Jefferson Park, Los Angeles, CA

Jefferson Park is a South Los Angeles neighborhood of Craftsman bungalows built mostly between 1905 and 1920, and the collection here is unusually intact for a city this size. Its historic preservation district, adopted in 2011, covers the blocks between Adams and Exposition boulevards, and fourteen city historic monuments dot the area. The housing is almost entirely one- and two-story Craftsman homes, many carefully restored, plus a scattering of duplexes and small courtyard buildings. Restoration projects are common, and exterior changes on protected blocks go through a design review. Jefferson Boulevard adds brick warehouses, colorful murals and small storefronts. Jefferson Boulevard also carries the neighborhood's Creole story. After World War II, Creole newcomers from Louisiana settled here, and Harold & Belle's on Jefferson still serves crawfish étouffée, jambalaya and beignets. For coffee, locals head a few blocks west to the Jefferson Boulevard restaurant row near Crenshaw, where Highly Likely runs an all-day cafe. Leslie N. Shaw Park on Jefferson is the neighborhood green, and the Jefferson branch library sits right beside it. Drive west for a few minutes and you reach the Baldwin Hills trails and Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. Transit is a real advantage. The 10 Freeway is a few blocks north, and Western and Crenshaw carry the bus lines. Grocery shopping takes the car, with a Food 4 Less to the east on Jefferson and markets along Crenshaw. The tradeoff is that retail inside the neighborhood is thin, so errands usually take a car. On the residential streets, though, rows of restored porches make Jefferson Park feel like an early twentieth century suburb that the city simply grew around.