In June 1958, Torrance officials met with the U.S. Information Office, the federal government’s propaganda agency, about joining the “People to People” program, which would eventually be rebranded “Sister Cities”. The program, launched two years earlier, was designed to thwart the spread of Communism by connecting American cities with foreign ones for the friendly exchange of cultures and ideas. Torrance’s People to People committee picked Konya, Turkey over Lahti, Finland; Norrköping, Sweden; Oldenberg, Germany; and Valencia, Venezuela. All five cities met the ideal of having a population size and industrial makeup similar to Torrance; it was not publicized why Konya alone was chosen. Konya Drive was named by year’s end on Don Wilson’s Southwood Estates development, likely as a favor to City Council. The Torrance-Konya sisterhood thrived until the spring of 1960, when a coup d’etat in Turkey put it on ice. Despite a few attempts to revive it, by 1968 it was over. Things went no better with Guatemala City, Torrance’s second sister city – political strife in Guatemala killed it within five years – but the third time was the charm with Kashiwa, Japan: see Kashiwa Street.
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