Mission Hills, Los Angeles, CA

Mission Hills takes its name from Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana, and the mission's adobe buildings still anchor this northeast San Fernando Valley neighborhood in Los Angeles. Housing is mostly single-family, with postwar ranch houses filling the flat streets north and south of the 118. Apartments and condos cluster near Sepulveda Boulevard and the medical buildings around Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Brand Park is the main green space in the neighborhood, a quiet spot to sit beside the mission grounds. The Ararat-Eskijian Museum on Mission Hills Road is a small Armenian museum. For real trails, O'Melveny Park in Granada Hills lies westward, and the Mission Hills Golf Course sits just south in North Hills. The best food finds are old favorites. Forneris Farms on Rinaldi Street is a family farm stand, run since 1966, that sells its own tomatoes, corn and strawberries in season and opens a pumpkin patch each fall. Presidente on Sepulveda serves Mexican standards, and Max & Lucy's Baked Goods on Lassen Street handles sweets. Errands run along Sepulveda Boulevard, where Vons and a string of casual restaurants sit near the 405. The Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station is a short drive north, and Sepulveda Boulevard ends its long run across the city right here. Freeways are the tradeoff. The 5, the 405 and the 118 all meet in or next to Mission Hills, so freeway noise and interchange traffic are constant near the edges. Away from them, a walk past the mission walls and a summer bag of Forneris tomatoes set the pace of the week.