Belmont Heights, Long Beach, CA

Belmont Heights is the Craftsman quarter of Long Beach, a grid of early 1900s bungalows running from 7th Street down to the ocean bluff between Redondo and Nieto avenues. It started as its own small city in 1908, and because Long Beach was dry back then, the Heights was where people came for a drink. Homes are the reason most people look here. A historic district between 4th and 7th streets holds hundreds of Craftsman bungalows, most built between 1905 and the late 1930s, alongside Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor and Mediterranean houses. Lots are modest and many homes are small by modern standards. The ocean is close. Bluff Park runs along Ocean Boulevard above the sand, the beach below reaches toward the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, and the Red Car Greenbelt follows an old rail line inland for walking and dogs. Recreation Park's golf and tennis are a few minutes north. On 4th Street, Scratch Baked Goods and San & Wolves Bakeshop are the morning bakery stops, and at 3rd and Loma, Honeybee's pours coffee next to a small ice cream counter. Errands are walkable for a lot of residents. Olives Gourmet Grocer on Broadway covers specialty items, Ma N' Pa Grocery on Roycroft is the corner store, and Smart & Final on Redondo handles bulk runs. Belmont Shore's Second Street is a short walk south. Street parking in Belmont Heights is tight, especially near Broadway at dinner time, and older houses often have one-car garages or none. In return, a 1920s bungalow, a bakery and the bluff are all a short walk apart, and plenty of residents go days without starting the car.