Even though South Bay residents have a wide variety of beautiful non-vehicular thoroughfares at their disposal, driving continues to be the primary way to get around. But not every street is the same. Some are good, some not so good. In an effort to open our eyes to our outside environment, we've decided to throw together a list of the South Bay's best streets.

The best of the best

Palos Verdes Drive: Divided into North, South, East and West, this long circle around the peninsula has just about everything a discerning driver might want: ocean views, city views, rocky coastline, shady trees, gentle curves, a lighthouse, the bizarre geography of Portuguese Bend – and long, long stretches with no stop signs. Far and away the best place to take the convertible.

Catalina Avenue: From the pleasant human scale of Riviera Village to the utility of the city's main post office, a nice useful cruise through South Redondo Beach. And you have to love a street with more lanes than it needs.

Aviation Boulevard: One big useful curve – a shortcut to almost anywhere on the west side of the South Bay.

Highland Avenue: Starts in a beachy residential area of Hermosa Beach and stretches all the way to the Shack in Playa del Rey (OK, it changes names, but whatever). In many ways, the lifeline of the beach cities.

Crenshaw Boulevard: With the Palos Verdes Art Center at one end and infinite L.A. on the other, Crenshaw affords one of the best lifelines connecting the South Bay to the heart of Los Angeles. When you're on Crenshaw, there's always that feeling that you're part of something bigger than yourself, maybe even better, certainly more interesting.

Seventh Street in downtown San Pedro: Most of the time, there's not much going on here, but every First Thursday or so, the many artists who ply their crafts here open their doors and reveal this as one of the few concentrations of artistic production in the South Bay.

Best of the rest

Prairie Avenue: Doesn't really go anywhere, and there's nothing really on it, but it is a breeze in a pinch.
Monterey Boulevard: If only every boulevard was a big wide two-lane street through quiet residential neighborhoods.
Ardmore Avenue: Curved streets are the ghost in the machine of the standard grid system. This is the best, and just that much better than Valley Drive, its twin.
Del Amo Boulevard: A nice east-west cut-through.
Silver Spur Road: Really steep climb into Palos Verdes and really fun.
The Strand: Sure, you can't drive on it, but it's a road nonetheless.
Inglewood Avenue: Always a good cut-through option.
Anza Avenue: Fun to drive on, fun to say.
Cabrillo Avenue: One of many nice gateways into lovely old Torrance.

Worst of the worst

Hawthorne Boulevard: Oh-my-god crowded, all the time
Pacific Coast Highway/Sepulveda: Now you see it, now you don?t
Ocean Drive: It's an alley. It's a freeway, It's an alley.
Pier Avenue: A tragedy. An easy make for the best list before they closed lower Pier to vehicular traffic. Now it's just full of people you don't know.

(April 29, 2004)

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