Brentwood, Los Angeles, CA

Brentwood runs from the flats along San Vicente Boulevard up into the canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains on the Westside of Los Angeles, and Sunset Boulevard splits it into two different places. South of Sunset are walkable streets and the restaurant stretch of San Vicente. North of it the roads narrow into hillside enclaves. Housing covers a wide range. Brentwood Park has big estates on generous lots, Brentwood Glen near the 405 packs smaller houses onto quieter blocks, and Crestwood Hills holds a cluster of protected mid-century modern homes by A. Classic California ranches, mid-century houses and new contemporary builds share the same streets, many with hedges and gates. The coral trees in its wide grassy median, from 26th Street to Bringham Avenue, are a city Historic-Cultural Monument, and the median is the neighborhood's running track at dawn. Barrington Recreation Center has courts, fields and a gym, the Getty Center crowns the hill by the 405, and the trails above Kenter Canyon climb toward Mulholland. Eating out is easy. Brentwood Village on Barrington Court is the smaller hub, where Clark Street does sandwiches and Peppone serves red-sauce Italian with a dover sole people order by name. The Brentwood Country Mart, a barn-style complex from 1948 at 26th Street, holds Farmshop and a handful of shops. Errands work well from the flats. Whole Foods and Vicente Foods sit on San Vicente, and the Brentwood Farmers Market sets up on Gretna Green Way. Up in the hills, everything is a drive down to Sunset first. The tradeoff is traffic. Sunset Boulevard and the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass back up at rush hour, and the hill streets north of Sunset lie in a very high fire hazard zone. Still, on a weekday morning the San Vicente median fills with runners under the coral trees before most shops open.