Norwalk, CA

Plenty of people across the region have been to Norwalk without living anywhere near it, because Los Angeles County keeps its Registrar-Recorder and County Clerk headquarters here. Marriage licenses, property records and, every election season, the counting of ballots all run through offices on Imperial Highway, and that civic role gives the town a steady weekday rhythm. Institutions take up a surprising share of the map. Around them, the residential streets are mostly postwar tract houses, one story with stucco walls, small front lawns and driveways, built as the dairy land was sold off. Apartments and newer townhomes line the busier corridors, especially near the civic center. Several freeways shape the city more than any single street does. Transit is the upside of all that concrete. The Metro C Line begins at the Norwalk station by the 605 and heads west toward LAX, while the Metrolink station on the east side, shared with Santa Fe Springs, sends trains to Orange County and downtown Los Angeles. Parks are spread evenly, with a large central park near city hall, smaller neighborhood parks with ball fields, and a dog park on Hoxie Avenue. The two restored houses the city runs as museums give local history a physical home. Mexican bakeries, juice and bionicos counters, and family taquerias line Rosecrans Avenue, Alondra Boulevard and Pioneer Boulevard. La Jara Brewing Company brews on site and runs a taproom on Excelsior Drive, and Imperial Highway has the chain restaurants near the civic center. Living with three freeways running through town means some blocks hear the traffic day and night, and getting between neighborhoods can take longer than the distance suggests. What Norwalk offers in return is a rare thing in the southeast suburbs, a real choice between driving and taking the train.