Los Angeles Growth Declared Fastest In The Nation

LONG BEACH - MAY 22: High-density upscale residential units are under contruction on May 22, 2003 in Long Beach, California. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has a reputation for sprawl but is also adept at packing its population into ever-denser areas within its cities. A Census Bureau survey released May 19 reports that about 782 people moved to the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area, already the nation's most populated at nearly 9.5 million, each day in 2001. The 2001 total was more than 285,000. Nearly one-third of those new southern California residents arrived from abroad. This does not include L.A.'s commuter population sprawl, which is slopping over into northern Los Angeles, Ventura, and Riverside Counties. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)