Downey is a city in south-east Los Angeles County, California, United States, 13 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is a member of the Gateway Cities. The town is the birthplace of the space program Apollo. It is also host to the world's oldest still operating McDonald's restaurant. They had a total population projection of 111,779. The cities of South Gate and Bell Gardens are neighboring to the west and northwest, the northeast of Pico Rivera, the east of Santa Fe Springs and Norwalk, and the south of Paramount and Bellflower.