Washington Culver, Culver City, CA

Veterans Memorial Park is the big green center of Washington Culver, the Culver City neighborhood that runs along Overland Avenue between Washington and Venice boulevards. Its mix of a city park, a strip of Brazilian shops and the Culver Center plaza gives it more day-to-day errands than most residential pockets nearby. The park covers close to 13 acres on Overland Avenue. It holds the Culver City Plunge pool, tennis and basketball courts, a handball wall, a playground, picnic tables with grills and a walking path that doubles as a jogging loop. Housing in Washington Culver is a mix of single-family houses and apartment buildings, with the houses mostly on the side streets and the larger buildings along the boulevards. The food here leans local and varied. Hey Sunshine Kitchen on Overland serves vegan bowls and a plant-based chicken sandwich, and Cafe 70° shares its address as the neighborhood coffee stop. Lonzo's on Washington is a Peruvian bakery and restaurant known for oysters and seafood cocktails. Daily errands are easy. Ralphs anchors Culver Center, with Nothing Bundt Cakes and a couple of juice bars nearby, and Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee sits on Washington. Downtown and the E Line station are a quick bike ride or drive east. The tradeoff is traffic. Overland, Washington and Venice all carry heavy through traffic, and turning left across them takes patience. Pick a house a block off the boulevards and the park becomes the loudest thing around, mostly from pickup games on the courts.