Oil was first discovered in 1890 in Los Angeles, but reached its peak in production in1901 with 1,150 wells, after which this production declined rapidly. The use of automobiles increased greatly and there was a high demand for automobile tires. All four of the large American tire companies constructed large tire plants in the Los Angeles area to serve the tire market better. Also, many non-tire rubber products were also being made on the West Coast. Early on, Goodyear Tire Plant was built on South Central Avenue in LA in 1919. Also, BF Goodrich, Firestone Tire Co. and what was then US Rubber (later to be called Uniroyal Tire), all built their own respective tire plants in LA. In fact, the Uniroyal Tire Plant had a rather unique appearance as an “Assyrian Palace” that was complete with turrets. All of these LA tire plants were later closed mainly because of tightening environmental rules and regulations, such as “Rule 66”. The unique Uniroyal Tire plant, that can be seen from the Santa Ana Freeway in the City of Commerce, closed in 1978. However, it was converted into a $120 million complex for office buildings, retail stores and a hotel. So, the building still exists and can still be seen from the freeway. So what has been happening to the LA rubber industry is a slow transition over the decades, from a large “heavy industrial footprint” in years past, over to the “lighter” industrial footprint of silicone rubber. This has been driven by the occurrence of the electronics “Silicon Valley” phenomenon, and the strengthening of the aerospace and medical device industries in LA which have emerged. Also the economies of scale for products made from silicone rubber are smaller than traditional rubber operations (such as tires) and are a better fit in the California work environment. So, the LA Rubber Industry has largely transitioned over to products made from silicone rubber. LA is certainly now the place to go for expertise in silicone rubber manufacturing.
The Los Angeles Rubber Group is one of the four largest rubber groups in the United States. This rubber group is called TLARGI (The Los Angeles Rubber Group Incorporated). Actually, this name is shorter than its original name in 1928, which was “The Los Angeles Rubber Group of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society”. TARGI strongly supports their “Basic Rubber Technology Course”, which is usually taught annually since its start in 1934. Also, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM) has found it more effective to teach their three-day “Silicone Elastomers Technology and Fabrication” course in Los Angeles each year.
TLARGI meets multiple times a year. They sponsor technical talks at these meetings. Also, TLARGI is very social and typically has meetings with the following themes:
- Summer Conference
- Oktober Fest
- Casino Night
- Golf Outings
- Christmas Party
The Rubber Division ACS will occasionally have one of their smaller “Spring Meetings” in the LA area. Also, about every three years, ASTM D11, Committee on Rubber, meets in Los Angeles (or the San Diego) area. Since Los Angeles is the capital of silicone rubber technology and medical device technology as well, some very large Medical Design & Manufacturing (MDM) conferences are held in the LA area, covering everything from 3 D Printing to construction and application of various FDA approved medical devices, to Smart Manufacturing, etc. Typically thousands of people attend these special events, usually in Anaheim (one of the many suburbs of LA).
The Los Angeles Combined Metropolitan statistical Area is actually 18,788,800 people, which makes it the second largest in the USA compared to the combined MSA for New York which is 23,876,000. The LA area is huge in both area and population! There are many universities in the LA area such as University of Southern California (USC), Cal Tech, UCLA, California State at Long Beach, UC at Riverside, and California State at Fullerton. USC has occasionally sponsored rubber symposiums.
Some sites to see in Los Angeles are given below.
- Griffith Observatory
- The Getty Museum
- Hollywood
- Walt Disney Concert Hall
- Disneyland
- Santa Monica Pier
- San Diego
Some of the many beaches that one could visit while in LA include Hermosa Beach, Venice City Beach, Redondo Beach, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica State Beach, Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, and Newport Beach.