Sherwood Gardens, Salinas, CA

Sherwood Gardens sits on the north side of Salinas and takes its character from Sherwood Park, a big city park with lawns, a swimming pool and volleyball courts. Its best-known landmark is Claes Oldenburg's giant hat sculpture, which has stood there since 1982 and counts as one of the more surprising pieces of public art around. Visitors tend to find the hat first and the park around it second. Beside it is Tatum's Garden at 1 Maryal Drive, a community-built playground built so play works at every ability level, and Laurel Neighborhood Park adds more open lawn. Visitors come from across the city for the playground, and a nonprofit foundation looks after it. The Salinas Sports Complex at 1034 North Main hosts rodeos, softball tournaments and football games through the year, and California Rodeo Salinas is the event that draws the largest crowds. On big days the roads around the complex fill up. Sherwood Gardens homes are mostly modest single-family houses and rentals, practical rather than showy, and the streets are laid out for everyday driving. For dinner, Camalig Filipino Cuisine at 190 East Laurel Drive serves belly pork, fried chicken and Ilocos empanadas, and Salinas Pizza & Pints at 931 North Main is the pizza and beer stop, with a second shop farther up the road. Coffee runs toward North Main, where Viva Espresso Organics pours organic and fair-trade coffee and tea. North Main is the spine of daily life, with Grocery Outlet at 1415 North Main handling groceries and city buses running the corridor. Downtown's Oldtown is a short drive south, and the Northridge shopping area is a short drive north. The pull here is the park and the playground, and what you give up is the walkable dining that older neighborhoods have, since a pizza or a coffee almost always means getting in the car.