Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, CA

Mid-Wilshire in Los Angeles, as Houseberry draws it, stretches across the Fairfax District, Park La Brea and the Beverly and Melrose corridors, and its center of gravity is the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax. Few neighborhoods in the city put a century-old market, a major outdoor mall and a large public park within a single walk. Housing covers a wide range. Park La Brea is one of the largest housing developments in the country, with thousands of units in towers and garden apartments. Around it, 1920s and 1930s duplexes and Spanish-style fourplexes line the side streets, with single-family homes on quieter blocks and newer apartment buildings along Beverly and La Brea. Pan Pacific Park is the outdoor anchor, with a recreation center, ball fields, a playground and the Holocaust Museum LA at its edge. The paths get steady use from walkers and runners, and Poinsettia Recreation Center to the north adds courts and fields. The food runs deep. Inside the Farmers Market, Singapore's Banana Leaf and Monsieur Marcel keep the stalls busy. Andante Coffee Roasters on Beverly is the neighborhood's go-to cafe, and Pink's Hot Dogs sits up on La Brea. Errands are about as easy as they get in this city. Whole Foods sits on Third Street, Trader Joe's is at Third and Fairfax, and The Grove handles everything from clothes to a movie. The D Line subway now serves Wilshire and Fairfax to the south, and the Beverly, Fairfax and La Brea buses run frequently. The tradeoff is congestion. Traffic around The Grove and the Farmers Market builds on weekends and during the holidays, and parking on residential streets near Fairfax is often permit-only. Mid-Wilshire is at its best on a weekday morning, when the market stalls are opening and the park is mostly dog walkers.