Editing West Coast of the United States (section)

==Culture==
California's history first as a major Spanish colony, and later as Mexican territory, has given the lower West Coast a distinctive [[Hispanic-American]] tone, which it also shares with the rest of the Southwest. Similarly, two of the three cities in which Asian Americans have concentrated, San Francisco and Los Angeles,<ref>{{cite web |title=Selected Population Profile in the United States |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-context=ip&-reg=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201PR:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201T:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201TPR:031&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-tree_id=3307&-geo_id=31000US16980&-geo_id=31000US19100&-geo_id=31000US31100&-geo_id=31000US35620&-geo_id=31000US41740&-geo_id=31000US41860&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en |work=[[United States Census Bureau]] |publisher=[[United States Department of Commerce]] |access-date=June 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212041712/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-context=ip&-reg=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201PR:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201T:031;ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201TPR:031&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-tree_id=3307&-geo_id=31000US16980&-geo_id=31000US19100&-geo_id=31000US31100&-geo_id=31000US35620&-geo_id=31000US41740&-geo_id=31000US41860&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Sharon M. |year=1998 |title=Asian Americans: Diverse and Growing |journal=Population Bulletin |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=1–40 |publisher=Population Reference Bureau |pmid=12321628 |url=http://www.prb.org/Source/53.2AsianAmerican.pdf |access-date=March 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ng |first=Franklin |title=The History and Immigration of Asian Americans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGa42b0VqMEC&q=Asian+American+population+highly+urbanized&pg=PA211 |access-date=March 9, 2013 |year=1998 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-2690-8 |page=211}}</ref> are located on the West Coast, with significant populations in other West Coast cities. San Francisco's [[Chinatown]], the oldest in North America, is a noted cultural center.

The West Coast also has a proportionally large share of [[green cities]] within the United States, which manifests itself in different cultural practices such as bicycling and organic gardening.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mnn.com/health/allergies/photos/top-10-green-us-cities/what-makes-a-city-green |title=Top ten green U.S. cities |publisher=Mother Nature Network |access-date=June 26, 2014}}</ref>

Greater Los Angeles, in particular, has immense global influence due to the presence of the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood film industry]], and is considered the creative capital of the world<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is Los Angeles really the creative capital of the world? Report says yes |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-los-angeles-really-the-creative-capital-of-the-world-report-says-yes/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=ZDNET |language=en}}</ref> due to the proportion of its population involved in the entertainment industry. Meanwhile, parts of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] are also known as [[Silicon Valley]], due to the tremendous presence of software companies in the area, including tech giants like [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Meta Platforms|Meta]], and [[Alphabet Inc.|Alphabet Inc]].

In the [[Pacific Northwest]], Portland and Seattle are both considered among the coffee capitals of the world.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/11/01/10-best-cities-for-coffee-in-the-world/1672593/ |title=World's 10 best cities for coffee |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> While [[Starbucks]] originated in Seattle, both cities are known for small-scale coffee roasters and independent coffeeshops. The culture has also been significantly shaped by the environment, especially by its forests, mountains, and rain. This may account for the fact that the Northwest has many high-quality libraries and bookshops (most notably [[Powell's Books]] and the [[Seattle Central Library]]) and a "bibliophile soul".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/may/25/pacific-northwest-seattle-oregon-coffee |title=Pacific Northwest: bicycles, bookshops, weirdness, and coffee |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> The region also has a marginal, but growing independence movement based on [[bioregionalism]] and a [[Cascadia (independence movement)|Cascadian]] identity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-went-to-a-festival-for-people-who-wouldnt-mind-if-the-pacific-northwest-was-its-own-country/ |title=The People Who Wouldn't Mind if the Pacific Northwest Were Its Own Country |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> The [[Doug flag|Cascadian flag]] has become a popular image at [[Seattle Sounders FC]] and [[Portland Timbers]] games.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Alaska is widely known for its outdoors and its inhabitants engage in a range of activities that are unique to the state. Some of these activities can be experienced through the state's annual events, such as the [[Iron Dog]] snowmobile race from [[Anchorage]] to [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]] and on to [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]]. Other events include the [[World Ice Art Championships]] (Fairbanks) and the Sitka Whalefest ([[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]]).{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}