Home Care In Manhattan Beach, CA

The corner of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Ocean Drive tells a tale of two eras: Manhattan Beach’s surf bum past and its glitzy present. On the south side of the intersection sits Shellback Tavern. Preserved within its blacked-out beachfront windows and memorabilia-covered walls — signed by volleyball gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings and other local icons — is one of the last places in the neighborhood where you can buy a few beers with only the damp, crumpled 20-dollar bill in the pocket of your swim trunks. On the north side, there’s the Strand House, a multistory bar and restaurant built mostly of steel and paneless glass windows, which serves $50 entrees and provides diners with an unencumbered view of the beach, the sunset and the turquoise Manhattan Beach pier.

Get to know Los Angeles through the places that bring it to life. From restaurants to shops to outdoor spaces, here’s what to discover now.

“Manhattan Beach was a small, quiet beach town for most of its history, and many residents like to cling to that image,” said Gary McAulay, a retired policeman and former head of the Manhattan Beach Historical Society, who has lived in Manhattan Beach for 40 years. “In some ways, it actually is still a close-knit community, but skyrocketing real estate prices and hyper-gentrification, as well as burgeoning tourism, have had their effect on the town’s character.”

Angelenos who find themselves in Manhattan Beach may wonder if they accidentally landed in an idyllic beach town instead of an incorporated city off the 405, just south of LAX. Stroll around the hilly, pedestrian-only walk streets to find groups of friends barbecuing in front yards from morning to night. Pop into a cafe for a lemonade or a boutique for a seashell-covered home decor item. Take a bike ride along the beachfront promenade, the Strand, where maybe you’ll stop to watch a volleyball tournament — or just lust after the homes. At the end of a beach day, summit Manhattan Beach Boulevard and take a seat at Simmzy’s for an ahi tuna starter, burger and sangria.

As in the rest of Los Angeles County, median home prices in Manhattan Beach have doubled over the last 10 years. For better or for worse, depending on who you ask, the upscale-ification has helped make the beach city an even more popular weekend destination. Manhattan Beach Post and Fishing With Dynamite (both helmed by chef David Lefevre) have received numerous accolades, including spots on The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list, over the years. The Strand House is part of the Zislis Group portfolio, which also owns the swanky Shade Hotel and other restaurants and gastropubs dotting Manhattan Beach Boulevard and the surrounding areas.

The long-standing neighborhood classics are still there — the Kettle and Pancho’s, for instance — but as blogger and longtime beach cities resident Jennifer Richmond notes, “Those are definitely few and far between from the more high-end, three- and four-dollar-sign restaurants.”

This guide encompasses both the neighborhood’s roots and its modern reality. You’ll find more quaint character in the north Manhattan Beach neighborhood of El Porto, new and old gems in the downtown area and true community both further inland and throughout. And, as befits a beach city, the best things are still free.

“Take a stroll along the ocean and get your toes wet,” advises McAulay. “Watch the sunset. It’s beautiful.”

Anyone who’s lived in a major metropolis can tell you that neighborhoods are a tricky thing. They’re eternally malleable and evoke sociological questions around how we place our homes, our neighbors and our communities within a wider tapestry. In the name of neighborly generosity, we included gems that may linger outside of technical parameters. Instead of leaning into stark definitions, we hope to celebrate all of the places that make us love where we live.

Following a discussion that was half-serious, half "I can't believe we're spending time on this," the Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday night approved the camellia as the city's second official flower.

The camellia now joins the beach primrose in a place of honor in the city's official records.

Specifically, the council voted to keep the beach primrose as the "official native wildflower," while the camellia would be designated the "official historic flower and shrub" of Manhattan Beach.

The motion was approved on a 4-0-1 vote, with Mayor Richard Montgomery abstaining in part over frustration with the dialogue and the amount of time spent on the issue.

Camellia History in Manhattan Beach

The move to give the camellia official city status took shape in the wake of new awareness about the history of the camellia in Manhattan Beach.

Camellia grower and horticultural pioneer Francis M. Uyematsu was a successful Japanese businessman and nursery owner who grew prized camellias and cherry trees on a 120-acre property in Manhattan Beach. During World War II, the Uyematsu family was forced to relocate to the Manzanar detention center, and Uyematsu had to sell off most of his land to sustain his business. After the war, with his business far below pre-war levels, Uyematsu sold the last 40 acres of his Manhattan Beach property to the Redondo Union High School District (which at the time also included Manhattan Beach) for what became Mira Costa High School.

Mira Costa has since recognized the history of the land with a plaque dedicated to Uyematsu and his family.

Throughout the years in Manhattan Beach, the camellia has long been a popular flower and shrub. In fact, the camellia had actually been the official flower of Manhattan Beach from 1959 until 2011. But in 2011, at the urging of the Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden, the city changed its official flower to the beach primrose because it is a native flower known for its drought tolerance and uniqueness to the beach.

