Canoga Park, Los Angeles, CA

Canoga Park started life in 1912 as Owensmouth, and its old downtown along Sherman Way, once nicknamed Antique Alley, is still the core of this west San Fernando Valley neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles River also begins here, where Bell Creek and Calabasas Creek meet behind Canoga Park High School. The housing mix leans denser than West Hills or Winnetka next door. Postwar single-family houses fill the side streets, and apartment complexes line Sherman Way, Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the blocks near Warner Center, so a large share of homes are rentals. Parks are modest in size. Lanark Recreation Center has ball diamonds, courts, a soccer field and a seasonal pool, and Parthenia Park adds a playground on the north side. The trails of El Escorpion and Upper Las Virgenes Canyon are a short drive west in West Hills. The Main Street Canoga Park Farmers Market sets up on Owensmouth Avenue next to the local historical society, and 818 Brewing pours beer in an industrial space on De Soto Avenue. Big-box errands are close. Westfield Topanga, with Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and an Alfred Coffee, sits at the southern edge along Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and Ralphs and Vallarta cover groceries on Sherman Way. Metro G Line stations run along Canoga Avenue, and the 101 is a short drive south. Sherman Way and Topanga Canyon Boulevard carry heavy traffic, and street parking gets tight along the apartment corridors. Rocketdyne and the aerospace plants that once employed much of the area are gone, but Canoga Park still keeps a small-town main street, where a deli sandwich and a browse through the old storefronts fit in one stop.