Downtown Burbank, Burbank, CA

Downtown Burbank is the walkable core of the city, built around San Fernando Boulevard, where restaurants, bars, movie theaters and the Burbank Town Center mall share a few compact blocks. It is denser and busier than any neighborhood around it, and it is the one part of town where daily life without much driving is a realistic plan. Housing in Downtown Burbank is mostly condos, apartments and loft-style buildings, many of them newer mid-rise projects close to the boulevard. A few older single-family streets hang on at the edges, but the neighborhood is overwhelmingly multifamily. San Fernando Boulevard carries most of the dining, from Granville on the main block to Barney's Beanery on First Street and Gourmet 88 for Chinese food. Coffee means Cafe Grano on San Fernando, which also scoops gelato and blends juices, or Republik, the downtown shop known for its handcrafted syrups. The Burbank Farmers Market runs every Saturday morning at Olive and Glenoaks, selling California-grown produce, with proceeds supporting the Providence Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation. The Downtown Burbank Cultural Market adds local makers on its own schedule. The Downtown Burbank Metrolink station puts commuter rail within reach of much of the neighborhood, and IKEA sits inside the district for the bigger household runs. Parking mostly means city garages. The tradeoffs come with the density. Weekend crowds, event nights and the Golden State Freeway along the district's edge all add noise, and quiet backyards are rare. On Saturday mornings, the farmers market and the brunch lines on San Fernando overlap within a couple of blocks, so a full weekend errand run can happen on foot.