Del Aire, CA

Aviation shaped Del Aire in more than name. Del Aire, a small unincorporated pocket of Los Angeles County, shares a fence line with Los Angeles Air Force Base, sits a few minutes south of LAX, and borders the office towers of El Segundo. The community comes in two pieces, one on each side of El Segundo Boulevard, linked by a narrow strip. Both pieces look much alike, with rows of compact single-family houses on level lots, stucco fronts and short driveways, and a scattering of apartment buildings toward the busier streets. The local green space is Del Aire Park, a county park off Isis Avenue with room for a pickup game or a lap with the dog. For food, Aviation Boulevard carries a short row of kabob, Thai and Mexican counters plus a sandwich shop and a neighborhood bar on 119th. A few minutes south in Wiseburn, Azucanela on Inglewood Avenue is the coffee stop, and Zacatecas Restaurant nearby covers a sit-down Mexican dinner. Getting around is easy by car and workable by train. The 405 and 105 meet right at the edge, and the C Line platform at Aviation and Imperial is within walking distance of the northern blocks. Weekly shopping means a quick drive out, since the community has no supermarket of its own. There is no center to walk to, and the pieces feel more like extensions of their neighbors than a single town. For people who work at the base, the airport or the El Segundo campuses, that hardly matters, because the commute often takes less time than finding parking at the beach.