Harden Ranch, Salinas, CA

Harden Ranch in Salinas is where the street plan loosens up. Instead of the grid found in older parts of town, curving streets and cul-de-sacs hold homes that went up between the last years of the 1990s and the first years of the new century, and sidewalks run along most blocks, which makes an after-dinner loop easy to do on foot. The houses range from large Mediterranean-style designs to mid-sized Craftsman-influenced plans and smaller ranch layouts. El Dorado Park is the main outdoor space, with softball fields, tennis and basketball courts, community grills and a playground, and McKinnon Park adds walking paths and lawn for a quieter loop. For a bigger crowd, the rodeo grounds at 1034 North Main host the California Rodeo, a Salinas tradition since 1911, and Rabobank Stadium shares the site. Coffee here means Viva Espresso Organics, at 1552 North Main, a Oaxacan coffee shop with fair-trade organic beans and a following for its Oaxacan mocha. Dim Sum Inn, at 1938 North Main, is the pick for dim sum, while Chef Lee's Mandarin House 2 and Dynasty Court Chinese Restaurant handle takeout nights. Sit-down chains such as BJ's Restaurants, Red Lobster and Olive Garden cluster in the same shopping area. Errands center on Harden Ranch Plaza, where Safeway and FoodMaxx are both within the neighborhood, and Northridge Mall and its farmers market are a few minutes away in Northgate. Nearly every trip is by car. Monterey-Salinas Transit buses serve the area, and heading to the Bay Area means getting on US 101. The price of the suburban layout is that you drive for almost everything, even a loaf of bread. In exchange, the cul-de-sacs stay quiet, and the busy part of Harden Ranch is confined to the commercial edge.