I Left L.A. for this California City and Am Not Looking Back

Just before I moved to Los Angeles from New Orleans nearly three years ago, I heard mostly bad things about living there. The traffic is awful, the cost of living is ridiculously expensive, and the people there spend their lives complaining about the traffic and cost of living.

What no one told me is that 24 miles south of L.A., there’s a city where it’s slightly less expensive to live, the traffic is not nearly as terrible, and the people are friendly and seem to actually enjoy where they live.

That city, Long Beach, became my home and is the latest selection for our twice-a-month series on underrated destinations, It’s Still a Big World.

If you’re like me, your main Long Beach reference involves Snoop Dogg. For one, he was born and raised there. For two, you may remember that episode of George Lopez’s talk show where Cameron Diaz said she bought weed from him when they attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School.

Well it wasn’t until I took a day trip from L.A. to the port city two years ago that I learned there’s way more to Long Beach than Snoop and Cameron. And after a second visit to Long Beach last year, I actually moved there. It’s only been five months but it’s the best decision I’ve made in a long time.

Sure, it’s a much smaller city than its more popular neighbor, L.A. But that’s what I love about it. It’s pretty easy to navigate, unlike much of L.A., although I did end up getting lost during my first visit to Long Beach.

One Saturday morning, I got off the Metro Blue Line stop at 1st Street with my bike. I was supposed to ride to the beach and then take the Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path as far as I could go. Then I somehow made a wrong turn, but it turned out to be a good thing because I was able to actually see more of the city.

I rode down Broadway Corridor, a three-mile stretch of East Broadway between Downtown Long Beach and the Belmont Shore neighborhood.

The rainbow crosswalks at a few of the intersections immediately caught my eye. I also noticed that many of the shops along this particular stretch of the busy street had rainbow flags hanging in windows.

Apparently I had ventured into the city’s gayborhood, which was the first area in Long Beach to feature those crosswalks. It was nice to see hints of LGBTQ-friendliness in the city, and it meant that when my cousin and his partner visit me we won’t have to go all the way to West Hollywood for queer-friendly spaces.

The corridor is mostly lined with trees. But not all of them were of the palm variety, which I thought was the case for all Southern California streets before I moved there. Gay bars and liquor stores sit on a few corners of the corridor. Restaurants, sex shops and small apartment buildings are in between.

This particular part of Long Beach seems like it hasn’t been touched by gentrification as much as other parts of the city. Downtown Long Beach, for instance, has clearly been gentrified, with its fancy apartment buildings and coworking spaces like WeWork.

But along the Broadway Corridor, a few of the older Long Beach buildings are still around after all these years. Hot Stuff, a novelty shop that sells games, books, jewelry and sex toys, has been on Broadway since 1980. The bright pink and black awning and triangle tile near the entrance make the shop hard to miss.

I don’t consider myself a prude at all. But my eyes weren’t prepared for what I saw when I walked into the store. Greeting cards with images of people having sex on the covers and dominatrix gift selections are plentiful. If that’s your thing, Hot Stuff is the place to visit when you’re in town.

And then there’s Wine Mess Liquor, a Long Beach staple that’s been around since 1935.

The mom and pop shop isn’t unlike your typical liquor store, with an assortment of alcohol, soda and snacks. But the mural on the side of the building is certainly one I’ve never seen before. What looks like it could be the inside of a pirate ship features a pirate drinking, two cats dancing, a woman playing violin, a man playing piano and a vintage scroll letter that reads: “A Wine Mess is a place where Warriors go to eat, drink and be merry.”

After riding down the three-mile stretch of the Broadway Corridor, I eventually made my way to the Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path. The trail is 4.1 miles long, running along the beach for basically its entire length. It also provides direct access to the Pacific Ocean.

It was a perfect sunny day (like most days in SoCal), which explains why the beach was so packed. There were people in sweatsuits walking their dogs and ladies in biker shorts and sports bras roller skating and biking right along with me. Others were laying in the sand or playing in the water. Even with all the people on the beach that day, it still didn’t feel as overcrowded as Venice or Santa Monica beaches.

Plus, the views of beautiful Palos Verdes out in the distance made for a lovely backdrop on the ride. Basically, just a day trip to Long Beach solidified my decision to move there.

When I started thinking about where I wanted to live, I knew I wanted to be as close to the beach as possible, and one of the great things about Long Beach is no matter what neighborhood you’re in, the beach is only a short drive away. Even if you’re in north Long Beach neighborhoods like Bixby Knolls, you can still get to the beach in about 15 minutes.

If you’re in, like, North Hollywood, getting to the closest beach could take much longer.

(I’m just sayin’.)

But it’s not just the close proximity to the beach. It’s all the things you can do and see near the water in Long Beach.

Not too far from the beach there’s the Aquarium of the Pacific. A giant metallic blue Bean, it’s the fourth-most-attended aquarium in the U.S., and has more than 12,000 animals and more than 100 exhibits that celebrate the Pacific Ocean.

I initially found myself overwhelmed by all the exhibits and didn’t know where to start. Ultimately I began my aquarium journey in the Tropical Pacific Gallery, which features coral reefs with some of the most gorgeous colors. The coral reefs exhibit turned out to be my favorite, finding myself under the spell of the mesmerizing brightly colored living corals. The bright colors come from pigments that act as a form of sunscreen for the corals. Corals need sunscreen, too! Who knew?

After getting my fill of coral reef history I ventured out to Shoreline Village, which is located right near the aquarium. It holds a special place in my heart because it’s where my boyfriend took me on our first date. It’s a lovely place to shop and eat, or just walk around aimlessly like I sometimes do along the boardwalk.

If you get good outdoor seating at one of the restaurants, you’ll get to see gorgeous views of Rainbow Harbor. I highly recommend visiting closer to sunset. I’ve only eaten at a few of the restaurants at Shoreline Village, and there isn’t one that particularly stood out to me. But I’m from New Orleans. Nothing compares to my beloved NOLA when it comes to food.

To be fair to Long Beach eateries, however, I haven’t been eating out a lot.

I’ve been cooking at home more than I ever have in my life. (Thanks, COVID.)

What I have been doing a lot of is spending time out in nature.

As a kid in New Orleans, I rarely wanted to do anything outside because it was often too hot or there were too many mosquitoes. So imagine my surprise when I moved out west and began to appreciate the great outdoors.

So far I’ve mentioned what it’s like being near the water in Long Beach, but there are things to do in other parts of the city that are more inland.

Much of the eastside of Long Beach is residential and home to Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College. El Dorado Nature Center, a 105-acre park and sanctuary for animals and plant life, is also on that side of town and is worth a visit.

There’s a 2-mile loop trail that’s nicely shaded and has lots of space to spread out even when the trail is crowded. You won’t get steep hills or gorgeous views of the city like in nearby Signal Hill, but El Dorado will still help you get your steps in.

If I had to pick a downside to Long Beach, it’d probably be that it doesn’t have nearly as many hiking trails as I’d like. That’s about the only downside though.

Within the last five months that I’ve lived in Long Beach, I still haven’t come close to doing all that the city has to offer. I’m really excited to tour the Queen Mary ship, a major landmark of the city. In its heyday, it carried 2.2 million passengers. But since it’s been docked in Long Beach, 50 million people have visited the liner. Not only can visitors tour the vessel, but they can also stay overnight in one of its 367 staterooms.

Unfortunately, it’s closed for some much-needed repairs. But when it returns, it’ll be first on my list of places to visit.