West Puente Valley, CA

Drive the blocks of West Puente Valley and what stands out is how little interrupts the houses. The feel shifts a little from street to street rather than from district to district. The interior streets are calmer, lined with postwar one-story houses on level lots, many of them enlarged with extra rooms, carports and garden walls as owners stayed put. The local gathering place is Allen J. Martin Park, a shady county park with a splash pad, a ball field and basketball courts. Most other green space means a short drive. Morgan Park in Baldwin Park adds a larger lawn near that city's library, and the San Gabriel River trails are a few miles west. Food leans on nearby corridors. Jim's Burgers, the burger stand on Amar Road, is a short hop south, and Casa Jimenez on North 1st Street in La Puente is the sit-down Mexican dinner people drive to on a weekend. Main Street in La Puente, a few minutes away, fills in coffee and a brewery. Francisquito Avenue and Sunset carry most local trips, the 10 and the 60 are both within a short drive, and Foothill Transit buses cover the main roads. One county park carries a community of more than twenty thousand people, so a pickup soccer game or a long walk on a trail usually starts with finding parking somewhere else. What residents get in return is a stretch of streets where the loudest sound on a weekday afternoon is usually a leaf blower. The city bustle is always close, but it stays across the boulevard.