Hermosa Beach, CA

Squeezed between Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach is the smallest and most casual of the three South Bay beach cities, a surf and volleyball town that never fully dressed up. It covers barely more than a square mile of Los Angeles County coastline, so almost every home is within a bike ride of the sand. The town changes as it climbs away from the ocean. The blocks closest to the water are dense and busy, with walk streets and narrow lots. East of Pacific Coast Highway, the streets rise into hillside blocks where houses catch long views of the bay after dark. Housing runs from old wood beach cottages to three-story modern builds that fill their lots edge to edge, with plenty of duplexes and townhomes in between. Across town, older one-story houses keep giving way to taller replacements. The beach is the main park. Vista, at the ocean end of Pier Avenue, is where people go for a lobster roll with a water view, and Baran's 2239 on PCH is known for its weekend breakfast burritos. Hi-Fi Espresso, a roaster with a vegetarian cafe on Pacific Coast Highway, is the local coffee stop away from the beach crowds. Most errands in Hermosa Beach happen on PCH, where the supermarkets and drugstores sit. Close to the water, a car is optional, since nearly everything is walkable and parking is scarce. The 405 sits a short drive inland. What Hermosa Beach gives back is a daily routine built around the ocean, where a sunset walk to the water takes a few minutes and a dip before work feels ordinary.