Hermosa Beach, Hermosa Beach, CA

Hermosa Beach is a small city where almost everything tilts downhill toward the Strand and the pier. Living in Hermosa Beach feels different depending on which part you pick: the Sand Section by the water, the Valley along the Greenbelt, or the Hill Section east of Pacific Coast Highway. Homes in the Sand Section sit on tight lots along walk streets and the Strand, with older beach cottages next to newer, taller builds and townhomes. Up in the Hill Section you'll find original ranch homes alongside new architectural builds, often on slightly larger lots with ocean or city-light views. The Strand is the city's front porch, a beachfront path that carries walkers, runners and bikes toward Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, with volleyball nets lined up on the sand below. Food clusters on Hermosa Avenue and Pier Avenue. Vin Folk is a small bistro with plates like headcheese toast and a deep wine list, and Ryla a couple of blocks away does inventive Japanese-Taiwanese seafood in a candlelit room. Proudly Serving on 2nd Street turns out double smashburgers with griddled onions. Errands mostly run along Pacific Coast Highway, where Trader Joe's sits near Aviation and Lazy Acres sits farther north. There's a farmers market on Valley Drive. Near the beach you can walk to most things, but the hills get steep going east, and PCH carries heavy through traffic. From the Hill Section you can see the whole curve of the bay, and the walk down to the water is all downhill, which you'll remember on the way back up.