University Park, Long Beach, CA

University Park in Long Beach takes in the Cal State Long Beach campus and the residential streets of University Park Estates to its south, between Bellflower Boulevard and the Los Cerritos Channel. The campus is the neighborhood's front yard, and it shapes the traffic, the food and the rhythm of the year. Homes in University Park Estates are single-family houses from the middle of the last century, mostly one story, on quiet residential streets with lawns and mature trees. Many have been expanded or modernized, and the blocks near the channel feel especially tucked away. Alamitos Heights borders the west side, and Bixby Hill sits just east. The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is the quiet corner people seek out, the Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum shows rotating exhibits, and the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center is on Deukmejian Way. Food is mostly simple and close. For more choice, the 7th Street and Pacific Coast Highway corner has Mad Dumplings and Trung Nguyen E-Coffee, and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are a few minutes south near Second Street. Getting around depends on the calendar. When classes are in session, Bellflower Boulevard, 7th Street and the campus gates back up and street parking fills near the edges of campus. Summer and winter breaks feel noticeably calmer. The 405 and the 22 are both close for commuting. Living in University Park means the rhythm of a college town without living in the middle of it. Campus concerts, lectures and games are a walk away, and a few blocks south the Estates streets are settled and residential, with the campus noise left behind at 7th Street.