Central, Los Angeles, CA

The old Dunbar Hotel still stands on Central Avenue, once a hub of the Central Avenue jazz scene, and today it holds Delicious at the Dunbar, which serves soul food and Mexican plates at sit-down tables. Homes here are mostly early 1900s single-family houses on narrow lots, and many have been split into duplexes and triplexes over the years. Small apartment buildings sit between them, and warehouses and light industry take over as you head east toward Alameda. Front-yard fences and a second unit out back are common sights. Food is the easy part of living in Central. 27th Street Bakery on Central Avenue is known well beyond the neighborhood for sweet potato pies made from a family recipe with Louisiana sweet potatoes. Maple Avenue and San Pedro Street fill in with birrierias, mariscos counters and panaderias. For open space, Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park on Compton Avenue has shaded paths that loop around a pond, and Ross Snyder Recreation Center has an outdoor pool and ball fields. Central Park Recreation Center, Fred Roberts and Slauson recreation centers spread smaller parks across the rest of the grid. Errands mostly happen on foot or with a short drive. Superior Grocers has stores on Jefferson Boulevard and Central Avenue, and the Central Avenue Farmers' Market sets up near the Dunbar on Thursdays. The Metro A Line runs along the east side with stops at Washington and Vernon, so downtown is a quick ride north. The tradeoff is the industrial edge. Trucks, rail and warehouse walls shape a lot of the eastern blocks, and street parking gets tight where one lot holds several households. Still, on a Thursday afternoon the farmers market, the Vernon Branch Library and the old hotel are all within a couple of blocks of each other on Central Avenue.