Coast City
History
Coast City is a California urban center located "less than half an hour from Edwards (Airforce Base) and twenty minutes from Fort Rock."
Features of Coast City included Ferris Aircraft, an aerospace company for which Hal Jordan worked as a test pilot; his romantic interest, Carol Ferris, was the company's manager. Coast City also included an extensive beach, and was a popular spot for surfing.
Destruction
In the 1990s, Coast City was destroyed, with nearly all of its residents – then numbered at seven million – killed by Mongul, whose gigantic ship appeared over Coast City and released thousands of spherical bombs which detonated simultaneously. It was then revealed that Mongul was doing the bidding of former astronaut Hank Henshaw, better known as the Cyborg Superman. Mongul and Henshaw built Engine City in Coast City's ashes, as part of a plot to turn Earth into the new Warworld.
Killed in the blast were numerous friends of Hal Jordan, including Kari Limbo and several Ferris Aircraft employees. Hal Jordan attempted to resurrect the city using his Green Lantern Ring and learned that his first girlfriend also died in the blast, but whether this was truly her spirit or his imagination made real is unclear.
As a result of this, Hal Jordan became the villain Parallax. This was at first attributed to a mental breakdown over the destruction of his city, but it would subsequently be revealed he was under the influence of an alien parasite. This led in turn to the appointment of a new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. A memorial park dedicated to Coast City's victims was erected on the site of the city with the help of most of the major superheroes of the period. When Hal Jordan died, it memorialized him as well.
For a time, an alien city named Haven (which crashed onto Earth) resided on top of the ruins of Coast City.
It was later revealed that Hank Henshaw chose Coast City because his wife, Terri Henshaw, was one of its former residents, in an effort to erase his former life.
Reconstruction
Coast City was rebuilt in the wake of Jordan's return to the ranks of the living. While the Spectre, Hal Jordan, and the Parallax parasite were wresting for control of the Spectre's powers, all roads, street signs, and Jordan's apartment reappeared, setting the groundwork for the city. Repopulating the rebuilt city became one of the latest initiatives of Jonathan Vincent Horne, then-current President of the United States. Thus far, Coast City has remained a ghost town due to its reputation as the site of a mass murder. Among the exceptions depicted to date is the resurrected Hal Jordan, who lives in Coast City when he isn't working at nearby Edwards Air Force Base as one of their test pilots.
The U.S. Navy is also establishing a presence in the region in the wake of its reconstruction, as both a domestic security and economic stimulus measure.
One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Coast City has finished reconstruction. During the Sinestro Corps war, it was targeted for destruction by Sinestro. Despite Hal Jordan's incitement to run, the citizens stayed where they were, even flashing green lights from their homes to show support. In the aftermath, the city's population appears to have risen dramatically with many businesses and citizens returning. It has also been dubbed by the media as "The City Without Fear". The city's population eventually sprung to over two million by the time of Final Crisis.
