Sunkist Park

At the heart of Sunkist Park, is Culver Park High School, the adjoining El Marino Park and El Marino Elementary School. Culver Park High School is a continuation school whose goal is to help academically troubled kids get a high school diploma and find appropriate careers. It has less than a hundred students. Neighboring El Marino Elementary is an exemplary school as well. It is a language magnet school, and it draws some 700 of the most gifted students in the area to focus their studies on Japanese and Spanish. Despite its extreme diversity, its ratings have remained high.

El Marino Park is also a solid park with a nice play area for little kids and basketball and handball courts for slightly older kids. It is a nice open green space.

Surrounding these schools and the park is a residential neighborhood that stretches past the 405 and that is characterized by nicely kept Ranch homes for the most part, with nicely tended lawns and sunny streets. The vast majority of residents in this area are homeowners, so there is little turnover and even fewer chances to rent.

The main commercial lane in this neighborhood is Sepulveda Blvd., where you find fairly pedestrian stores like Staples and Midas auto-repairs. There are also some more compelling venues as well—including the Tattle Tale Room, a hip karaoke dive bar that really knows how to keep people involved.

On the northern end of the neighborhood, you also find Temple Akiba, a Jewish place of worship that doubles as a camp during the summer.