Artesia, CA

Artesia can be crossed by car in a few minutes, yet this small southeast Los Angeles County city pulls in diners from Orange County, the South Bay and the San Gabriel Valley every weekend. Rather than distinct neighborhoods, the variety comes street by street. Pioneer Boulevard around 186th Street is lined with South Asian storefronts, sari shops and sweet counters, while South Street along the southern edge leans Korean and Filipino. Between them sit quiet grids of one-story stucco houses from the years after the dairies sold off their pastures, many enlarged with a second story or a back unit, plus townhome rows and small apartment buildings near the main roads. Podi Dosa and Paradise Biryani Pointe sit a few blocks apart, and Yantra Kitchen cooks regional Indian dishes that reach past the usual curry-house menu. Green space comes in small doses. The city parks are neighborhood-sized, with ball fields and playgrounds, and the city library on Elaine doubles as a place to study and meet. The 91 crosses the north end of town and the 605 lies a short hop west, putting Long Beach, Anaheim and downtown Los Angeles within an easy drive. Space is the main compromise. Lots are small, almost nothing is left to build on, and anyone wanting a big yard or a large park will end up driving into Cerritos for it. In exchange, residents of Artesia can walk to the kind of dinner that people elsewhere in the region plan a special trip around.