Northgate, Salinas, CA

Northgate is the retail neighborhood on the north end of Salinas, built around Northridge Mall, the big indoor mall at 796 Northridge Drive. Residents head here to shop and eat more than to stroll, and it is the commercial counterpart to the older grid around downtown. Housing plays a smaller part than retail in the story, and the residential streets sit around the commercial edge. Northgate Park is the neighborhood's own patch of green, and the larger lawns of Sherwood Park are a drive south. Pasta Mia, in the mall's food court at 1350 Northridge Shopping Center, plates up Italian pastas cooked to order, and Peet's Coffee & Tea sits at the neighborhood's edge for the coffee run. Up North Main, Con Azucar Cafe at 1746 North Main serves sweet Mexican-style espresso drinks, breakfast plates and pastries. The Northridge Night Market brings local food vendors to the area. Visitors describe the mall as a manageable size, neither huge nor empty, with plenty of parking and a food court that includes local operators like Pasta Mia. Macy's is one of the anchors at 200 Northridge Shopping Center, and the rest of the stores, restaurants and services cluster around it, which makes Northgate the easiest place in Salinas to knock out a long list of errands in one trip. Wide lots and a central food court mean a quick lunch and a return at the department store can share one trip. Bus service reaches the center, though most people arrive by car. The setting is the downside. Parking lots and wide roads dominate, and the area quiets down once the stores close. For anyone who lives nearby, the draw is simple. Almost everything on a shopping list is a few minutes away, and the older parts of the city are a short drive south.