and its predecessor ARPAnet. The Institute conducts basic and applied research supported by more than 20 U.S. government agencies involved in defense, science, health, homeland security, energy and other areas. Annual funding is about $100 million.ISI employs about 400 research scientists, research programmers, graduate students and administrative staff at its Marina del Rey, California headquarters, in Arlington, Virginia, and in Boston, Massachusetts. About half of the research staff hold PhD degrees, and about 40 are research faculty who teach at USC and advise graduate students. Several senior researchers are tenured USC faculty in the Viterbi School.

The USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) is a joint scientific research effort between Lockheed Martin Corporation and the University of Southern California (USC). The QCC is housed at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI), a computer science and engineering research unit of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and is jointly operated by ISI and Lockheed Martin. USC faculty, ISI researchers and students are performing basic and applied research into quantum computing, and are collaborating with researchers around the world. The QCC uses a D-Wave Two quantum annealing system, manufactured by D-Wave Systems, Inc. The QCC is the first organization outside of D-Wave to operate the system. The second system is installed at NASA Ames Research Center, and is operated jointly by NASA and Google. The systems must be kept extremely cold and electromagnetically shielded to operate with the longest possible coherence time.

Marina Del Rey Hospital is a 133-bed acute care, Joint Commission accredited hospital in Los Angeles offering general acute medical services and 24/7 emergency care. Marina Del Rey Hospital, originally known as Marina Mercy Hospital underwent construction in 1969 and became a part of Cedars-Sinai Health System in September 2015.