Greenfield, Greenfield, CA

Greenfield sits on the Salinas Valley floor in Monterey County, laid out as a grid where numbered streets cross avenues named for trees, Walnut, Elm, Apple, Palm and Cherry among them. Crop rows begin where the last block ends, and the Santa Lucia foothills show above the rooftops from most corners. Houses are mostly single-story homes on modest lots, and the street plan is easy to learn after one afternoon. Older blocks sit closer to El Camino Real, the main street, while newer subdivisions toward the edges bring their own small parks, two of them Vintage Park and Village Green Park. A larger community park sits on Third Street, and the regular grid puts every one of them within easy reach on foot or by bike. El Camino Real is where most meals happen. El Rinconcito Restaurante y Cafe, at number 246, opens at ten in the morning and serves Mexican plates with table service, and El Michoacano, at number 5, is the takeout stop for tacos. Peking Express on Walnut Avenue handles Chinese food to go. Coffee counters are scarce in town, so a latte often means a stop in Gonzales. Rancho San Miguel Markets on Walnut Avenue handles the big grocery run and stays open until ten at night. Highway 101 is the way in and out. King City sits down the highway to the south, with Soledad up the road to the north, so work and errands tend to follow the road, and a car is part of every day. Downtown fills up once a year for the Harvest Festival, a free Sunday event in the fall put on by the city and Alegria Musical, with music, food booths and scholarship awards. Weeknights in Greenfield are quiet once the restaurants close, and anything specialized, from a surgeon to a department store, means a half-hour or longer drive toward Salinas. Step off the last street, though, and crop rows start within a few paces, which is how most days begin and end.