Santa Anita Oaks, Arcadia, CA

Santa Anita Oaks sits at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in Arcadia, north of the 210, where wide streets run under old oaks and houses sit far back from the curb. Most of it was built out in the 1940s, and it reads more like a string of private estates than a subdivision. The homes are custom, never tract. Walk a few blocks and you'll pass Tudor houses, low traditional ranches, Colonial designs and Spanish Mediterranean villas, each on its own large lot. Many parcels run well past a quarter acre and some top an acre, so deep lawns, long driveways and professional landscaping set the look. There's no commercial strip inside the neighborhood, and that is much of its appeal. Streets carry little traffic, signage is almost nonexistent, and the canopy does most of the decorating. A morning loop here is mostly about quiet and mountain views. For open space, the Los Angeles County Arboretum sits a short drive south on Baldwin Avenue, with 127 acres of gardens, Baldwin Lake and the peafowl descended from the birds Lucky Baldwin brought to his ranch. Wilderness Park, up in the Highlands on Highland Oaks Drive, is the closest place for a real trail walk. Ralphs Fresh Fare on East Foothill Boulevard handles most grocery runs, and Goldstein's Bagel Bakery on North Santa Anita Avenue, with its morning drive-thru, is a regular stop on the way out. The tradeoff is simple. You get space and privacy, and you give up walking to anything except a neighbor's house. Santa Anita Oaks is at its best in the early evening, when the light drops behind the mountains and the only sound on the street is sprinklers.