Adams-Normandie, Los Angeles, CA

Adams-Normandie is a compact Los Angeles neighborhood just west of USC that was one of the city's most prestigious addresses at the turn of the twentieth century. It sits south of the 10 Freeway, and a historic preservation district adopted in 2010 now protects much of what survives from that era. Homes are mostly Craftsman and early revival houses, many two stories, built in the first decades of the 1900s. Many of the bigger houses now hold several units, and small apartment buildings fill in between them, so most homes here are rentals. Adams Boulevard is the neighborhood's kitchen, with a run of Salvadoran and Honduran spots such as El Rincon Usuluteco and Rincon Hondureno serving pupusas and baleadas. La Catrina Restaurant on Adams handles Mexican plates, and the Belizean Fish Market on Western serves Belizean seafood. For coffee, most people head to Alibi Coffee Co. Loren Miller Recreation Center on Halldale Avenue is the main park, and Richardson Family Park adds a smaller green. Exposition Park, with its Rose Garden and museum lawns, is a short trip southeast. Daily errands are mostly local. Small markets line Adams Boulevard, and larger grocery trips go to Food 4 Less on Jefferson. The E Line stations at Expo and Vermont and Expo and Western are within reach, and the 10 and 110 freeways are close for commuting. USC's campus is walkable to the east. The tradeoff is density. Adams-Normandie packs a lot of people into a small area, and street parking is scarce, especially on game days when crowds head to the Coliseum. Still, the Van Buren Place block stands out, a row of century-old shingled houses that looks much as it did when it was built.