Zaferia, Long Beach, CA

Zaferia is the old streetcar district of Long Beach, centered on East Anaheim Street between Temple and Loma avenues, where a Pacific Electric station opened in 1904 and a small farm village grew up around it. The city annexed it in 1920, and the name, the storefronts and the Zaferia Business Association still carry that early identity. Homes here are older and varied, mostly early bungalows and cottages on the side streets, mixed with small apartment buildings and courtyard complexes near Anaheim Street and Pacific Coast Highway. Upkeep varies block to block, and some streets have seen careful restorations. Recreation Park lies to the south and Belmont Heights beyond it. Parks are small. Plaza Zafaria at Pacific Coast Highway and Redondo Avenue dates to 1953, and Orizaba Park on Orizaba Avenue is the local green. For bigger outdoors, the golf courses at Recreation Park and the beach at Colorado Lagoon are a few minutes south. Anaheim Street eats like a world tour. Selva cooks Colombian food over a wood fire, A&J Seafood Shack does Cambodian-leaning seafood to go, and Callaloo Caribbean Kitchen shares a building with Selva. Errands are local and practical. Loma Street Market and Corky's Market cover quick groceries, and bigger shopping is a short drive to the Traffic Circle. Buses run along Anaheim Street and Pacific Coast Highway, and the 405 is a few minutes north. Anaheim Street is loud and busy, and some blocks feel more commercial than residential. Zaferia rewards the people who walk it, though, since a coffee on Loma, a Caribbean lunch and a beer at Joe Jost's can all happen without moving the car.