Cerritos, CA

On a Saturday, a good share of southeast Los Angeles County ends up in Cerritos for something, whether it is a car, a concert or a pair of shoes. The planning shows everywhere. Residential tracts went up quickly around 1970, when pastures were subdivided almost overnight, so most homes are one- and two-story houses on regular lots with attached garages, set along looping streets that keep through traffic on the arterials. Culture is a bigger part of daily life here than in most suburbs this size. Neighborhood parks turn up every few blocks, usually pairing a playground with lawn space and courts a short walk from home. Food follows the main corridors. Lunasia Dim Sum House on South Street is known for jumbo handmade dumplings and has drawn notice from the Michelin Guide, and the plazas along that same road hold Korean barbecue, Taiwanese bakeries and pho shops within a short walk of each other. Errands are easy by car. Supermarkets from several cuisines sit on every major boulevard, the regional mall and the auto dealerships occupy the southern edge, and the city runs its own shuttle buses between neighborhoods and shopping. All that regional pull comes with a cost. Weekend traffic around the mall and the dealerships backs up onto the boulevards, and residents learn which left turns to avoid. Away from those corridors, though, Cerritos stays quiet, and the walk from most front doors to a park takes only a few minutes.