Laguna Beach, the Best Little Vortex in Southern California!

Today, Laguna Beach might be more sophisticated with her offering of world-class art galleries, art festivals, museums, world-class dining, expansive beaches and turquoise waters, but her real charm lies in her ability to be both eclectic and eccentric. (Best of all, she doesn’t care what her sister Orange County cities think.)

There are no “suburbs” in Laguna Beach. Not one house looks like its neighbor, and, in fact, sleek mansions happily abide next to hobbit-y huts on every street. There are no Big Box stores … we residents have to pack a lunch for those designated drives. There are no franchises or chains in Laguna Beach, save the 3 grocery stores; the Holiday Inn that settled here somewhere at the turn of the LAST century; the Starbucks that, by sheer luck of the draw, bought out a local coffee shop chain; and the 3 tiny fast-food storefronts, grandfathered in from decades ago.

There are really no divisive class or “group” divisions in Laguna Beach. Retired billionaires will wander down to the coffee shop in sweats and slippers and hobnob for hours with struggling artists in UGGs. In Laguna Beach, there’s a relaxed energy here – even the people who might be “keeping up with the Joneses” do so with neighborhood volleyball tourneys and chatty Beach Night gatherings. Residents come to recognize and acknowledge each other, even when overwhelmed with eager tourists, and Laguna’s restaurants, banks, bars and retail shops create solid, lasting friendships with their residents.

In short, we 23,000 love living here on the edge of a continent – the BEST edge, of course, in Laguna Beach.