Nestled beside the nation’s largest seaport, San Pedro is a community shaped by its ties to its imposing neighbor.

Many residents of the waterfront community look to the Port of Los Angeles for employment, entertainment and a vision of the future. And while port operations are blamed for contributing to poor air quality, many residents have no desire to leave.

Jack Baric, owner of Pirate Town Productions, has lived in San Pedro most of his life. The 43-year-old filmmaker appreciates San Pedro’s small-town feel, unusual in Southern California. Even today, he still crosses paths with boyhood friends around town.

“You get that real sense of community and a lot of that does come from the fact that we’re a port town,” he said. “This port has always provided a place for us to work, so people don’t have to leave.”

The Port of Los Angeles is an economic engine for San Pedro and much of Southern California, supporting about a half-million jobs. Along with its sister port in Long Beach, the complex is the gateway for nearly half of the country’s imports and a marvel of efficiency, handling 8.6 million cargo containers last year without any major problems.

Tourists and residents alike flock to San Pedro to observe “the theater of a working port,” said Arley Baker, the port’s director of communications. “It’s definitely a draw,” he said.

“In order to really accentuate that you have to be able to bring the public to the water’s edge. That’s really one of the principles that drives the future vision of our waterfront,” Baker added.

But for many residents, living next to a port is a tradeoff. For all its benefits, the port is responsible for some of the worst air pollution in the country as exhaust-spewing diesel trucks idle for hours and cargo ships belch toxic emissions.

Port pollution contributes to 2,400 premature deaths each year and leads to markedly higher rates of asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, according to air quality regulators.

“The communities that are right adjacent to the ports are much more highly impacted,” said Elina Green, project manager for the Long Beach Alliance for Children With Asthma, an advocacy group that has lobbied the port to reduce pollution.

Lately, there has been movement to right the ship. In late 2006, the two ports approved the Clean Air Action Plan, a landmark initiative that addresses many of the causes of air pollution.