Duarte, CA

Duarte is a compact foothill city where the mountains, a major medical campus and a stop on the Metro A Line all sit within about two miles of each other. The city changes as the ground rises. South of Huntington Drive, flat blocks of postwar ranch houses and several mobile home parks fill the grid near the freeway. North of it, the streets begin to tilt toward the foothills, the lots get deeper, and the houses near the mountain edge look out over the valley. The Watson trail follows an old trolley line across the middle of town, a flat route for morning walks and easy bike rides. On the eastern edge, the San Gabriel River corridor leads south toward the lake at Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, where water and long bike paths open up below the mountains. Most eating out happens on Huntington Drive, the old Route 66, where the strip centers hold taco shops, sushi counters, a Mediterranean kitchen and a couple of Italian dining rooms. Gene's Grinders is the local lunch institution, a family sandwich shop that bakes its bread every morning and often sells out of it before closing. Daily life works in both directions. The shortcoming is evenings. Duarte has few late-night spots or places to linger, so people looking for an evening out drive into Monrovia or Pasadena. What sets the city apart is how close its pieces sit. A resident can ride the trolley trail in the morning, catch a train to work, and still see the mountains at the end of almost every street on the way home.