Hawaiian Gardens is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.

The city's unusual name originated with a 1920s refreshment stand that was decorated with palm fronds and bamboo.

It was the then-rural area's main landmark for many years, and its name stuck as the small town grew up around it.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2).

Hawaiian Gardens is the smallest city in area in Los Angeles County.

After a nineteenth-century property bubble crashed, Los Angeles began growing again, and by the turn of the century had reached 100,000 inhabitants.

[7] In 1927, a fruit stand with palms was opened on the corner of two dirt roads of Carson Street and Norwalk Boulevard called Hawaiian Gardens.

[7] During the Great Depression, the area became a refuge for people to buy or build a home due to low land costs, despite poor roads, frequent flooding, and limited access to electricity.

By 1968, all streets were paved, and the three major thoroughfares of Norwalk, Pioneer, and Carson were widened to current traffic standards.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Hawaiian Gardens had a median household income of $42,017, with 24.4% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

The council establishes policies and ordinances and the city manager, assisted by the department heads, implements them.

Prior to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, this, along with the city's gambling revenue, allowed it to keep property taxes very low.

Incorporation in 1964 was primarily intended to prevent annexation to Long Beach, a full-service city with higher property taxes.

As a small municipal enclave centered around gambling near many transit arteries, it has been called the "Money Laundering Capital" of Southern California.

The city is represented by the Cerritos Community College district and pays bonds to build facilities in that district, but geographically is closer to the Liberal Arts campus of Long Beach City College.