od rHo o B GH nei
rK a P ta e l ar
Peaceful enclave at Poplar Beach K
ids just home from school zip on scooters along the wide streets that make up Arleta Park. Many of the front yards have colorful flowers that pop out against the ocean fog creeping over the neighborhood. “I come back from work and it’s quiet — we respect each other’s privacy,” said Lupe Mendez, who moved from downtown to Grove Street two years ago. Sandwiched between the Highway 1 and the California Coastal Trail, Arleta Park is a sizable, but noticeably quiet, neighborhood made up of about 500 houses. Tall cypress trees are peppered throughout the grid of homes from Seymour Street north to the Alsace Lorraine neighborhood. Right before Arleta Park meets the coastal bluffs is a yellow, two-story home building that used to be Arleta Park station of the Ocean Shore Railroad. Tony Faial grew up in a house on Magnolia Street in Arleta Park. He had been there since his family moved from the Azores when he was a boy. Now he lives across the street in one of the neighborhood’s classic ranch-style homes. The family came because the coastal climate is similar to his native Portugal. He’s stayed put in the sleepy neighborhood for its proximity to the beach and because he loves the Coastal Trail. On sunny weekends, when tourists flock to the coast looking for a thoroughfare to the beach, Faial must regularly redirect them several blocks from his home to Poplar Street. The traffic has decreased, he said, since Arleta Park’s southernmost Seymour Street was recently extended east to connect with Highway 1.
“i coMe BacK froM worK and it’s Quiet — we resPect eacH otHer’s PriVacy.”
neiGHBorHood facts
WHERE? West of Highway 1 between Granelli and Seymour streets. Bordered on the west by Poplar Beach. HIT THE BEACH Head west to the beautiful meadows above Poplar Beach and easy access to the Coastal Trail. NEIGHBORHOOD NOTE Have little-leaguers? A beautiful path leads to Smith Field from the south side of the neighborhood.
Neighborhoods 21
Coastside Neighborhoods 9/5.indd 21
9/10/12 4:06 PM