Welcome to Cambodia Town

The City of Long Beach has unveiled the final design for a grand entrance to Cambodia Town. The upcoming landmark on Anaheim Street is intended to honor the cultural contributions and history of the local Cambodian community. Construction of the gateway is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Mayor Rex Richardson and Sixth District Councilwoman Dr. Suely Saro presented the final rendering of the gateway to the public on April 4, during the annual Cambodian New Year Festival at Long Beach City College.

The design, selected after a community feedback period throughout 2025 and 2026, draws its visual inspiration from the traditional Cambodian Apsara Crown. Initial drafts presented to the public included two primary concepts, with the alternative influenced by the Buddhist temple and UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor Wat. Over 1,000 residents participated in surveys provided in English, Spanish, Khmer, and Tagalog.

The physical entrance will rest along Anaheim Street and Alamitos Avenue. The gateway is expected to serve as a welcoming beacon, attracting visitors from across California and beyond, thereby increasing foot traffic to support the area's numerous Cambodian-owned businesses, markets, and restaurants.

The Cambodia Town Grand Entrance is a cultural component of the city's Elevate '28 Infrastructure Investment Plan. Elevate '28 is the city's five-year public works plan spanning fiscal years 2023 through 2027.

Originally launched as a $533 million effort, Elevate '28 has expanded into an investment of over $1 billion to improve parks, community facilities, mobility access, and neighborhood streets ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

Funding for Elevate '28, and therefore the Cambodia Town gateway, stems largely from Measure A, a local sales tax approved by voters in 2016 for public infrastructure and safety services, as well as state, regional, federal, and competitive grant sources.

While the city has secured the majority of the funding for the gateway, the Cambodia Town Advisory Group is simultaneously launching a fundraising campaign to finance an additional perforated screen that will aesthetically encase the grand entrance sign.

The relationship between Cambodians and Long Beach began in the 1950s and 1960s, when Cambodian exchange students attended California State University, Long Beach. A few of these students remained in the area after graduation.

However, mass migration to Long Beach occurred due to political change during the mid-1970s and 1980s. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime, took control of Cambodia, seeking to eliminate Western influence and create a farming society.

The regime forced the population into labor camps, subjecting citizens to 12-hour to 14-hour workdays. Anyone showing signs of grief or disagreement toward the regime faced execution. An estimated two million people, roughly a quarter of the country's total population, died from execution, starvation, and disease before the regime was overthrown by Vietnamese forces in 1979.

Thousands of refugees fled the country, with the United States Refugee Act of the 1980s providing a pathway to asylum. Between April and November 1975, approximately 2,000 Cambodians migrated to Camp Pendleton, a military base in Southern California that served as a resettlement camp.

From there, many sought out Long Beach due to the presence of earlier exchange students who offered assistance with navigating American society. The refugees, many of whom were farmers with limited formal education, found Long Beach appealing for its affordable housing and entry-level job opportunities.

As more families settled in Long Beach, the geographic landscape of East Anaheim Street completely transformed. Families pooled their funds to establish small businesses. Organizations like the United Cambodian Community were formed to assist the new arrivals with housing, finance, and food. Soon, pharmacies offering traditional Cambodian herbal medicine, jewelry stores, and eateries began lining Anaheim Street.

The journey toward an officially designated Cambodia Town began in June 2001 when locals hung banners reading "Little Phnom Penh" along Anaheim Street. This action led to community meetings where the name Cambodia Town was chosen over alternatives to represent the neighborhood.

Locals formed Cambodia Town, Inc. in 2005, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to gathering the Khmer community. They argued that official recognition would highlight the area's Khmer characteristics without excluding the non-Khmer residents who also lived and worked there.

The effort succeeded on July 3, 2007, when the Long Beach City Council voted 8-1 to designate the Cambodia Town Business and Cultural District, making it the first officially recognized Cambodia Town in the United States.

Since that official designation, the corridor has established annual traditions, such as the Cambodian New Year Parade and the Cambodia Town Film Festival. Today, it is home to restaurants like the Phnom Penh Noodle Shack and markets that carry ingredients for an array of Asian cuisines.

For any inquiries or further information, please contact Jose Cervantes at JoseC.Press@pm.me