It’s only been a week, but Minecrafters have been incredibly busy making our virtual Long Beach look as vibrant as it does in real life.

We used to have reporters set up Office Hours at local libraries and coffee shops so you could talk with us, but during the pandemic, we decided to move those meetings to Minecraft—and set you loose to build parts of our town in the meantime.

We now have a Statue of Liberty, a rollercoaster inside the Aquarium of the Pacific and even an over-the-water parkour course in the marina. We also have incredibly realistic renderings of buildings and restaurants in the city.

We couldn’t screenshot the entire city, but we will be showing a live tour of all the coolest builds today (and every Thursday) at 3:30 p.m. on YouTube and Twitch. We’ll also be talking about the latest news this week with Hi-lo editor Steve Lowery while we show him around. Tune in and bring any questions you have for Steve about local arts, culture and food.

And if you want to join the server and build something yourself, fill out the form below. You will also get our weekly Minecraft newsletter, where we highlight the builds of the week.

This isn’t real life, this is Minecraft, but you couldn’t tell because of this builder’s keen eye for detail. If you look closely, you’ll see they’ve even included striped parking spots in the parking structure.
Minecrafters have added not only train tracks and a Metro A (Blue) Line station and a Long Beach Transit bus, but they’ve even included a familiar ad on the back of the bus.
Several faithful Minecrafters, led by ZivaDavid700, have transformed the Aquarium of the Pacific into a rollercoaster AND walkthrough. Behind the glass are fish and water, and at the end, they’ve even included an atrium with tropical birds.
The Pike on a summer’s night can be a sweet experience. We’re glad Minecrafters have brought that into the game with the iconic rollercoaster and Ferris wheel.
Rock Bottom Brewery may be closing, but it will live on forever in virtual Long Beach.
We’ve left Long Beach and now we’re in Halloween Town.
A live shot of the dungeon that’s now under the Long Beach Post newsroom. We swear there isn’t one in real life.
It was hard to get all these cool creations in one shot, but from this angle, you can see the top of the aquarium, Long Beach’s new Statue of Liberty, a whale and trident in the bay, the start of a ship and a chicken statue, and way more.
Soon we shall be able to dine in L’Opera, but for now, you can experience it in Minecraft.

Valerie Osier is the Social Media & Newsletter Manager for the Long Beach Post. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ValerieOsier