East Covina, CA

Most of what people call East Covina is ranch-house country, block after block of postwar homes spreading from Covina's old downtown toward the Glendora and San Dimas lines. The blocks nearest Citrus Avenue feel like an extension of the older city, with smaller lots and a few earlier houses. Moving east past Barranca Street, the tracts grow more uniform, with curving streets, larger subdivision layouts and ranch homes from the 1950s and 1960s. Parks carry the outdoor life here. Wingate Park on Glendora Avenue has the widest mix, with a skate park, tennis courts, ball fields and a short nature trail. Jobe's Glen at Jalapa Park, with its Olmec head statue, is an unexpected sight on an evening walk. For meals and nights out, the easy move is west to downtown Covina. Bishamon on Citrus Avenue does ramen and sushi below a karaoke lounge, and El Camichin serves Jalisco-style seafood a few blocks away. Closer to home, Avolio's Italian Restaurant, over on San Bernardino Road, handles pasta and pizza. Errands follow the big north-south roads and Arrow Highway, where supermarkets and strip centers handle the weekly routine. Foothill Transit runs the main roads, and the 10, the 210 and the 57 are all close. East Covina lacks a walkable downtown, which means an evening out, a coffee meetup or the farmers market all mean driving across town. What residents get instead is room. Wider lots, quiet tract streets and a park within a few blocks make up most of daily life, with downtown close enough for a Friday night.