Morningside Park, Inglewood, CA

Morningside Park is the eastern Inglewood neighborhood strung along Manchester and Crenshaw boulevards, with the Kia Forum, open since 1967 and now a concert venue, on Manchester at its west side. The side streets are residential and calm compared with the commercial boulevards that frame them. Homes here are mostly early and mid-twentieth-century single-family houses, many in stucco with tile or shingle roofs, and a few larger lots than you see elsewhere in the city. Small apartment buildings line parts of Manchester and Crenshaw, and garages and back units have been converted on plenty of lots. Darby Park on West Arbor Vitae Street is the neighborhood park, with room for a game or a walk, and the Briarwood Community Center on West Manchester hosts recreation programs. Edward Vincent Jr. Park and its 1.2-mile walking loop are a short drive west in North Inglewood. West Manchester Boulevard carries a lot of the neighborhood's food. Moby's Coffee Shop is a breakfast counter, and M & M Soul Food serves Southern plates a couple of blocks east. Sprouts Farmers Market on Crenshaw covers most grocery runs, and Manchester has banks, pharmacies and quick stops. Most errands take a short drive, though the blocks near Manchester and Crenshaw are walkable. The K Line's Downtown Inglewood and Fairview Heights stations are a few minutes away by car or bus. Concert nights at the Forum and games at nearby SoFi Stadium pull heavy traffic onto Manchester and Prairie, so Morningside Park residents learn which side streets to use. By day, the boulevard is where the neighborhood shops and eats, and by night it fills with people heading to a show.