Burchett St, Freemont Park

The Fremont Park neighborhood, though barely ten blocks in length and four wide, is the classic tale of two sides. On its western half, the neighborhood is your typical older residential area with small, somewhat quaint homes from about the World War II era for the most part—with a couple of Tudors mixed in for good measure and lots of homes with unusual roof patterns. The streets are further punctuated by those cement lamps that now seem so vintage historical LA to us, but that once represented LA art-deco modernism.

Fremont Park itself, from which the neighborhood takes its name, is at the western edge and is one of the better smaller parks around. It has tennis courts, a volleyball court, basketball court and a great little play area for the young kids. Also in the park, just north of the tennis courts, is the Glendale Model Railroad Club, where a group of enthusiasts house several vintage model trains in working order. If you have a kid that is into mechanical things, this place will make him go bonkers with excitement. Just visit them during one their open houses. The guys that run the place can be great resources for learning more about model trains or for starting a hobby yourself.

As you head to the eastern portion of the neighborhood, you find several office buildings intermixed with boxy 70’s style apartment buildings—and some that have that strange beach, hotel sort of look to them—and a smattering of homes mixed in as well. The break off point seems to be at North Pacific Avenue. After that you get lots of strip malls and office buildings. The area contains everything from video stores to physicians of various kinds (chiropractors and dentists, for example) to veterinarians. You also find a supermarket that is frequented by locals. The food is not outstanding, but there are several restaurants as well, Chinese food being the main attraction, perhaps.

Many of the local businesses in this neighborhood cater to the larger entertainment industry, so you will find post-production companies and a certain amount of peripheral services like providing food to casts.

In short, there is a little bit of everything for everyone, though there might not enough to really satisfy them.