Live Oak, Live Oak, CA

Live Oak stretches along the coast between Santa Cruz and Capitola, and it never developed a downtown. In its place, 17th Avenue works as the spine, with schools, the fire station and most businesses strung along the stretch that runs from the freeway down toward the shore. Poultry ranches once covered much of this ground, and the long, narrow parcels that came with them still shape many blocks. Infill has added ranch-style houses, townhomes, small single-family streets and a few mobile home parks, so one block can look quite different from the next. For fresh air, several small county parks are tucked among the residential streets. Hestwood, Brommer Street, Jose Avenue and Coffee Lane are neighborhood-sized, while Winkle Farm County Park and Chanticleer Dog Park add room to roam. The Chaminade Nature Trail climbs toward the resort for a longer walk, and Moran Lake County Park sits near the shore. Beckmann's Old World Bakery has baked sourdough, German farm bread and all-butter pies for more than thirty years, and its loaves turn up at farmers markets around the bay. Peoples Coffee, on 17th Avenue, is the coffee shop with Wi-Fi for laptop workers. Silver Spur serves breakfast and lunch, and Cafetal is another cafe option. On Sunday mornings a farmers market sets up at 15th and Portola, just over the boundary in Twin Lakes. Most people drive, taking the freeway for fast routes and the shore road for a slower trip toward the beaches. Pleasure Point's surf breaks, restaurants and shops are next door and easy to reach by bike. The honest drawback is that nothing pulls Live Oak together. Shopping, parks and cafes are spread out, and a stroll rarely ends at a single block of storefronts. It is an area that grows on you slowly, with a good loaf of bread and a quiet park on the way home.