Were going LA and Long Beach area in October 2002 for 3 days. What would be some good places to see while there? I work in the inner city of Chicago so I don't wish to see more of the same.

Of course there is a ton to see in LA/Hollywood.
In Long Beach, however, there isn't as much. In fact, taking the short drive down into Orange County would be more advisable. HUntington Beach is crowded but the pier is there and there are still a million surfers and beautiful women (don't see too many of them in the inner city.) Newport Beach a little further down the coast is also nice, a very posh beach community.
In Long Beach there is the Queen Mary and some old houses along the beach, but all in all, it's not that great and there are some areas that are pretty unsavory. 2nd Street in Belmont Shores area of Long Beach is cool too; it's sort of the the old beach town without many tourists. And it's not right on the beach either.

Check out the website www.seeing-stars.com. They have a lot of great Hollywood hot spots, restaurants, landmarks, etc. Have a great time!!

Go to Catalina Island for a day...

Long Beach also has an aquarium:
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/

Santa Monica Pier; Venice Beach; Westwood Village; UCLA (Go Bruins!); for shopping, head to Farmer's Market and the brand new mall built next door.

Others have posted some good suggestions. Here are a few more places that are unique to LA and which Chicago has no equivalent:

1. Huntington Library in San Marino
2. Venice Beach/Santa Monica Pier
3. Getty Center
4. La Brea Tar Pits
5. Universal Studios (or one of the real studios)

There are tons of things to do in Los Angeles and Long Beach. I have lived in Los Angeles for eighteen years and would echo what the previous writers suggested.

I have lived in the Long Beach area for four years. In Long Beach you can visit the Queen Mary and Aquarium of the Pacific and while downtown, enjoy some of the fine restaraunts on Pine Avenue.

You can also make your way down to Belmont Shore (for bar hopping) and Naples where you can take a fun ride through the Venice styled Canals. Long Beach offers two very good museums, the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Latin American Museum. If time permits, you may also want to catch the performing arts at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center or watch a play at one of Long Beach's three play houses.

One of the previous writers suggested going to Huntington Beach in Orange County. Waste of time! There is nothing in Huntington Beach except a beach that does not measure up with Los Angeles area beaches like Manhattan, Venice and Santa Monica Beaches. Huntington Beaches also has it share of the standard stores that you see in every suburban area. Though it may be a decent place to live, there is no reason to visit it unless you have friends or relatives in the area.

If you do go down to Orange County the best bet is to go to Laguna Beach which has an ecletic crowd, nice art galleries and beautiful scenery. Skip Newport Beach also unless you are interested in an insular, homogenous and pretentious crowd.

In Long Beach you can also rent kayaks and paddle around the canals. One of the kayak rental places also gives you a map to different restaurants that you can paddle to so you can stop and get food or a few drinks when you need a break.

One place I really like in Huntington Beach is Duke's.It's great to sit there and remember Hawaii. The kayaking sure sounds more fun though!