Venice, Los Angeles, CA

Venice was built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney as a canal-lined resort, and this Los Angeles neighborhood still mixes beach town, art colony and residential streets that change character every few blocks. It sits between Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, with Mar Vista inland to the east. Homes in Venice range from early-1900s bungalows to modern boxes on narrow lots. Six of the original canals survive, lined with houses and crossed by foot bridges rebuilt in the early 1990s, and the Walk Streets near the beach are car-free lanes of single-family houses. Ocean Front Walk runs along the sand past Muscle Beach and the Venice Beach Skate Park, which opened in 2009. The bike path along the beach heads north toward Santa Monica and south toward Playa del Rey, and Penmar Golf Course and Penmar Recreation Center sit on the neighborhood's eastern side. Abbot Kinney Boulevard is the main strip. Gjelina is known for its vegetable dishes and pizza, Felix Trattoria for hand-made pasta, and Intelligentsia, the street's original coffee bar, for pour-overs. Gjusta on Sunset Avenue is the bakery-deli behind the tomato confit sandwich, and Rose Avenue has its own cluster with Superba Snack Bar and Groundwork Coffee. Whole Foods on Lincoln Boulevard and Erewhon on Venice Boulevard handle groceries, and many errands can be walked or biked. Street parking on Abbot Kinney is metered and enforced, and narrow streets built before cars make parking hard across much of the neighborhood. Weekend crowds on the boardwalk and Abbot Kinney are heavy, and homelessness and encampments along some streets remain an ongoing issue. First Fridays on Abbot Kinney, when galleries stay open late and food trucks line the curb, is the monthly night when the neighborhood's art side and food side share one street.