Las Palmas, National City, CA

Las Palmas is one of the smallest neighborhoods in National City, a few dense blocks south of 18th Street between D Avenue and Highland Avenue. It sits between downtown's civic buildings and the city's main commercial avenue, and its best-known address is a historic farm. The Stein Family Farm, at 1808 F Avenue, is a living-history site that recalls the 1800s, when citrus and avocado farming dominated the area. Its Victorian farmhouse has been under restoration, and the orchard and grounds host educational tours, weddings and private events. Finding an orchard a block off Highland Avenue is the neighborhood's surprise. Around the farm, older single-family homes and apartment buildings share the same short blocks. Most of the housing went up before 1980, in step with the rest of central National City. For recreation, residents head a few blocks east across Highland to Las Palmas Park and the Camacho Recreation Center, which share the neighborhood's name. The 30-acre park holds a gym, tennis courts, playing fields, picnic spots and the municipal pool, which never closes for the season. The nine-hole National City Golf Course, with its driving range, is close by on Sweetwater Road, and Kimball Park sits a short way northwest. Highland Avenue on the eastern edge is the dining strip. Mi Pana, nearby at 2241, makes Venezuelan arepas stuffed with shredded beef, plantains and cheese, and Carnitas Quiroga in the same center is known for carnitas and chilaquiles. Both sit just across the avenue rather than inside the neighborhood's lines. The supermarkets along Highland handle groceries, and on-ramps for both I-5 and I-805 are close. The Blue Line's 24th Street station is the closest trolley stop. Highland itself is loud and busy, and on cruise nights the lowriders roll slowly past. With so few streets, Las Palmas feels more like a couple of residential blocks than a district, and the orchard trees behind the Stein farmhouse are a reminder of what the whole city looked like before the street grid filled in.