South of LA, are these cities or township? (Los Angeles, Long Beach: good schools, moving to)

[greencrew]

We are thinking of moving to CA and as I'm looking at a map I see many little names south of LA in LA county (Torrance, Cypress, Hawthorne, Gardena, etc). Are these considered LA city or individual own city?
Among all these towns, which one is a good place to raise kids? TIA

[EscapeCalifornia]

Those are incorporated cities. They have their own city council and ordinances. They are not part of the City of Los Angeles. Cypress is in Orange County. We don't use the term township in California.

[genjy]

There are also unincorporated areas NEAR some of the cities you listed... mostly along the 110 freeway.

Those unincorporated areas are not a part of any city. They have no local government and are managed by LA County.

[Patrolman]

To answer one of the OP's questions, I'd pick Torrance.

[2Easy]

California doesn't have "townships". A place is either incorporated and thereby a "city", or it is unincorporated. The places south of LA are all of the above. They are cities, unincorporated, along with part of LA depending on which you mean. The ones that you mentioned are all cities, but Wilmington, Harbor City, and San Pedro are part of Los Angeles. Lennox and Athens are unincorporated, and most of the rest are cities although there are some smaller unincorporated bits around.

As for good to raise kids, there are good schools in Torrance, Redondo, Hermosa, and Manhattan. Long Beach is hit and miss. Carson, Lomita, Wilmington, San Pedro, Harbor City, and Gardena are all LAUSD, which overall is not very good although at the elementary level some places can be ok.

[JohnG72]

While all of those are their own city, keep in mind it's one giant urban sprawl from Chatswoth down to San Clemente. If it weren't for signs you would not know where one city ends and the next one begins.