La Jolla, California
La Jolla, California, is an upscale, coastal community within the city of San Diego. It is located on and north of Mount Soledad, extending toward Torrey Pines State Reserve. Its population is 44,440 as of January, 2003 [1]. La Jolla is noted by the high standards of living the inhabitants enjoy, and by the presence of several higher-education and research institutions, such as University of California, San Diego (including the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the San Diego Supercomputer Center), The Scripps Research Institute, and the Salk Institute. It is also the location of Torrey Pines Golf Course, made famous by the PGA TOUR Buick Invitational held there each February.The origin of the name "La Jolla" is obscure. It is pronounced like "Lah Hoy-ya", not "Lah Ho-ya" as it should be in Spanish. Some say it is a corruption of "ahoy", called-out by sailors seeking the attention of people on the shore. More likely, though, it is a misspelling of "La Joya", meaning "The Jewel" in Spanish.
The people of La Jolla, wanting a separate identity from San Diego, often refer to their community as if it were a separate city. This is especially true of the world-famous institutions that make their homes there. Even the U.S. Post Office will happily deliver mail addressed to "La Jolla, CA". However, La Jolla is a part of the city of San Diego and not separately incorporated.
Beaches in La Jolla include La Jolla Shores, which is just south of Torrey Pines State Reserve, Wind 'n' Sea Beach, and La Jolla Cove.
Kary Mullis, a surfer from La Jolla, invented PCR (polymerase chain reaction) a very important step of genetic engineering that can be used to find cures for various diseases (such as cancer).