A dozen years later, in light of the new recognition of the history of the camellia in Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden recommended the dual designation (keeping the beach primrose as the "official native wildflower," and designating the camellia as the "official historic flower and shrub" of Manhattan Beach).

A Meaningful Symbol?

Councilmember Amy Howorth, who introduced the resolution, said that the motion would be a way to recognize the importance of the camellia to the history of Manhattan Beach and Uyematsu's contributions to the field of horticulture.

"I think that the importance of this is maybe not what happened to the Uyematsu family [in World War II], but the fact that Mr. Uyematsu was a pioneer, an innovator, and a successful horticulturist who we should be proud of," said Howorth. Having two official city flowers, she said, would be a way for the city to say "We honor the past and look forward to the future."

The new naming would have no budgetary implications, she added.

The proposal had drawn both support and opposition. Jacquelyne May, a lifelong Manhattan Beach resident who had first brought the idea to Howorth, said that the designation would be especially meaningful considering the longtime significance of the camellia in the city. "It was such a huge part of this community growing up," she said.

But local historian Gary McAuley downplayed the significance of the camellia. The Uyematsus lived in Montebello, not Manhattan Beach, and had three large farms in Southern California, he said. The camellia was the "flower of the moment," in the 1950s, added McAuley, and many cities - and even the state of Alabama - designated the camellia as their official flower at that time.

Councilmember Steve Napolitano weighed in to say that he was "agnostic" on the flower naming issue in the sense of, "What is the purpose, what is the meaning? Why are we doing this?"

"Is this the best way to recognize what we’re trying to recognize?" asked Napolitano. "We can check this box, but have we achieved anything? Activity doesn’t always equal achievement. Were there other residents of Manhattan Beach that suffered the same fate [as the Uyematsus] and is there a better way to recognize it? There are things that are more significant than naming a flower to me. I just don’t find it that meaningful."

Yet Councilmember David Lesser called the naming "a teaching opportunity" in recognition of the significant role that camellias had played in the city's history.

Similarly, Mayor Pro Tem Joe Franklin said, "I think the camellia can coexist with the beach primrose and we’re all the better for it. It’s not subtracting, it’s adding."

Montgomery expressed his frustration with the tenor of the debate and some of the comments received from the public. He pointed out that there had been more time spent on the flower discussion than on the city budget. "I'm out," he said, abstaining from the vote.

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If you're in Manhattan Beach in December and you see block parties, crowds of kids and dogs, snow machines, babies in pajamas, adults in holiday costumes, drinks flowing freely, or even a petting zoo... It must be the night that the Santa float comes to the neighborhood.

The Manhattan Beach Santa Float, a local tradition dating back to 1955, rolls up and down the streets of Manhattan Beach for three weeks every December, bringing treats, good cheer, and photo ops with Santa. Santa and his elves wait patiently on each block as children and adults (and their dogs!) line up to get their (free) picture taken, share their holiday wishes, and get a candy cane.

It's a massive operation that relies on teams of volunteers and coordinators. And it's such a beloved tradition that many neighborhoods have since turned "Santa float night" into the biggest block party of the year.

This year, according to Head Elf Steve Carvel, might have been the most popular year yet. While no one counts the exact number of people that came to meet the float, the number of candy canes handed out is one good barometer. In the past three weeks, Santa and his elves handed out more than 4,000 candy canes (a whopping 4,047 to be exact).

In 2023, Each Night Was Big

During the 2023 run, Santa and his crew saw multiple block parties on each of their nightly rounds, including a full-on petting zoo at one of the gatherings, and of course plenty of impromptu cookie and beverage stands.

Each night, a different community group joins in as elves. On this past Friday night, a number of elves couldn't make it so Carvel had to turn to his "A-list backup elves," a group of moms from Pacific.

These deeply committed elves (Annie Hendrickson, Janet Wein, Kenia Khavar, and Yurika Harris) jumped into action, arriving in head-to-toe elf costumes and sparkly holiday makeup. They deftly helped manage the crowds, and coached kids, both big and small, into smiling for the camera.

Friday night's crew met a giant St. Bernard Doodle named Moose, a trio of tweens wearing Santa hats, a massive block party with possibly more adults than kids, and a few tearful toddlers who were quickly cheered up by candy canes.

Does the float run into mishaps? Well, there are those people who park their cars in the posted temporary "no parking" zones, making it nearly impossible for the float to fit down the street. (If you're one of those people, let this be your warning that coal is going in your stocking.)

Friday night when a few elves stopped off at a local house for a bathroom break, the float left without them...resulting in scramble to find all the elves and make sure they got to the next spot. ("We're sending everyone back to elf school," Head Elf Carvel declared jokingly afterwards.)

The team also runs a "Santa tracker," which allows families to check in online to see where Santa is along his route on any given night. But that means that the person operating the Santa tracker from his or her phone has to remember to turn it off when the rounds are done.

