Torrance, CA

Torrance is the broad, level middle of the South Bay, stretching through Los Angeles County all the way from the Palos Verdes bluffs inland to the Harbor Freeway. It has more room than the beach towns to its west and fills it with factories, big parks and a lot of shopping. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Old Torrance keeps the original grid of bungalows, a small downtown on Sartori Avenue and the El Prado parkway pointed at the mountains. The Hollywood Riviera, on the bluff at the southwest corner, began as its own 1920s seaside subdivision, with red tile roofs, Spanish street names and winding uphill roads. Torrance Beach, below the bluff, is where the Marvin Braude Bike Trail starts its run up the bay. Charles H. Wilson Park is the largest city park and hosts the farmers' market twice a week. Columbia Park has lighted soccer fields, and Madrona Marsh Preserve protects one of the last vernal marshes on the coastal plain. Japanese food and groceries run deep here, and Mitsuwa Marketplace inside Del Amo Fashion Center is a regular stop for a lot of households. King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant on Sepulveda sells the Portuguese sweet bread the brand is known for. Offset Coffee, a South Bay roaster, runs the downtown coffee shop on Marcelina Avenue. Most errands happen along Hawthorne Boulevard, where Del Amo ranks among the largest malls in the country. No train stops in town. Local buses meet at the regional transit center on Crenshaw Boulevard, where the Metro K Line is planned to end, and the 405 and 110 carry commuters out. The tradeoff is the refinery on 190th Street, with flaring, odor and periodic advisories on the blocks around it. Plants and tract houses went up together here, and Torrance still reads as a place where people live a short drive from where the work gets done.