South Gate, CA

South Gate spreads across both banks of the Los Angeles River in southeastern Los Angeles County. Huntington Park and Lynwood sit on its western side, and Downey lies across the water to the east. Tweedy Boulevard runs through that side as the traditional main street. Hollydale, on the east bank toward Downey, is a separate world of quieter postwar streets, and residents there are as likely to shop in Downey as on Tweedy. Garfield Avenue and State Street add their own strips of shops and taquerias in between. South Gate Park is the city's backyard, a huge spread with a golf course, a pool and fields that stay busy from morning into the evening. Smaller neighborhood parks fill in the rest of the map. El Pescador on Long Beach Boulevard has been serving seafood platters, fajitas and molcajetes since the early 1980s, in a dining room done up with plenty of decor. Over on Tweedy, The Sunny Sunny pours coffee and boba, serves snow ice and keeps a small gift shop inside. Pupuserias, mariscos counters and panaderias are spread all over town. Big shopping trips go to the centers on Firestone Boulevard, where the chain stores and warehouse clubs cluster. Tweedy handles the smaller stuff, with the city library and a weekly farmers market. Driving is the norm, with the 710 along the river and the 105 near the southern edge, and buses cover the main avenues. Firestone Boulevard backs up near those shopping centers on weekends, and getting across the river means using one of a few bridges. The river path is the one stretch in South Gate where you can cover miles without hitting a stoplight.