Lakewood Village, Long Beach, CA

Lakewood Village is the Long Beach neighborhood people call the Village, a pocket of varied pre- and postwar homes that the city of Lakewood wraps around on three sides. Carson Street marks its southern edge and big boulevards frame the other sides, but the look inside is its own. The houses are what sets it apart from the uniform tracts nearby. Development started with a 1930s subdivision on old ranch land, well before the big Lakewood building boom, so a single street can hold a Tudor, a Cape Cod, a Spanish Colonial and a later ranch house side by side. Two small shopping streets give the neighborhood a center. Wolf's Brew Coffee is the local coffee stop there, known for cold brew old fashioneds, and S.T. Heartwell Park, more than 120 acres with walking paths, sports fields, a duck pond and a public golf course, sits just across Bellflower Boulevard. Pan American Park is the closer hub, home to softball leagues and summer camps, and Skylinks golf course is just to the southwest by the airport. Errands are simple. Long Beach Exchange, near Lakewood Boulevard and Carson Street, has a Whole Foods, Portola Coffee Roasters, Bottlecraft for beer and a long row of quick lunch counters. Lakewood Center mall is a short drive north, and the 405 and 605 are both close. One thing to know before buying in Lakewood Village is that many residential streets have no sidewalks, so evening walks happen along the edge of the roadway. The active neighborhood association keeps the calendar busy with a summer festival and a Halloween decorating contest that turns ordinary blocks into a destination every October.