Lakewood is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, and Hawaiian Gardens on the southeast. Major thoroughfares include Lakewood (CA/SR-19), Bellflower, and Del Amo Boulevards and Carson and South Streets. The San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) runs through the city's eastern regions. The vast majority of its housing stock is small, prefabricated single-story ranch houses on tree-lined streets, sold initially to white World War II veterans who worked in the factories of Long Beach and the South Bay. Today, while considerably more ethnically diverse, Lakewood is still populated by whites to a far greater extent than nearby cities such as Long Beach, Carson, and Cerritos.