It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching 21 miles (34 km) along the Pacific Ocean coast, and for its longtime status as the home of numerous affluent Hollywood celebrities and executives.

Although a high proportion of its residents are entertainment industry figures with multi-million dollar mansions, Malibu also features several middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods.

The line started at Carbon Canyon, just inside the ranch's property eastern boundary, and ran 15 miles westward, past Pt.

At its height, Malibu Potteries employed over 100 workers, and produced decorative tiles that furnish many Los Angeles-area public buildings and Beverly Hills residences.

[27] It partially reopened in 1932, but could not recover from the effects of the Great Depression and a steep downturn in Southern California construction projects.

Fine examples of the tiles may be seen at the Adamson House and Serra Retreat, a 50-room mansion that was started in the 1920s as the main Rindge home on a hill overlooking the lagoon.

After lack of water, equipment and workers, the Los Angeles Fire Department was forced to start evacuating more than 30,000 citizens from the metropolitan area.

May Rindge allowed prominent Hollywood movie stars to build vacation homes in the Colony as a defensive public relations wedge against the Southern Pacific from taking her property under eminent domain for a coastal train route.

[36] Long known as a popular private enclave for wealthy celebrities,[37] the Malibu Colony is a gated community, with multi-million-dollar homes on small lots.

[40] TRW built a laboratory in Solstice Canyon without any structural steel to test magnetic detectors for satellites and medical devices.

Prior to achieving municipal status, the local residents had fought several county-proposed developments, including an offshore freeway,[42] a nuclear power plant,[43] and several plans to replace septic tanks with sewer lines to protect the ocean from seepage that pollutes the marine environment.

The incorporation drive gained impetus in 1986, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved plans for a regional sewer that would have been large enough to serve 400,000 people in the western Santa Monica Mountains.

Residents were incensed that they would be assessed taxes and fees to pay for the sewer project, and feared that the Pacific Coast Highway would need to be widened into a freeway to accommodate growth that they did not want.

The state Legislature eventually passed a Malibu-specific law that allowed the Coastal Commission to write an LCP for Malibu, thus limiting the city's ability to control many aspects of land use.

After the 1993 wildfire stripped the surrounding mountains of their earth-hugging chaparral, torrential rainstorms in early 1994 caused a massive mudslide near Las Flores Canyon that closed down the Pacific Coast Highway for months.

The destruction to property and infrastructure was exacerbated by the road's narrowness at that point, with beachside houses abutting the highway with little or no frontage land as a buffer to the mudslide.

[78] Yet another behemoth slide occurred on Kanan Dume Road, about one mile (1.6 km) up the canyon from the Pacific Coast Highway.

This closure lasted many months, with Kanan finally fixed by the California Department of Transportation (Cal-Trans)[79] over a year after the road collapsed.

On January 25, 2008, during an unusually large storm for Southern California, a tornado came ashore and struck a naval base's hangar, ripping off the roof.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Malibu had a median household income of $133,869, with 10.6% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

[95] The Surfrider Foundation was formed in 1984 by a group of surfers gathered to protect 31 miles (50 km) of coastal waters from Marina Del Rey through Malibu to Ventura County, and represent the surfing community.

As of 2013, there are 35 state-licensed drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities in Malibu, in addition to a multiplying number of unlicensed sober-living homes.

[102] Smothers Theatre of Pepperdine University's Theatrical Drama Department offers concerts, plays, musicals, opera, and dance.

[107] The Polar Plunge (Los Angeles) is held each year in February at Zuma Beach to help raise funds for the Special Olympics in Southern California.

The route also has a reputation for being quite dangerous for cyclists, which inspired the creation of the Dolphin Run, an annual community event commemorating local victims of reckless driving.

[117] A vacant, 20-acre (8.1 ha) plot of land owned by Jerry Perenchio was sold to the City of Malibu in 2005 with strict deed restrictions prohibiting any further commercial use.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas, serving Malibu under contract with the city.

Point Dume is the location of Tony Stark's mansion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in Iron Man.

Music videos for "Survivor" by Destiny's Child, "If It's Lovin' That You Want" by Rihanna, "Sunshine" by Lil Flip, "Natural" by S Club 7, "Feel It Boy" by Beenie Man featuring Janet Jackson, "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain, and many others were filmed on Westward Beach.

Linda Ronstadt, who lived in the Colony, is photographed in front of her home for her 1976 Grammy award-winning album Hasten Down the Wind.