Arctostaphylos Howard McMinn is a California native manzanita which works well as a hedge. It can be left natural or pruned to a formal shape. It has low water needs, but will tolerate summer garden watering.

Lemonade berry (rhus integrifolia) or sugar bush (rhus ovata) also respond well to pruning and make good hedges. They may die back a bit if the winter is a particularly wet one, but will recover when they dry out. They are both California natives, and lemonade berry is native to the coastal areas of SoCal, so it might be a particularly good choice for Long Beach.

Hollyleaf cherry (prunus ilicifolia) is another native of CaliforniaÂs chaparral areas that will work for a hedge. As the name implies, the leaves are shaped like holly leaves and it bears a cherry (edible but not tasty) that birds like. It is sturdy, drought tolerant, and pest and disease resistant.

If you canÂt find them at the local nurseries, try Tree of Life in San Juan Capistrano, Las Pilitas in Escondido, or Natural Landscapes in Palos Verdes.

For your screen, you might consider Tecate cypress (cupressus forbesii). It grows rapidly to about 30Â and has dense foliage that can be pruned or sheared to the desired shape. If left natural, it starts out a narrow, conical shape, and branches out with age. Or you could use Santa Cruz Island ironwood (lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius), which is a very nice slender tree that grows to 20-50Â. It has shredding bark, ferny leaves, and large flower clusters, and I think itÂs very Mediterranean looking. It can be espaliered against a wall if you can tie it back. Both are drought tolerant. The Santa Cruz Island ironwood like an infrequent deep watering in hot summers.

By the way, IÂm in Long Beach, too.

I have a native ceanothus pruned into a hedge. I fills out very nicely and of course the blooms in spring are marvelous. (I live in Long Beach too)
Also, I have a native Fremontodendron pruned into a large hedge, but it grows really fast. You gotta keep it trimmed down or it gets out of hand. But it does form a dense shrub. And the bright yellow flowers in the spring are eye-catching.

For the low hedge I'd choose Fuchsia-flowered Currant - Ribes speciosum. This is a native plant, so gets by with low water, and has flowers in the spring that hummingbirds love. It is also thorny so it will deter the dog a lot more than many other types of shrubs would.

Pretty much what Elladog said...

Click the following:

Las Pilitas Cal-Native Hedges

Try Myrtus communis 'Compacta', or Euonymus japonica 'Microphylla' for an inexpensive, easily found low hedge that will require little or no trimming, and tolerate some shade. They will need to be watered until well established, then can probably switch to once a month watering. Pittosporum tenuifolia will need at least once a year shearing to be kept at a thickness of four feet, but it would do the job of screening your neighbor's building.

http://www.oczoo.com/ironwood.htm

The Catalina Ironwood suggestion caught my interest and although I found lots of pics of leaves and flowers, I couldn't find a good pic of the tree as it may look in your situation (I have a sim situation and was looking for something to plant)
Anyway...This link has a pretty good picture...It does look like a good choice!