Wilton Heights, Pomona, CA

Wilton Heights is the Pomona neighborhood that wraps around Fairplex, so a big part of local life follows the fairgrounds calendar. The LA County Fair takes over the grounds each May, and NHRA drag racing opens and closes its season at the dragstrip there. The fairgrounds give the area odd extras. RailGiants Train Museum keeps giant steam and diesel locomotives on display and opens free on the second weekend of most months. McKinley's Grille cooks from a five-acre organic farm on the Fairplex campus and hosts farm-to-table dinners. Ganesha Park is the neighborhood's main outdoor space, with a community center on North White Avenue and hilly lawns that fill up on weekends. Smaller parks like Phil and Nell Soto Park and the Weber Street and Kiwanis parks serve the blocks to the south, and Pomona Skate Park sits up on Arrow Highway. Homes here are mostly single-family, from older houses on the blocks near Ganesha Park to postwar ranch homes farther north toward Foothill Boulevard. Apartments and small complexes line the busier streets like Garey Avenue and White Avenue. Foothill Boulevard has a handful of sit-down places, including Onishicho Ramen and Thai Orchid Garden, and Cafe Eighteen48 on North Garey is the local coffee and pastry stop. North Garey Avenue is the errand corridor, with Superior Grocers and The Grove Farmers Market near the Foothill end and Smart & Final on West Willow Street. Living next to Fairplex means event traffic. During the fair and on race weekends, lots fill, side streets see overflow parking and drag racing can be heard from a distance. The rest of the year Wilton Heights goes quiet, and the walk up through Ganesha Park at sunset is the one locals point newcomers toward.