McNeil, Burbank, CA

McNeil is a compact, mostly residential slice of western Burbank, set between the studio lots of the Media District and the Providence Saint Joseph medical campus on Buena Vista Street. Houses in McNeil are mostly single-family homes from the middle of the last century on flat, regular streets, many with real backyards and some with pools. Apartments and condos cluster near Olive Avenue and around the hospital. Coffee Commissary on West Olive is the film-crowd favorite, with house-made sauces and a full breakfast and lunch menu. Bea Bea's on Pass Avenue is the pancake stop, best known for the matcha-mascarpone Green Tea Monster stack. Belli Fratelli Roasters on South Buena Vista gives the hospital side of the neighborhood its own coffee counter. Green space is mostly borrowed from next door. Verdugo Park, a few blocks north in Magnolia Park, has tennis courts and the city aquatic center, and Johnny Carson Park, a short drive east in Rancho Adjacent, has picnic areas and fitness equipment. The Chandler Bikeway is an easy ride up the north-south streets. Errands mostly happen on West Verdugo Avenue, where Smart and Final and a Vons cover groceries, and the Media District's shops and its Whole Foods are close by. The Ventura Freeway is a few minutes south, and much of the studio commute here is measured in blocks rather than miles. Traffic is the cost of the location. Olive Avenue backs up around studio rush hours, and the hospital brings a steady flow of cars along Buena Vista at all hours. On weekday mornings the stretch of Olive near Coffee Commissary feels almost like part of the lots, with crews picking up breakfast before heading in to work.