A few years back, said Carvel, the person in charge of holding the Santa tracker forgot to turn it off and then went home and took the dogs for a walk - much to the surprise of anyone who was still tracking Santa that night.

Float Runs on Volunteer Goodwill and Donations

Throughout the years, the float has passed back and forth between the Soroptomists of Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce, and the Kiwanis Club. For a while it was a joint effort between Soroptomists and Kiwanis, until it was fully turned over to the Kiwanis Club in 2015.

In 2017, Carvel, who was also part of the Leadership Manhattan Beach class that year, brought up the idea of refurbishing the falling-apart float as the group's class project. The Leadership Manhattan Beach group agreed, and went on to raise $76,000 to completely overhaul the float and build it a permanent shed, where it is kept in the city storage yard.

The Kiwanis Club also worked with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District in 2018 to assess how to map out the routes so as to reach the most young children. (The routes may be updated next year to reflect new pockets of kids and families.)

Most people assume that the float is run by the city, but it is an all-volunteer operation. The Santa Float accepts donations and sponsors all year long, and also accepts Venmo contributions at @Richard-Block-1 (Rick Block is the Kiwanis Club's treasurer).

If you missed the Santa float in your neighborhood this year, there's always next year: The float traditionally runs for 15 nights (Monday-Friday for three weeks), starting on the first Monday after Thanksgiving.

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MANHATTAN BEACH — Four Southern California communities rank among the top 50 richest communities in the country, according to a new report.

Manhattan Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County and Ladera Ranch and North Tustin in Orange County landed on the list of "America's Richest Cities" from 24/7 Wall Street. The report looked at communities with populations of at least 25,000 based on median household income and median home value, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Ladera Ranch ranked 29th, Manhattan Beach ranked 30th, Rancho Palos Verdes ranked 43rd, and North Tustin ranked 45th, according to the report by the financial news and opinion website.

Los Altos in Santa Clara County ranked as the richest city in the country, according to the report. But it was far from the only Bay Area city to be included in the list. In fact, the Bay Area was overrepresented among America's wealthiest communities, with 17 cities claiming spots on the list.

Outside the Bay Area, cities tended to be found in large metropolitan areas, particularly Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Dallas.

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With a median household income of more than $250,000, Los Altos, a leafy section in western Silicon Valley, is about three times wealthier than the median household in the U.S. The city has a median home value of more than $2 million, which is also over four times greater than the median household price of $410,200 in the U.S.

Los Altos also ranked third for the highest percentage of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher at 85.9 percent, according to the report. The highest in that category is located, naturally, in University Park, Texas, a Dallas suburb that ranked second in the country for median household income.

Here are the Southern California communities that landed on the list. The number in front of the community's name corresponds to its ranking in the overall list. View the full report.

29. Ladera Ranch

30. Manhattan Beach

43. Rancho Palos Verdes

45. North Tustin

This weekend offers a variety of holiday thrills, from roving Santas on Saturday to the traditional holiday fireworks show on Sunday evening.

Santa Saturday

"Santa Saturday" kicks off early on Saturday morning, December 9, with the California Great Santa Stroll benefiting Mychal's Learning Place. Hundreds of Santas will participate in a 5K fun run/walk/stroll from the Hermosa Beach Pier Plaza to the Manhattan Beach Pier and back. All ages and abilities welcome; four-legged friends welcome as well.

Next up, Santa himself (along with his sidekick, Rudolph) will make an appearance from noon to 2:00 p.m. at the corner of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Manhattan Avenue. Stop by to snap a quick photo with the decorated pier in the background.

And that's not all: Ten businesses will be giving out Becker's Bakery Cookies to anyone wearing something with Santa on it. The businesses include Bella Beach Kids, Go Gently Nation, Gum Tree, Health Nut, LAIRD Apparel, {pages} a bookstore, Right Tribe, Roundhouse Aquarium, Tabula Rasa Essentials, and Tacolicious.

Finally on Saturday, there will be strolling carolers from the Mira Costa Choir between noon and 2:00 p.m.

Fireworks Sunday

Sunday December 10 marks the traditional MB Holiday Fireworks show in Manhattan Beach, rain or shine. The festivities leading up to the fireworks take up most of the afternoon, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Manhattan Ave between 11th Street and Manhattan Beach Blvd. This year, there will be a special tribute to Pete Moffatt, the show's founder, who passed away earlier this year.

The multi-faceted celebration opens to the general public at 4:00 p.m. (Friendship Foundation attendees may enjoy the snow park starting at 3:00 p.m.) Festivities include a snow park, strolling carolers, photo ops with the Santa sled, live music from Mira Costa High School bands as well as Joe's Band, culminating in the fireworks show at 7:00 p.m., rain or shine. The snow park will feature two 50-foot sled runs and two snow play areas, as well as a snowman for family photos. For admission to the snow park, please bring food or unwrapped toy donations for the YMCA Adventure Guides charity.

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